Web Cost Estimation

Despite the diversity of Web application types, technologies employed, and the number of free templates available on the Web, we still have a considerable amount of Web companies bidding and competing for as many Web projects as they can accommodate. Bidding and winning a proposal does not mean that the project will be developed within time and budget. Cost estimation can help managers manage projects adequately and bid for projects based on realistic and feasible costs and deadlines. The objective of this chapter is to briefly introduce cost estimation principles, followed by a literature review of Web cost estimation. Then we compare this literature according to set criteria.

The eQual Approach to the Assessment of E-Commerce Quality

Understanding the customer is a key aspect of developing any e-commerce offering. In doing so, organizations can improve their offerings over time and benchmark against competitors and best practice in any industry. eQual is a method for assessing the quality of Web sites. The eQual instrument has evolved via a process of iterative refinement in different e-commerce domains. Two of the studies conducted have examined online bookshops as a domain for e-commerce quality evaluation, one based on eQual 2.0 and the other on eQual 4.0. In this chapter we aim to examine these studies, and, as a result, to evaluate the use of the instrument and the benchmarking of the bookshops on two separate occasions. Of particular note are whether the findings are consistent across the two studies and the implications of the findings for e-commerce practice. Finally, the paper rounds off with some conclusions and directions for further research.

Relationship Analysis

A significant aspect of systems analysis and design involves discovering and representing entities and their relationships. Neither structured nor object-oriented analysis techniques provide a formal process to identify relationships in a system being modeled. Existing techniques leave the relationship determination implicit; they are supposed to appear as a by-product of the other analysis activities. We present a comprehensive, systematic, domain-independent analysis technique, Relationship Analysis (RA), which focuses exclusively on a domain’s relationship structure. RA serves three major purposes. First, it helps users, analysts, and designers develop a deeper understanding of the application domain through making the relationships explicit. It serves as an effective communication tool for the user and analyst to develop a shared understanding of the domain, and to work out differences in terminology, assumptions, and viewpoints. Second, the domains relationships are thoroughly documented utilizing an RA template and an RA diagram. Third, RA results in fuller and richer application analyses and designs. RA significantly enhances the systems analyst’s effectiveness, especially in the area of relationship discovery and documentation, which will result in the development of higher quality software applications that consistently meet user needs.

Analysis and Customization of Web-Based Electronic Catalogs

Electronic catalogs are at the core of information system support for electronic commerce. Unlike traditional paper-based product catalogs which are limited by size, access method, high production cost, and obsolete information, electronic catalogs promise up-to-date information, more flexible methods of search and retrieval, interactive multimedia user interface, and automated linkage and support for various procurement functions. As the World Wide Web became more popular, a tremendous amount of information flooded the cyberspace resulting in the problem of information overload. To attract and retain users, a Web site should be adaptive on information content, information organization and information display. In this chapter, a Personalized Electronic Catalog (PEC) system is proposed to synthesize the Web-based electronic catalog customization on information content, organization, and display; as well as to demonstrate the analysis and improvement of information access for electronic catalogs in an industrial application.

A Customer Analysis-Based Methodology for Improving Web Business Systems

The Web has enabled many companies to create new business from individual customers in a variety of forms, as well as to expand their traditional contact points with them into virtual workplaces dramatically. For the success of customer-oriented businesses on the Web, it is necessary to make a continuous effort to adapt Web business systems to ever-changing customers’ needs. For this challenge, this chapter proposes a customer analysis-based improvement methodology (CAIM) to help evolve customer-oriented Web business systems; this methodology employs scenario-based and object-oriented approaches. The methodology consists of five phases: customer analysis, value analysis, Web design, implementation design, and construction. Scenarios are used to analyze customers’ needs in a natural fashion. A real-life community Web site is illustrated to demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology.

Architectural Metrics for E-Commerce

Metrics for the architectural quality of Internet businesses are essential in measuring the success and failure of e-commerce. This chapter proposes six dimensions of architectural metrics for Internet businesses: internal stability, external security, information gathering, order processing, system interface, and communication interface. For each of the six metrics, we have constructed questionnaires to measure the perceived level of architectural quality and identified feature lists that might be closely related to the perceived quality level. Large-scale empirical studies were conducted both to validate the proposed metrics and to explore their relevance across four Internet business domains. The results indicate that metrics have high validities and reliabilities in three different domains. The relevance of the metrics was also proved by the meaningful relations between design features and customer loyalty. This chapter ends with the implications and limitations of the study results.

Engineering Location-Based Services in the Web

In this chapter, we will present a modular approach for building evolvable location-based services in the context of Web applications. We first motivate our research by discussing the state of the art of location-based services; next we analyze which design problems we face while building this kind of application, stressing those problems related with the application’s evolution. We present an object-oriented design approach for engineering location-based applications that effectively supports the evolution of these applications rather than their revolution and give a few examples of its use. We finally discuss some further research issues not explicitly addressed in this chapter.

Design Principles and Applications of XRML

XML has become the standard platform for structured data exchange on the Web. The next concern of the Semantic Web is the exchange and process of rules in markup language form. The rules should be represented in such a way as to allow software agents to process and browse them for human comprehension. For this purpose, we propose a language eXtensible Rule Markup Language (XRML). XRML is composed of rule identification, rule structure, and rule triggering markup languages. In XRML, a critical concern is how to extract the structured rules from the Web pages and keep consistency between the two. By using the XRML, the Web-based Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) can be integrated with rule-based expert systems. The advanced architecture with XRML can extend the application of KMS to automated form processing, preventive auditing, rule exchange and integration, and agent-based e-commerce.

Web Application Development Methodologies

Web-based application development represents some unique challenges to the developers. There is a growing need for better development methodologies. The traditional system development methods for non-Web applications can still be effective, but need to be adapted and enriched in the new development environment. This chapter discusses the challenges and proposes a Modified Prototyping Method (MPM) for Web application development. MPM views Web applications as organic systems that are continually adapting to their environments. MPM places more emphasis on architectural decision for system scalability and proactive system maintenance. It suggests not only a process but also a set of design techniques at each stage. The method provides a balanced view of technology and management requirements in the Web application development process.

Web Engineering

Web-based systems and applications now deliver a complex array of functionality to a large number of diverse groups of users. As our dependence and reliance on the Web has increased dramatically over the years, their performance, reliability and quality have become paramount importance. As a result, the development of Web applications has become more complex and challenging than most of us think. In many ways, it is also different and more complex than traditional software development. But, currently, the development and maintenance of most Web applications is chaotic and far from satisfactory. To successfully build and maintain large, complex Web-based systems and applications, Web developers need to adopt a disciplined development process and a sound methodology. The emerging discipline of Web engineering advocates a holistic, disciplined approach to successful Web development. In this chapter, we articulate and raise awareness of the issues and considerations in large, complex Web application development, and introduce Web engineering as a way of managing complexity and diversity of large-scale Web development.