Human-Computer Interaction - Assignment Example

Concept Proposal Outline Product description This is a Motor garage car park system that will allow pre-registered users to access the parking bay by use of their fingerprints via a biometric fingerprint scanner. It will also be recording the duration spent by vehicles on the bay and billing them accordingly. Either through automatic deduction from their credit/debit cards or sending them an automated invoice through the parking bay company. Product’s target audience Motorists and visitors bringing their cars for repairs.. Product rationale The system was necessary due to excessive corruption when the vehicle owners would collude with the ticket holders at the garage to pay less or not even pay anything at all. Secondly, the previous system wasted a lot of time since a lot of details had to be entered manually and a lot of calculations had to be performed with human whom was always error prone but with the new system you only need to thump your left hand finger print and everything is done. Automatic Car Park Billing System. The product is an automatic car park billing system with a built in predefined databases that will help all car owners to be billed automatically and electronically at the end of the month without human intervention. However in order to enjoy the service you must register all your personal details such as your Full Names, Passport/ID NO, Credit/Debit card NO, Nationality, Social security number if applicable, contact details both physical P.O box addresses and telephone numbers and finally have a scan of your left hand fingerprint which will all be stored in the central database by the system. After that all prospective users have to make application will then be carefully screened for any irregularity and misrepresentation of facts and once approved you will be subscribed and be free to use the Automatic car park billing system on a rolling month basis. However, the systems come in two different versions you may choose either post-paid or prepaid but the final decision still lies with the end user and credit approval since some users are not credit worthy hence prepaid systems would be their most ideal. The product is expected to eliminate paper money which have been proved to bring a lot of delay in the systems operation since money given out by the motorist has to be counted twice from the motorist himself who has to count them before giving them to the cashier who also has to confirm if the money given is the correct amount. The cashier likewise also sometimes has to issue back change to the motorist. Also the system is expected to eliminate a lot of paperwork since it will come with an onscreen touch button which the user will be having the freedom to choose whether to get a soft copy which they can just view on the screen or hard copy of the receipts which are dispensed by the system for their own record keeping. Systems Value. Since many resources have been committed to see the operations of the system come to reality, it must possess some values to the communities amongst it. These are the business, the people and the society in general. Without any value addition to the following groups, we can arguably say the system does not posses any value hence it is not a viable project. Business value. Usability:-The product being developed with the aging population in mind, the physically handicapped and the visually impaired it comes with a very easy to use simple interface onscreen navigation menu which is so simple that even anybody just with a basic education can be able to use with ease and effectively without any hiccups. This eventually reduces cost of employing a cashier that reduces expenses to the organisation, saves time for the organisation and the user because he/she will only need to press the finger on the scanner and then press enter. In addition, since there are reduced expenses the return on investment to the implementing organisation will be faster and greater. The man hours wasted while motorists are having long queues to give out money and receiving back their change will be greatly reduced as there is no cashier and everything is either prepaid or post paid and the system in reality does not handle money at whatever level it is just programmed to allow entry to the parking bay provided you are an authorised personal all what you need is your left hand thumb fingerprint. Since it is automated with no human intervention whatsoever, it will always give the correct figures e.g. the time the vehicles have spent on the parking bay, the amount due and the balance due if you are on the pre paid version which means there will be no complains on the business. Corruption is eliminated because there will be no cashier whom can always collude with the motorist to give incorrect figures so that they can both benefit financially since everything has to be done at the head office and with the password being your left hand thumb print there is no way you can even borrow your twin brothers which means more money for the business more tax revenue for the government. The system works twenty-four hours non-stop and this means that no money is lost by the organisation because it is late at night. Personal value The system is user friendly which means efficiency is guaranteed and uptime will be at the greatest level. This entirely saves time for the user, man-hour is recovered, It will even notify the user if there is a free parking or not and the exact location of the parking if there is any available within the parking bay. There will also be increased level of security on a motorist level because unless a specific fingerprint on the database is scanned on the exit the motorist might not be able to exit the parking area because once a motorist comes in the parking and leaves the vehicle he is the one who is expected to come back and collect it and even if a motorist whom probably has an older car would want to take a new car which is not necessarily his still he has to present his thumb for scanning and if the exit doors would open which means his fingerprints will be in the database so it would be easier tracing him since we would also be having his other personal details such as the ID No and social security number which were collected when he was applying for subscription to the system. The user also is now able to control his per/her personal budget properly for his expenses since the parking charges are only due after thirty or thirty one days depending on the month and he will be able to give him/herself proper financial planning. Societal value Since you are saving some time on a daily basis when entering and exiting the parking bay because there are no major queues you are saving some fuel regardless of the quantity and suppose there are 500 vehicles that have to go in and exit the parking in just a working day how much fuel will be saved per day per week per month and per year over time and with this what justice are we also doing to our environment. Clearly here, the society is going to benefit. In addition, since the system has the option of giving hardcopy or soft copy receipts and possible elimination of hard copy receipts a lot of trees will eventually be saved with this system which means more rain for the society and better crops and environment. Human Computer Interaction Principles incorporated into the design and usability of the product. With automation of the systems it had the advantages of recognizing users diversity many users could use the system on a daily basis, it was consistent it had identical terminology for the users with prompt menu, clear and consistent font colors with a proper layout for onscreen navigation and not forgetting the Graphical User Interface. It came with predefined shortcuts to save time, a customer feed back prompt for organisations improvement in order to serve the motorist better. It has an error prevention mechanism with the ability to permit easy reversal of action and last but not least it comes with very simple menus. Rationale on how Human Computer Interaction meets the above principles. User diversity:- Different people are able to use the system since there is a Multilanguage notice board directing users to thump their fingers on the biometric scanner and everything takes care of itself, You will again only need to re-thump your fingerprint when the car will be exiting in which it would have calculated the duration spent and billed you accordingly. Most people have at least some basic level of education which would make the system ideal for them. Consistency:-Since there is no human interaction the system is very consistent in its billing and with a built in database of all users, each users will get only the due balances at the correct time with absolutely no errors. There is also a graphical user interface that can enable all the users to preview their balances, or even pre-programme it such that after a certain period it will send an alert via a G.S.M system to the user’s mobile alerting them when their bill is due. Since it is automated with no human intervention it has the capability to work consistently round the clock 24 hours without any additional component which is a big plus for late night users unlike previously when you could only access the parking bay during the day time. Shortcuts:-The automated parking system comes with built in Graphical interfaces shortcuts that will enable the users to access directly the feature they are interested in be It their balance which is due, the due date or even the availability of a parking space in the parking bay. Whether to show balance and print a receipt or not and even requesting balances due via G.S.M technology through their mobile phones. Users just enjoy the freedom of selecting whichever service they are interested by use of their fingers in the comfort of their vehicles. Feedback:-You can also give an instant feedback with an inbuilt onscreen Qwerty keyboard which will automatically send the message to the Car Park company personnel. It eliminates the cost of commuting to the Carpark company, making phone calls or sending e-mails. Moreover, the good thing with this service it alerts the Parking company instantly via G.S.M technology. Error prevention:-Since there is no human intervention everything will be automated in the system and there will be absolutely no user intervention making the chances of the system malfunctioning almost next to none. Mathematical computations of receipt are all automated hence the system is faster and accurate than ever. Easy reversal of action:-If the systems chokes up and there is an error in reading of the fingerprint through the scanner the user can always cancel the input and start afresh. Incorrect reading of the fingerprint may occur due to mist or fog on the surface of scanner, dust or incorrect placement of the finger on the scanner surface. Incase of these malfunctioning the user will only need to press the cancel button once and the user friendly software system will prompt him again to scan his left hand thumb fingerprint. Feeling in control:-The customer really feels in control since everything is on in simple onscreen menus which are simple to use you can even choose to have your automated receipt printed or not, print all your current balance or even have your previous statement of how you have been using the system. This will make him a return customer hence more revenue for the company. Reducing short term memory load:-Simple menus are used entirely the system which means the system is very user friendly easy to use. The customer will not be confused and is not tied to guess work of using the system with an inbuilt help menu hence whenever he/she is stuck will follow the help prompt which is more simpler and easier to use with this feature the system is very unlikely to get confused and also very unlikely to hang up or malfunction. Read More