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Prototype

Last updated: 
December 10, 1998

Significant efforts have been poured into this term project. Several brain storm sessions have been held, followed by a field trip to take pictures of some premium candidate gas stations, based on whose current station display, this integrated ordering system is built.

At the analysis stage, debit card/credit card and cash were accepted. Later in the design stage, the cash option was dropped, due to the fact that there is no device in today’s market, which can return accurately a random amount of change.  Furthermore, without the presence of cash on site, the gas station is much safer from prying eyes.  For those customers who carry only cash, we assume that they can always go to the cashier for the payment.

The core part of the prototype is Java based. Java is a great tool to create web enabled software.  At the same time, its inherent features (or lack of features) in its infancy hinder our development. The current Java (1.1)  is unable to deal with AVI files natively. Therefore, our original plan to play commercials on the gas pump screen cancelled.

During the design phase, the necessity of appending the additional food order information was emphasized.  Not only does the receipt serve as confirmation that the transaction has been completed, but it also serves as a way for customers to claim their food.  The intricacy of verification highlights the indispensability of this enhanced receipt.

8.1  Plans for the future:

UI design involves multiple disciplines, requiring knowledge in several areas, which translates into more efforts than for projects of equivalent scope in other fields.  Our term project has a less-than-three–month time frame. Had this project been expanded into two semesters, a lot more could have been accomplished with the prototype.  Detailed coding would be carried out to enhance the versatility and functionality of the prototype. The next thing we would do is to dedicate a web site to solicit the feedback from the people who work in the field.  From the responses to the evaluation, we would refine our system requirements and specification, to further improve the prototype of the new system in the next cycle of development.