Applied Systems Analysis | Joshua Fleming

Business requirements and system analysis for a proposed retail mobile application.

Adapted for web presentation from the original course portfolio submission. Content, code, tables, and available diagrams are retained; the original academic documents remain unchanged.

Professional Portfolio Summary

ITS3110 Applied Systems Analysis – Week 5 Project

This assignment developed a complete systems-analysis plan for a proposed Walmart mobile application. The project identified stakeholders, business needs, technical and organizational feasibility, functional and nonfunctional requirements, and an Agile development approach. It also included requirements elicitation, use cases, object-oriented analysis, project scheduling, staffing, communication planning, risk management, testing, and system diagrams. The objective was to take a business problem and move it through the major stages of systems analysis while connecting user requirements to a realistic technical solution. This project is relevant to IT support and service desk work because effective support requires understanding both the user’s problem and the systems behind it. The assignment demonstrates my ability to gather requirements, separate symptoms from actual needs, document processes, consider technical constraints, and communicate with different stakeholders. The Agile planning and risk-management sections also show that I can work within structured IT processes instead of treating technical problems as isolated events. Support professionals regularly document incidents, reproduce problems, coordinate with other technical teams, and explain solutions to nontechnical users. This project demonstrates those same analytical and communication skills while also showing my understanding of software development, testing, system requirements, and the full technology lifecycle.

Assignment Statement

The original assignment instructions were not retained with the available Week 5 submission. The original course work is reproduced below without replacing or inventing the missing assignment statement.

Original Week 5 Work

Course Project Part 5

ITS 3110 – Applied Systems Analysis

12/29/25

Company Description

Walmart Inc. is a multinational retail corporation headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, serving millions of customers daily. Walmart offers a wide range of products, including groceries, clothing, electronics, home goods, and sporting equipment. For the purposes of this project, Walmart is assumed to not currently have a mobile application. Developing a mobile app will enhance the in-store shopping experience, provide interactive product information, and guide customers through Walmart’s extensive inventory using data-driven and location-based features (Walmart Inc., 2025).

Potential Stakeholders

Customers – Primary users who will benefit from features such as store navigation, product demonstrations, and geo-location activity suggestions.

Store Managers – Provide input on store layouts, product placement, and in-store navigation.

Walmart IT Department – Responsible for ensuring technical feasibility, maintaining the application, and integrating data-driven content.

Marketing Team – Utilize the app for targeted promotions and to gather insights on customer behavior.

Inventory Managers – Ensure that real-time product availability is accurately reflected within the application.

Programmer Analyst / Development Team – Responsible for planning, designing, coding, testing, and implementing the application.

The selection of these stakeholders ensures that all parties affected by the application—users, operational staff, and technical personnel—are considered in the project development process (Laudon & Traver, 2023).

Statement of Work

The objective of this project is to develop a mobile application for Walmart that enhances the shopping experience through offline, data-driven features and location-based suggestions. The application will include:

Store Navigation: Customers enter a product name and receive directions to the exact aisle or section within the store.

Product Demonstration Videos: Customers can scan product barcodes using the device camera to view offline video demonstrations of products.

Geo-Location Activity Suggestions: Based on the selected product type, the app recommends nearby locations where customers can try or use the product. Examples include:

Sporting goods: nearby gyms, basketball courts, or archery ranges.

Gardening tools: community gardens or local workshops.

Lifestyle-Based Recommendations: Based on user input and stored preferences, the app provides personalized product suggestions that can be purchased directly through the application.

The application is designed to operate offline, ensuring usability even in areas with limited connectivity. The project will follow standard software development phases, including planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance.

Feasibility Study

Economic Feasibility: Development costs are expected to be moderate due to Walmart’s existing IT infrastructure. Potential benefits include improved customer engagement, enhanced in-store navigation, and increased sales through geo-location and lifestyle-based product recommendations (Laudon & Traver, 2023).

Organizational Feasibility: Walmart has a history of innovation and a customer-focused culture. Managers and staff are likely to support an application that streamlines operations and improves customer experience.

Technical Feasibility: The project will require enhancements to geolocation functionality, barcode scanning, offline video storage, and product recommendation algorithms. Walmart’s in-house IT team has the skills and resources needed to implement these features successfully.

Project Plan

1. Chosen SDLC and Justification For this project, the Agile Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is selected. Agile is appropriate because Walmart’s mobile application will involve iterative development with frequent stakeholder feedback. Features such as store navigation, barcode scanning, and personalized recommendations may require adjustments based on user testing and operational input. Agile allows the development team to respond to these changes quickly, delivering incremental releases and ensuring a high-quality user experience (Laudon & Traver, 2023).

2. Project Schedule The project will follow an iterative Agile schedule with sprints lasting two weeks each. A tentative timeline includes:

Sprint 1: Requirements validation, initial UI mockups, and backend architecture planning

Sprint 2: Development of store navigation and product search features

Sprint 3: Integration of barcode scanning and offline video playback

Sprint 4: Implementation of geo-location activity suggestions and lifestyle-based recommendations

Sprint 5: System testing, debugging, and optimization

Sprint 6: Final review, stakeholder testing, and deployment

Project milestones will be reviewed at the end of each sprint, ensuring tasks remain on schedule and features align with business objectives (Schwalbe, 2021).

3. Plan for Assessment of Progress Progress will be assessed using the following methods:

Sprint Reviews: Evaluate deliverables and gather feedback from stakeholders after each sprint

Daily Stand-ups: Quick meetings to identify roadblocks and ensure team alignment

Burndown Charts: Track completed tasks versus remaining workload to visualize progress

Quality Assurance Testing: Periodic testing of functionality to ensure project requirements are being met

These measures provide both quantitative and qualitative insight into project performance, allowing timely adjustments to scope or priorities (Schwalbe, 2021).

4. Staffing Plan The following staffing roles are recommended for this project:

Project Manager: Oversees overall progress, budget, and communication

Lead Developer: Coordinates the technical team and supervises code integration

Frontend Developer: Designs and implements user interface and navigation features

Backend Developer: Builds database, API integrations, and server logic

QA Tester: Conducts functional, usability, and security testing

Business Analyst: Ensures requirements are accurately captured and documented

UX/UI Designer: Designs app layout, user experience, and accessibility features

Staffing levels may be adjusted based on sprint workload and feature complexity.

5. Communications Plan Effective communication ensures stakeholders remain informed and engaged:

Weekly Status Reports: Sent to stakeholders summarizing progress, issues, and upcoming tasks

Sprint Retrospectives: Team discussions to review performance and identify improvements

Project Wiki/SharePoint: Central repository for documentation, meeting notes, and user guides

Email and Chat Updates: For daily quick communication and urgent updates

A clear communication plan reduces misunderstandings and ensures alignment among technical staff, managers, and end users (PMI, 2021).

6. Risk-Management Plan Potential project risks include:

Technical Risks: Integration with existing systems may fail or take longer than expected

Operational Risks: Limited user adoption due to resistance to change

Budget Risks: Unexpected expenses from licensing, development tools, or hardware

Schedule Risks: Delays due to resource unavailability or testing failures

Mitigation strategies:

Conduct thorough system analysis and prototyping early to reduce technical risk

Provide training and in-app tutorials to encourage user adoption

Maintain a contingency budget for unexpected expenses

Use Agile iterations to allow flexibility in schedule and feature prioritization

Regular risk reviews will be conducted at the end of each sprint to ensure early identification and management of potential problems (Schwalbe, 2021; PMI, 2021).

References

Laudon, K. C., & Traver, C. G. (2023). E-commerce 2023: Business, technology, society (18th ed.). Pearson.

Walmart Inc. (2025). About Walmart. Retrieved from https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story

PMI. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.). Project Management Institute.

Schwalbe, K. (2021). Information technology project management (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Course Project Part 3 – Requirements Elicitation Phase

Overview

This requirements elicitation phase builds on the system requirements and Agile design plan established in Parts 1 and 2. The system under development is a Walmart mobile application designed to enhance the in-store shopping experience through offline functionality, store navigation, barcode-based product demonstrations, geo-location activity suggestions, and personalized recommendations.

Requirements Elicitation Techniques

Stakeholder Interviews

Interviews will be conducted with customers, store managers, inventory managers, IT staff, marketing personnel, and developers to capture operational and user-focused requirements. Structured interview guides will be used to ensure consistency, and findings will be validated with participants.

Workshops and Joint Application Development (JAD)

JAD sessions will bring multiple stakeholder groups together to collaboratively define and refine system requirements. A neutral facilitator will guide discussions, enforce ground rules, and use structured participation methods to reduce hierarchical influence.

Observation and Document Analysis

Observation of in-store shopping behavior and employee workflows will be combined with analysis of existing store layout documentation and inventory systems. This approach helps identify implicit requirements not revealed through interviews alone.

Prototyping

Low-fidelity prototypes and mockups will be developed during Agile sprints to visualize navigation, barcode scanning, and recommendation features. Stakeholder feedback will guide iterative refinement.

Elicitation Documentation

Documentation produced during this phase includes stakeholder registers, interview and workshop notes, use cases, user stories, process flow diagrams, and a requirements traceability matrix linking requirements to business objectives and test cases.

Functional Requirements

The system shall allow users to search for products and receive in-store navigation directions.

The system shall allow barcode scanning to access product information.

The system shall provide offline product demonstration videos.

The system shall generate geo-location-based activity suggestions.

The system shall deliver personalized product recommendations.

Nonfunctional Requirements

The system shall operate offline for core features.

The system shall respond to user actions within two seconds.

The system shall comply with security and privacy standards.

The system shall be scalable across Walmart locations.

The system shall maintain high availability.

Conclusion

Applying multiple elicitation techniques ensures comprehensive, accurate, and validated requirements. Clear documentation and traceability support Agile development and long-term system success.

References

Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Roth, R. M. (2018). Systems analysis and design (7th ed.). Wiley.

Pressman, R. S., & Maxim, B. R. (2020). Software engineering: A practitioner’s approach (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Sommerville, I. (2016). Software engineering (10th ed.). Pearson.

Course Project Part 4 – Use Cases and Object-Oriented Analysis

This section extends the Walmart mobile application design by adding use-case models, detailed use-case descriptions, and an initial object-oriented (OO) class diagram. Use-case modeling supports requirements analysis by describing how actors interact with the system, while OO analysis helps identify core classes, attributes, and behaviors that guide implementation (Dennis et al., 2018; Object Management Group [OMG], 2017).

Use-Case Model Diagrams

Use-Case Model 1: Customer

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 1 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 1

Use-Case Model 2: Store Operations (Store Manager / Inventory Manager / Marketing)

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 2 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 2

Use-Case Descriptions

UC-C1: Search Product & Get Aisle Directions

Use case title	UC-C1: Search Product & Get Aisle Directions
Brief description	Customer searches for a product and receives aisle/section directions using cached product and layout data.
Precondition	Customer has the Walmart app installed; a store location is selected; offline cache contains a recent layout (or last-known layout).
Postconditions	Directions are displayed; recent search is saved; analytics events may be synchronized when online.
Special requirements	Usability: results should display within 2 seconds; offline mode must work with cached data; accessibility support (screen readers).
Relationships	Referenced by activity suggestions; map view may be reused by recommendation results.
Extensions	If no match is found, system displays 'No results' and offers category browsing; if layout data is stale, system warns user and suggests syncing.

Flow of events (diagram):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 3 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 3

UC-C2: Scan Barcode & View Demo Video (Offline)

Use case title	UC-C2: Scan Barcode & View Demo Video (Offline)
Brief description	Customer scans a product barcode to view an offline demo video and quick product details.
Precondition	Customer grants camera permission; barcode is scannable; offline demo video exists for some SKUs.
Postconditions	Demo video is displayed/played; view event is queued for later sync; last-viewed SKU is stored locally.
Special requirements	Privacy: camera used only for scanning; Performance: offline video loads without buffering; storage limits enforced by the app.
Relationships	Supported by the admin 'Manage Product Demo Video Library' use case when new videos are published.
Extensions	If offline video is not available, system shows a message and (when online) offers to stream video; if scan fails, user can retry or type SKU.

Flow of events (diagram):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 4 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 4

UC-O1: Maintain Store Layout (Aisles/Sections)

Use case title	UC-O1: Maintain Store Layout (Aisles/Sections)
Brief description	Store operations staff update aisle/section mapping so navigation routes customers accurately.
Precondition	Authorized employee is authenticated; store location exists; current layout version is available.
Postconditions	New layout version is published; audit log updated; mobile clients can download layout on next sync.
Special requirements	Data integrity: prevent duplicate aisle IDs; changes must be versioned; approvals may be required for major edits.
Relationships	Directly supports UC-C1 (Search Product & Get Aisle Directions); includes audit logging.
Extensions	If validation fails, system blocks publishing and lists errors; if editors conflict, system prompts for merge/review.

Flow of events (diagram):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 5 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 5

UC-O2: Sync Inventory Availability Data

Use case title	UC-O2: Sync Inventory Availability Data
Brief description	Inventory manager synchronizes SKU availability used for product search accuracy and recommendations.
Precondition	Authorized inventory manager is authenticated; internal inventory source is reachable (batch or scheduled).
Postconditions	Inventory data store is updated; sync report generated; failures logged and alerted.
Special requirements	Reliability: updates should be atomic; timestamps preserved; partial retry supported; errors reported.
Relationships	Improves accuracy for UC-C1 and recommendation features; may trigger offline cache updates.
Extensions	If validation fails, system rejects bad records and continues with valid ones; if source unavailable, system schedules retry.

Flow of events (diagram):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 6 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 6

Object-Oriented (OO) Class Diagram (Draft)

The following class diagram provides an initial OO view of the Walmart mobile application. It identifies key entities (e.g., Product, Store, VideoAsset), core services (RecommendationEngine, OfflineCache), and generalized user roles (User → Customer/Employee) to support customer-facing and store-operations functions (Dennis et al., 2018; Pressman & Maxim, 2020).

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 7 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 7

Additional References (Part 4)

Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Roth, R. M. (2018). Systems analysis and design (7th ed.). Wiley.

Object Management Group. (2017). Unified Modeling Language (UML) Version 2.5.1. OMG.

Pressman, R. S., & Maxim, B. R. (2020). Software engineering: A practitioner’s approach (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Sommerville, I. (2016). Software engineering (10th ed.). Pearson.

Course Project Part 5 – Data Flow Diagram Project (Behavioral and Structural Diagrams)

This section extends the Week 4 work by completing the object-oriented class diagram with association roles and multiplicity, and by adding behavioral diagrams (sequence, activity, and state) for two use-case scenarios. These UML artifacts improve system design clarity by showing structure (classes and relationships) and behavior (object interactions and control flow) (Object Management Group [OMG], 2017; Dennis et al., 2018).

Extended OO Class Diagram (Associations, Roles, and Multiplicity)

The class diagram below extends the initial Week 4 draft by adding explicit associations and indicating object roles and multiplicity at each end to show how many instances may participate in each relationship (e.g., one Store contains one or more Aisles).

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 8 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 8

Behavioral Diagrams for Two Use-Case Scenarios

Scenario 1: UC-C1 Search Product & Get Aisle Directions

Assumptions for messages: The ProductSearchService queries the OfflineCache first to support the project requirement that core features work offline. StoreLayoutService retrieves the last-known layout version from cache to produce directions even without network connectivity. If fresher data exists online, it can be synchronized later without blocking the user experience.

Sequence diagram (objects and messages):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 9 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 9

Activity diagram (control flow):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 10 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 10

Scenario 2: UC-C2 Scan Barcode & View Demo Video (Offline)

Assumptions for messages: BarcodeDecoder returns a normalized SKU identifier used as the key for OfflineVideoLibrary lookups. Analytics events are written to an offline queue to respect the offline-first constraint and to avoid losing usage data when connectivity is limited.

Sequence diagram (objects and messages):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 11 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 11

Activity diagram (control flow):

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 12 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 12

State Diagram

The state diagram below models the lifecycle of an offline demo video asset for the barcode scanning scenario. This helps ensure the system handles storage, playback, and cleanup behaviors consistently across the app.

Applied Systems Analysis project diagram or screenshot 13 — Applied Systems Analysis — project visual 13

References (Part 5)