Thought Process #1

I hope the activity diagram has given you some glimpse into how actually the system works.

However, I think there are still things that I feel aren't clear. Because, I am working on the prototyping side, things are very technical and down to the details. It is really just a small scale project.

It is easy to lose focus on the bigger picture, which my friend, Jeffrey would be emphasising on, the research, the business idea.

Is the system local or global?

For our prototyping case, the system is definitely local. No way, it is going to make it to production stage.

However, the business idea would be global. The website would be hosted and people would connect to a particular website to have all their order placed.

Local Vs Global (LAN vs WAN)

Initially, the idea was meant to be local. That every food court (and perhaps restaurant), could have their own dedicated server, that the customer can connect to via wifi. However, there was a few problems with this idea at large.

Firstly, for in a shopping mall, there will be A LOT of WiFi to connect to. It will be very difficult to navigate to find the correct WiFi to connect to.

Secondly, people couldn't order when they are far away from food court. This is an idea that we really like and think will be very beneficial. For example, students and staffs, can order food when they are working, and come down to eat or collect their takeaway after 5 mins or so. If this were to operate at a larger scale, this means that residents living beside their food court couldn't takeaway or pre-order their food, despite living at such close proximity.

Thus, the idea of local ordering using LAN, doesn't work well.

Am I using a mobile or web application?

For prototyping, the answer is web. Two reasons.

Firstly, I am learning HTML & CSS currently. So I might as well use it.

Secondly, I want it to be cross-platform, which then web would be the easiest. Otherwise, I would have to build multiple app for Android and IOS. It isn't even supported on a laptop.

Perhaps, when it becomes a business idea, it would be able to have its own app as well.