WEB PORTAL FOR FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Connecting Freelance Photographers and Prospective Clients

A Thesis Paper Presented to the Department of Information Technology
Mapúa Institute of Technology School of Information Technology
Buendia, Makati Philippines

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology

By:

Ahmed Abdulrahim, Firas A.
Peña, John Michael C.

June 2012
APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that we have supervised the preparation of and read the thesis paper prepared by (Firas A. Ahmed Abulrahim and John Michael C. Pena) entitled “Web Portal for Freelance Photographers: Connecting Freelance Photographers and Prospective Clients” and that the said paper has been submitted for final examination by the Oral Examination Committee.

Mr. Ariel Kelly D. Balan | | Dr. William T. Torres | Thesis Adviser | | Thesis Instructor |

As members of the Oral Examination Committee, we certify that we have examined this paper and hereby recommend that it be accepted as fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.

Ms. Ira Camus | | Mr. William Rey | Panel Member | | Panel Member | | | | | | | | Mr. Joel De Goma | | | Committee Chair | |

This thesis paper is hereby approved and accepted by the School of Information Technology as fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.

Engr. Nilda S. Eliquen | Academic Coordinator |

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
Title Page ……………………………………………………………........... i
Approval Sheet …………………………………………………………………... ii
Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………... iii
List of Tables …………………………………………………………………... v
List of Figures …………………………………………………………………... v
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………... vi
Abstract …………………………………………………………………... vii

Chapter 1: Introduction …………………………………………………... 1
Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………... 4
Objectives of the Study …………………………………………………... 5 Significance of the Study …………………………………………………... 6 Scope and Limitations …………………………………………………... 6 Conceptual Framework …………………………………………………... 7

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature ………………………………. 9 Web Portal ………………………………. 9 Classification of Web Portal ………………………………. 9
Types of Web Portal ………………………………. 10
Business Management ………………………………. 16
Project Management ………………………………. 19
Photography Business Management System ……………………………… 20
Scheduling and Scheduling Systems ………………………………. 22 Client Information Management System ………………………………. 26

Chapter 3: Methodology ………………………………………. 32
Research Methodology ………………………………………. 32
Software Development Methodology ………………………………………. 33
Planning and Requirements ………………………………………. 34 Data Analysis ………………………………………. 34
Software Design ………………………………………. 43
Implementation ………………………………………. 41
Testing ………………………………………. 41
Evaluation ………………………………………. 48 Data Analysis ………………………………………. 49
Deployment ………………………………………. 50

Chapter 4: Conclusion ……………………………………………………………....

Chapter 5: Recommendation ……………………………………………………….

Appendices ………………………………………. Client Survey Questionnaire ………………………………………. Photographer Survey Questionnaire ………………………………………. Evaluation Survey Questionnaire ………………………………………. Test Script ………………………………………. Screenshots ……………………………………….

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Default Page …………………………………………………………. 42
Table 3.2: Sign Up …….…………………………………………………………. 43
Table 3.3: Client Access Login ………………………………………………….. 44
Table 3.4: Photographer Access Login …………………………………………. 44
Table 3.5: Client Page …………………………………………………………… 45
Table 3.6: Photographer Page …………………………………………………... 45
Table 3.7: Message Page ………………………………………………………… 46
Table 3.8: Edit Profile Page ……………………………………………………... 47
Table 3.9: Forum Page …………………………………………………………... 47
Table 3.10: Add Portfolio Page …………………………………………………... 48
Table 3.11: Search Page …………………………………………………………... 48
Table 3.12: Calendar Page ………………………………………………………... 49
Table 3.13: Forgot Password Page ……………………………………………….. 49
Table 3.14: Deliverables …………………………………………………………... 51

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Photography Business Flow ………………………………………... 2
Figure 1.2: Conceptual Framework of the proposed system ………………….. 7

Figure 2.1: Project Planning ……………………………………………………. 19
Figure 2.2: Project Scheduling ………………………………………………….. 19
Figure 2.3: Project Controlling …………………………………………………. 20
Figure 2.4: Schedule Timetabling ……………………………………………….. 23
Figure 2.5: Example of Customer Segmentation ……………………………...... 27
Figure 2.6: Uses of customer information ……………………………………… 30

Figure 3.1: Iterative and Incremental Development Model …………………… 33
Figure 3.2: Use Case Diagram for Prospective Clients ………………………… 37
Figure 3.3: Use Case Diagram for Freelance Photographers ………………….. 38
Figure 3.4: Database Diagram .................………………………………………. 39
Figure 3.5: Site Map ……………………………………………………………… 40
Figure 3.6: Sequence Diagram ……………………………………………………. 41

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research project would not have been possible without the guidance and help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study.
The researchers wish to express their utmost gratitude to their parents, siblings, and friends who provided them with spiritual and financial support.
To Dr. William T. Torres the researchers’ thesis instructor for his sage advice, patient encouragement, aided the writing of this thesis in innumerable ways.
To Mr. Ariel Kelly D. Balan, for his patience and steadfast encouragement, useful suggestion and for his unselfish and unfailing assistance who served as their thesis adviser.
To the panel members of the researchers’ defense, Mr. Joel De Goma, Ms. Ira Camus, and Mr. William Rey who gave their professional support and insightful criticisms.
To those who served as the respondents whom contributed their honest perceptions in answering the given questionnaires for the completion of this study.
To Dominique Denise Ang and Joan Rae Tan, our beloved partners who gave their time and attention during the duration of the study, and who unconditionally supported, cared, and loved us in good and bad times.
To the Almighty God, the supreme teacher whom blessed the researchers with wisdom and strength needed in the fulfillment of this study.

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the development of a web portal that would greatly benefit a prospective client and a photographer looking for a freelance project. This is a web portal where prospective clients and freelance photographer can meet, talk, show their services, arrange a schedule, and give their comments and ratings.

The study was conducted using the Descriptive Research Methodology: opinion research; a quantitative tactic used to measure the opinions of the people involved which are considered as the qualitative information, through interview / survey. The proponents used the Likert Scale as the statistical treatment of data to come up with a conclusion based on the respondents’ opinions. This methodology aims to improve the web portal using the opinions of other people to produce a more effective system that fits the needs of its users.

After a series of data gathering, the proponents have found that the most favored way on how to look for a client or a photographer is going online. As per the evaluation conducted by the respondents; the proponents would be able to conclude that web portal is beneficial to people looking for a convenient way to search for a photographer or vice versa.

Chapter I
INTRODUCTION

People are surrounded by images taken with all kinds of recording devices, devices that are intended solely for the purpose of memorializing the moment and in some cases, devices that are used only because of their convenience of use. This refers to the use of cell phones with inadequate cameras that have in effect become the “Polaroid” of our times. Families need photographs to capture special moments of their lives. From pre-wedding, wedding, baby shots, family shots and other important and not so important moments that we wish to capture. Families of most professionals and business owners are very busy that when there is too much time passed between photo sessions; these special moments are lost forever. Babies, especially, grow fast and their parents would want photos of them several times a year.
While nearly everyone have cellphones or cameras for taking snapshots, people need professional quality photos when they will be shown to an important audience, and when people want to be seen in the best light. Photography is a very important tool that is used to memorialize people’s lives and yet people do not think of it at the time that they press that shutter button. People do not realize the importance of the images until the subject of one of the images passes on and then they are left with nothing but the memories. Photography helps them relive the past and in a way to keep in touch with the past.
For photography studio owners, keeping track of clients and their schedule can be very problematic and may eventually lead to poor service and much worse, closing down the business.
For every business, clients are the most essential element. Studio owners need to make them feel comfortable dealing with them and their services or they might lose them. The photographer needs to prepare their business flow in order to create an organized system. Starting from the moment a client comes in or asks about your product and services until you get their confirmation and down payment. From choosing a package or service, to scheduling, to allocating manpower and equipment, invoicing, reminding their clients, editing photos, and delivering the finish product (see Figure 1.1).

3. Allocating staff
Time: 5-10mins.
Checking for an apprentice or employee’s schedule and assign them to an event.
3. Allocating staff
Time: 5-10mins.
Checking for an apprentice or employee’s schedule and assign them to an event.
2. Scheduling
Time: 5mins.
Schedules an event or session. This is where the photographer will check his and the client’s available schedule.
2. Scheduling
Time: 5mins.
Schedules an event or session. This is where the photographer will check his and the client’s available schedule.

1. Inquiring
Time: 15-20mins.
Registration and Inquiry about offered services. This is also where the photographer asks about the event, hours and locations.
1. Inquiring
Time: 15-20mins.
Registration and Inquiry about offered services. This is also where the photographer asks about the event, hours and locations.

5. Contract and Invoicing
Time: 5-10mins.
Reviews and signs contract. Payment.

5. Contract and Invoicing
Time: 5-10mins.
Reviews and signs contract. Payment.

6. Reminding
Time: 1-5mins.
Calls or sends an email to the client for confirmation about the scheduled event.

6. Reminding
Time: 1-5mins.
Calls or sends an email to the client for confirmation about the scheduled event.

4. Allocating Equipment
Time: 5-10mins.
Assigns equipment for a specific event or shoot.

4. Allocating Equipment
Time: 5-10mins.
Assigns equipment for a specific event or shoot.

Figure 1.1: Photography Business Flow

10. Invoicing
Time: 5-10mins.
Payment of balance

10. Invoicing
Time: 5-10mins.
Payment of balance

9. Presenting / Delivering Finished Product
Time: 10mins.
Client receives the photos. Either an album, copies of the photos, or both is given.

9. Presenting / Delivering Finished Product
Time: 10mins.
Client receives the photos. Either an album, copies of the photos, or both is given.

8. Editing and Printing of Photos
Time: 8hrs.-2days
Taking pictures throughout the whole event. This may take a few hours or half a day depending on the event.

8. Editing and Printing of Photos
Time: 8hrs.-2days
Taking pictures throughout the whole event. This may take a few hours or half a day depending on the event.

7. Covering the Event
Time: 1-10hrs.
Taking pictures throughout the whole event. This may take a few hours or half a day depending on the event.

7. Covering the Event
Time: 1-10hrs.
Taking pictures throughout the whole event. This may take a few hours or half a day depending on the event.

Figure 1.1: Photography Business Flow (continuation)

In response, businesses in general need a system to efficiently cater the client’s needs and the photographer’s needs as well. Thus, photography portal would be the perfect system where the client and photographers meet in order to find the right man for the job to cover an event.
Nowadays, photographers look for freelance projects where they travel to different places, take snapshots of different scenes with different client profiles. Photographers need to market themselves and their work in order for them to be selected to cover an event. Photographers can now focus on what is most important in their line of work, capturing their clients’ special moments.
In these modern times where everyone is moving on a fast paced environment, time changes things and people forget how things were yesterday. The only way to record what time has forgotten is to take a picture and look back to see how things were.
Nowadays, people enjoy photography as their hobby while other people spend a lot of time taking pictures making a career out of photography. Due to their busy lifestyle, some people make photography as their sideline and some as their fulltime jobs. Talking to clients and attending to their needs consumes an hour or more of the photographer’s time. And if there are many clients in line it takes forever to get things done. After talking to clients and schedule their event or photo shoot, the photographer then take note of the things to bring and the people to tag along to assist which again consumes time. After all that is done, the photographer edits the photos to come up with the finished product and accounting which definitely consumes more of the photographer or the owner’s time. Photographers and photo studio owners fail to keep track and keep in touch with all of their clients may it be past clients or prospective clients which results to business opportunity loss. As they say, client database is a goldmine. Not only do they forget to keep track and update their database, they also misallocate their manpower and resources resulting in company’s poor service and clients’ dissatisfaction. With their constant busy schedules, photographers also tend to set their appointments in a clutter overlapping one appointment with the other. Often times, clients also have busy schedules where they tend to forget scheduled appointments which in turn becomes a loss for the photography business in terms of time and money. These are the problems that this study is focusing on resolving – freelance photographers are having a hard time in getting clients and clients are having a hard time looking for a suitable photographer for their planned event. The proponents aim to develop a web portal for freelance photographers that will provide a venue for the photographer and prospective clients. This project will specifically aim to provide a portfolio module for photographers to showcase their work, a rating module for the clients to grade the quality of service of the photographer, a scheduling module for the prospective client and photographer to set their appointment date, and a private messaging module as means of communication between the photographer and prospective client.
A management system is a computer based system that organizes and controls the sub-system of the firm and provides a synergistic organization in the process.
Focusing on the creation of the said system, this study will be beneficial to those who are involved with photography, may it be aspiring photographers, freelance photographers or studio photographers. There are huge amounts of information available to today’s photographers and this had therefore meant that they are increasingly relying on management systems to access the exploding information. A management system helps users to access relevant, accurate, up-to-date information which is the more sure way of making accurate decisions.
This will also be beneficial to people who is searching and in need of the service of a professional photographer.
Furthermore, this study is significant to the future users and developers of the same management system who may benefit from the documentation and formal analysis of this study. The study will focus mainly on the Web Portal for Freelance Photographers. This will be web-based. Client registration and photographer registration is needed. An interactive calendar for scheduling where the user can see the availability of the photographers schedule, it will have an automated reminders through popups and through email, portfolio page of the photographer where users/prospective clients will be able to see sample of works done, notes or more specifically a to-do note, and quality rating for rating the photographer after the event.
The researcher was limited to the use of Windows operating system and this program is limited to one user per account registered.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1.2: Conceptual Framework of the proposed system

In the conceptual framework of the study (see Figure 1.2), the proponents will be able to visualize the process activity of the proposed system. The process starts with the user which is the client or the photographer. The user will have to register and login to enter the system/portal. Through the client login, the client will then be able to search for a photographer and view their portfolios. Once the client is satisfied, the client will then enter the details of the event. Using the photographer’s calendar, the client can check if the date they want is free and then book for that day. Now after the photographer logs-in the system, the photographer can upload their portfolio or sample work to be seen by prospective clients. The photographer can also set their schedule using the calendar which will be green if it’s available or red if the day is already booked. The photographer can also check which days have been booked by prospective clients and the details of the event as well. After everything is confirmed, an email will be sent to both the client and the photographer containing the approved appointment.

Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Shown in this chapter are the studies and literature that various authors and researchers had written about the subject matter in this study. The different topics that discuss the aspects which are significant in the development of this study will be presented in this section.

WEB PORTAL A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. [8]
Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether. [8]

Classification
Horizontal vs. Vertical portal (Vortals)
Two broad categorizations of portals are horizontal portals, which cover many areas, and vertical portals, which are focused on one functional area. Another definition for a horizontal portal is, that it is used as a platform to several companies in the same economic sector or to the same type of manufacturers or distributors. A vertical portal consequently is a specialized entry point to a specific market or industry niche, subject area, or interest, also called vortal. [8]

Vertical information portal
A vertical information portal (VIP) is a specialized entry point to a specific marketplace and or industry niche. VIP's provide news, editorial content, digital publications, and e-commerce capabilities. Separate from traditional vertical portals, VIP's provide dynamic multimedia applications including social networking, video posting, and blogging.

Types of web portals
Personal portals
A personal portal is a site on the World Wide Web that typically provides personalized capabilities to its visitors, providing a pathway to other content. It is designed to use distributed applications, different numbers and types of middleware and hardware to provide services from a number of different sources. In addition, business portals are designed for sharing and collaboration in workplaces. A further business-driven requirement of portals is that the content be able to work on multiple platforms such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cell phones/mobile phones. Information, news, and updates are examples of content that would be delivered through such a portal. [8] Personal portals can be related to any specific topic such as providing friend information on a social network or providing links to outside content that may help others beyond your reach of services. Portals are not limited to simply providing links. Information or content that is placed on the web may create a portal in the sense of a path to new knowledge and capabilities. [8]

News portals
The traditional media rooms all around the world are fast adapting to the new age technologies. This marks the beginning of news portals by media houses across the globe. This new media channels give them the opportunity to reach the viewers in a shorter span of time than their print media counter parts. [8]
Government web portals
At the end of the dot-com boom in the 1990s, many governments had already committed to creating portal sites for their citizens. These included primary portals to the Governments as well as portals developed for specific audiences. [8] Examples of Government web portals include; * australia.gov.au for Australia. * newzealand.govt.nz for New Zealand. * USA.gov for the United States (in English) & GobiernoUSA.gov (in Spanish). * Disability.gov for citizens with disabilities in the United States. * Directgov for citizens & businesslink.gov.uk for businesses in the United Kingdom. * India.gov.in for India. * Europa (web portal) links to all EU agencies and institutions in addition to press releases and audiovisual content from press conferences. * Health-EU portal gathers all relevant health topics from across Europe. * National Resource Directory links to resources for United States Service Members, Veterans and their families (NRD.gov).

Cultural Portals
Cultural portals aggregate digitised cultural collections of galleries, libraries, archives and museums. This type of portals provides a point of access to invisible web cultural content that may not be indexed by standard search engines. Digitised collections can include books, artworks, photography, journals, newspapers, music, sound recordings, film, maps, diaries and letters, and archived websites as well as the descriptive metadata associated with each type of cultural work. These portals are usually based around a specific national or regional grouping of institutions. [8] Examples of cultural portals include: * DigitalNZ – A cultural portal led by the National Library of New Zealand focused on New Zealand digital content. * Europeana – A cultural portal for the European Union based in the National Library of the Netherlands and overseen by the Europeana Foundation. * Trove – A cultural portal led by the National Library of Australia focused on Australian content. * In development - Digital Public Library of America

Corporate Web Portals
Corporate intranets became common during the 1990s. As intranets grew in size and complexity, webmasters were faced with increasing content and user management challenges. A consolidated view of company information was judged insufficient; users wanted personalization and customization. Webmasters, if skilled enough, were able to offer some capabilities, but for the most part ended up driving users away from using the intranet.
Many companies began to offer tools to help webmasters manage their data, applications and information more easily, and through personalized views. Portal solutions can also include workflow management, collaboration between work groups, and policy-managed content publication. Most can allow internal and external access to specific corporate information using secure authentication or single sign-on.
JSR168 Standards emerged around 2001. Java Specification Request (JSR) 168 standards allow the interoperability of portlets across different portal platforms. These standards allow portal developers, administrators and consumers to integrate standards-based portals and portlets across a variety of vendor solutions.
The concept of content aggregation seems to still gain momentum and portal solution will likely continue to evolve significantly over the next few years. The Gartner Group predicts generation 8 portals to expand on the Business Mashups concept of delivering a variety of information, tools, applications and access points through a single mechanism.
With the increase in user generated content, disparate data silos, and file formats, information architects and taxonomist will be required to allow users the ability to tag (classify) the data. This will ultimately cause a ripple effect where users will also be generating ad hoc navigation and information flows.
Corporate Portals also offer customers & employees self-service opportunities. [8]

Stock portals
Also known as stock-share portals, stock market portals or stock exchange portals are Web-based applications that facilitates the process of informing the share-holders with substantial online data such as the latest price, ask/bids, the latest News, reports and announcements. Some stock portals use online gateways through a central depository system (CDS) for the visitors to buy or sell their shares or manage their portfolio. [8]

Search portals
Search portals aggregate results from several search engines into one page. [8]

Tender's portals
Tender's portals stands for a gateway to search/modify/submit/archive data on tenders and professional processing of continuous online tenders. With a tender portal the complete tendering process—submitting of proposals, assessment, administration—are done on the web. Electronic or online tendering is just carrying out the same traditional tendering process in an electronic form, using the Internet. [8]
Using online tendering, bidders can do any of the following: * Receive notification of the tenders. * Receive tender documents online. * Fill out the forms online. * Submit proposals and documents. * Submit bids online.

Hosted web portals
Hosted web portals gained popularity a number of companies began offering them as a hosted service. The hosted portal market fundamentally changed the composition of portals. In many ways they served simply as a tool for publishing information instead of the loftier goals of integrating legacy applications or presenting correlated data from distributed databases. The early hosted portal companies such as Hyperoffice.com or the now defunct InternetPortal.com focused on collaboration and scheduling in addition to the distribution of corporate data. As hosted web portals have risen in popularity their feature set has grown to include hosted databases, document management, email, discussion forums and more. Hosted portals automatically personalize the content generated from their modules to provide a personalized experience to their users. In this regard they have remained true to the original goals of the earlier corporate web portals. Emerging new classes of internet portals called Cloud Portals are showcasing the power of API (Application Programming Interface) rich software systems leveraging SOA (service oriented architecture, web services, and custom data exchange) to accommodate machine to machine interaction creating a more fluid user experience for connecting users spanning multiple domains during a given "session". Leading cloud portals like Nubifer Cloud Portal: showcase what is possible using Enterprise Mashup and Web Service integration approaches to building cloud portals. [8]

Domain-specific portals
A number of portals have come about that are specific to the particular domain, offering access to related companies and services, a prime example of this trend would be the growth in property portals that give access to services such as estate agents, removal firm, and solicitors that offer conveyance. Along the same lines, industry-specific news and information portals have appeared, such as the clinical trials specific portal: IFPMA Clinical Trials Portal. [8]

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively.[7] As per the author of this article, planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal is what management consists of. While resourcing consists of the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. Since organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. This interpretation opens the opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a pre-requisite to attempting to manage others.
In order for a business to succeed handling some of the most important departments are crucial like for example Accounting Department; for controlling and reporting on the financial health of the organization, Communication Department; for managing the flow of information, Financial Department; to deal with monetary decisions, Human Resource Department; for the strategic management of the workforce, Marketing Department; for managing the firm’s marketing resource and activities, and Records Department; for handling records either tangible objects or digital information.
In the article of Management in About.com, John F. Reh wrote that management is both art and science.[4] It is an art that helps people be more effective with your management. The science is in your approach. The author stated that plan, organize, direct, and monitor are the four pillars in management.[2]
Also, in this article, John F. Reh stated that if a number of workers produce the amount of work without a significant increase in output under the management of a manager, then the manager is irrelevant to the company’s growth and its employees. On the other hand, if those workers produce more than they’re supposed to, then the management is said to have its value.[4] In other words, management is making a group of individual more cost-effective.
In the pillars that the author mentioned, basic management skill #1 is PLAN. As management begins with planning, good management begins with good planning. Without a plan you will never succeed.
Now that there’s a plan, you have to make it happen. This is where basic management skill # 2 comes in as stated by the author – ORGANIZE. Do the legwork to make sure everything needed to execute the plan is ready to go, or will be when it is needed. Check back to make sure that everyone understands their role and the importance of their role to the overall success.
Tell people what they need to do. DIRECT – the third pillar of management according to the author John F. Reh.
Now that you have everything moving, you have to keep an eye on things, MONITOR which is John F. Reh’s fourth pillar of management.
This is an iterative process. When something is out of sync, you need to Plan a fix, organize the resources to make it work, Direct the people who will make it happen, and continue to monitor the effect of the change. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The importance of Project Management
Growing project complexity and collapsing service cycles is part of a modern phenomenon faced by large firms.[1] Microsoft, Hard Rock and Bechtel are examples of these firms facing the said phenomenon. This change stems from awareness of the strategic value of time-based competition and quality mandate for continuous improvement. Each new product/service introduction is a unique event-a project. In addition, projects are a common part of our everyday life. We may be planning a wedding or a surprise birthday party, remodeling a house, or preparing a semester-long class project.[1] Scheduling projects is a difficult challenge for operations manager. The stakes in project management are high. Cost overruns and unnecessary delays occur due to poor scheduling and poor controls.
Projects that take months or years to complete are usually developed outside the normal production system. Project organizations within the firm may be set up to handle such jobs and are often disbanded when the project is complete. On other occasions, managers find projects just a part of their job. The management of projects involves three phases:

Planning: This phase includes goal setting, defining the project, and team organization. (see Figure 2.1)

Figure 2.1: Project Planning
Projects can be defined as a series of related tasks directed toward a major output. In some firms a project organization is developed to make sure existing programs continue to run smoothly on a day-to-day basis while new projects are successfully completed.

Scheduling: This phase relates people, money and supplies to specific activities and relates activities to each other. (see Figure 2.2)

Figure 2.2: Project Scheduling
Project scheduling involves sequencing and allotting time to all project activities. At this stage, managers decide how long each activity will take and compute how many people and materials will be needed at each stage of production. Managers also chart separate schedules for personnel needs by type of skill (management, engineering, or pouring concrete, for example). Charts also can be developed for scheduling materials.

Controlling: Here the firm monitors resources, costs, quality, and budgets. It also revises or changes plans and shifts resources to meet time and cost demands. (see Figure 2.3)

Figure 2.3: Project Controlling The control of large projects, like the control of any management system, involves close monitoring of resources, costs, quality, and budgets. Control also means using a feedback loop to revise the project plan and having the ability to shift resources to where they are needed most.

PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Based on the author of this article, as a small business owner, the author knows that the administration of a business can take up a lot of time in terms of the following:

* scheduling appointments * processing payments * running reports * managing clients * managing staff * dealing with supplies and inventory * marketing

For this reason, the author has become very interested in the technology that automates and centralizes these “administrative” activities.
As a photography business owner, the author really loves to take photos. But in order to do what photographers love doing the most, they must administer their business and get new business through marketing.
The author emphasizes that there are necessary tasks like managing appointment schedule, dealing with payments by cheque or cash, and sending out appointment reminders to minimize no-shows. But these tasks do take up a lot of time based on the author’s experience.[5]
In this article, the author also pointed out that unless you shoot exclusively in a studio, you’re likely off-site regularly photographing clients. If you spend a lot of time off-site, it’s tough to administer your business. This is where the photography management software becomes useful. In order to bring your office anywhere with you, you will only need a mobile computer in where you will be installing the software.
In reducing no-shows particularly in photography business, photography business management software is ideal in making sure that clients get informed and reminded of their upcoming appointment.
Database of clients – both past and present, is the user’s true asset in the photography business.[5] Those clients not only provide you work, but refer you to their friends, family, and acquaintances. Your database is your gold and so you must harness that database in order to build your business according to the author of this article.
When you centralize your entire photography business management software, you’re able to centralize your client database – and then leverage that database in all your business management activities.
As per the author of this article, the right centralized software will also make it easy for you to track your client’s referrals, pricing packages, discounts, etc. – all in an effort to increase your sales and offer your clients more choice. Therefore as the author suggested, a good photography business management system should consist of the following:

* Scheduling feature * Pricing packages * Staff management * Automated reminders * Total client data management * Client referral tracking * Financial reporting

SCHEDULING AND SCHEDULING SYSTEMS
In most manufacturing and service industries, an important role is filled in by a decision-making function which is scheduling. Scheduling is applied in procurement and production, in transportation and distribution, and in information processing and communication. A scheduling function typically uses mathematical optimization techniques or heuristic methods to allocate limited resources to the processing of tasks.[6]
According to the author, project scheduling is concerned with a set of activities that are subject to precedence constraints, specifying which jobs have to be completed before a given job is allowed to start its processing. All activities belong to a single (and typically large) project that has to be completed in a minimum time.
The author also emphasizes the role of production or job shop scheduling in manufacturing settings. For example, in semiconductor manufacturing, customer orders have to be accomplished in compliance to the shipping dates that also mean due dates. Each order entails a number of operations that have to be processed on the resources or the machines available. Production scheduling often also includes lot sizing and batching.

Figure 2.4: Schedule Timetabling
Timetabling occurs often in class room scheduling, scheduling of meetings, and reservation systems. (see Figure 2.4) In many organizations, especially in the service industries, meetings must be scheduled in such a way that all necessary participants are present; often other constraints have to be satisfied as well (in the form of space and equipment needed). Such problems occur in schools with classroom and examination scheduling as well as in the renting of hotel rooms and automobiles.
Work-force scheduling (crew scheduling and so on) is increasingly important, especially in the service industries. For example, call centres and many types of businesses require the development of complicated personnel scheduling techniques.[6]
In order to determine satisfactory or optimal schedules, it is helpful to formulate the scheduling problem as a mathematical model. Such a model typically describes a number of important characteristics. One characteristic specifies the number of machines or resources as well as their interrelationships with regard to the configuration, for example, machines set up in series, and machines set up in parallel. A second characteristic of a mathematical model concerns the processing requirements and constraints. These include setup costs and setup times, and precedence constraints between various activities. A third characteristic has to do with the objective that has to be optimized, which may be a single objective or a composite of different objectives. For example, the objective may be a combination of maximizing throughput (which is often equivalent to minimizing setup times) and maximizing the number of orders that are shipped on time.[6]
The scheduling function is often incorporated in a system that is embedded in the information infrastructure of the organization. This infrastructure may be an enterprise-wide information system that is connected to the main databases of the company. Many other decision support systems may be plugged into such an enterprise-wide information system—for example, forecasting, order promising and due date setting, and material requirements planning (MRP).
The database that the scheduling system relies on usually has some special characteristics. It has static data as well as dynamic data. The static data—for example, processing requirements, product characteristics, and routing specifications—are fixed and do not depend on the schedules developed. The dynamic data are schedule-dependent; they include the start times and completion times of all the operations on all the different machines, and the length of the setup times (since these may also be schedule-dependent).
The economic impact of scheduling is significant. In certain industries the viability of a company may depend on the effectiveness of its scheduling systems, for example, airlines and semiconductor manufacturing. Good scheduling often allows an organization to conduct its operations with a minimum of resources.[6]

There are several types of scheduling related to computer: * Instruction Scheduling – is the sequencing of instructions executed by the CPU. * Multitasking (“Process Scheduling”) – is the sharing of a CPU between several processes. * Application Software – is the scheduling that helps organize daily meetings, appointments etc. * Task Scheduling – is the Algorithm to solve the general problem of satisfying time and resource constraints between numbers of tasks.

Under the application software category, an appointment scheduling system aids an office in managing meetings with clients and business partners. Different software packages are available, each with its own set of features that cater to various types of companies or organizations. According to PC World, there are both web-based appointment schedulers and those that are installed on the computer. In terms of feature sets though, both platforms include capabilities which enable users to have intelligent schedule management.[l]
An appointment scheduler automatically sends an email message for every appointment created, cancelled, or changed to better monitor all the activities. Aside from sending an email, clients can also receive email notifications for any change or new activity to ensure that the schedule is synched. According to Microsoft, it’s possible send email reminders to clients and to yourself to help clients remember any upcoming appointment with you. Appointment schedulers also enable users to receive event reminders in their email account, on their cell phone, or as a pop-up in the program’s dashboard. Set how often the reminders are sent and specify the recipients of the reminders. This increases efficiency and ensures that no time is wasted because of forgotten appointments. Appointment schedulers enable users to set when an email reminder is sent to clients. Create the text in the email to project a more customer-focused service.
Appointment scheduling systems integrate all past appointments to come up with a comprehensive report which includes details such as date, time, client name, and outcome of the appointment. This feature lets users track the company’s activities and performance. Download reports in commonly used files such as Excel or in standard HTML format.

CLIENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
The term was in vogue during the late 1990s, but now, though it has not disappeared from use completely, has been replaced by other names such as Customer Data Management, Customer Resource Management, Customer, Knowledge Management or Customer Relationship Management. [4]
Customer Information Management, strictly defined, is concerned purely with the informational aspects of the customer relationship: how to collect, collate and make available that information.[4] Customer Relationship Management goes beyond that and adds a strategy for handling the information in such a way as to enhance the customer experience, and ultimately benefit the business’s bottom line. Customer Information Management could be construed as a subset of Customer Relationship Management, then, and often is, except that some companies try and do CRM without a serious Customer Information Management system. This may be possible if your company is small in scale or operating in some business niche. In most cases, though, when large companies have attempted these ventures, the result has been a miserable failure.

Customer Segmentation

Figure 2.5: Example of Customer Segmentation
Customer Information Management is designed to assist in customer segmentation strategies. Customer segmentation involves analysing customer records to determine which customers are the most profitable. (see Figure 2.6) One of the classic business rules of thumb is called the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle: 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers. A good customer segmentation strategy will accord preferential treatment to the most profitable customers, increasing customer loyalty and therefore customer retention and improving profitability over the long run. It’s a strategy born from another business truism: that it’s easier to retain customers than to win new ones. A good Customer Information Management system creates the informational base on which sophisticated customer segmentation or customer relationship management strategies can be built.
Although it’s a relatively new concept for most businesses, elite luxury hotels have been pursuing similar strategies for some time. Information on the most frequent guests would be assiduously collected and made available to staff internationally, so that personalised welcomes and individually tailored service could be offered each time the guest visited.
Naturally, it is much easier to collate information about customers by means of software systems and a number of vendors now offer Customer Information Management solutions.

Customer Information Management – Data Integrity Issues
Some Customer Information Management applications require users to manually enter data on customers; others simply permit the collation items which are normally produced in the course of doing business, such as emails or invoices. Some packages, of course, offer both facilities. Because of the near-ubiquity of Microsoft Office software in company offices, some Customer Information Management software is designed to interoperate with it.
Data duplication and data inaccuracy are serious concerns for any business which collects large volumes of customer information. Anything from typing mistakes, difficulty in reading bad handwriting or an error made by a customer services operator when talking to a customer over the phone can lead to imprecision in the data held in the company database. Although sometimes, the error may be trivial, ultimately, there can be serious consequences too, ranging from unsuccessful deliveries to failure to spot a bad credit risk at an early stage. For this reason, some customer information management solutions offer the option of integrating the internal customer database with external databases holding large quantities of verified information, such as names, addresses and credit histories. When this option exists, there will often be sophisticated matching routines designed to identify commonalities between records held in the different databases, even when some of the information stored may differ.

Customer Information Management – Putting the Data to Work

Figure 2.6: Uses of customer information
The data collected can be used in any number of ways. (see Figure 2.7) For example, when a call is made to technical support, the support staff should be able to see at a glance the customer’s history with the company, including a display of purchases made and any previous difficulties they may have given rise to. Call centre staff can make use of the information to decide on whether it would be appropriate to make a sales offer to the customer and, if so, which one it should be. In the event of damage to the customer relationship from whatever source, sales staff can peruse the assembled customer information to put together a package designed to restore and renew the customer’s confidence and loyalty.
Some Customer Information Management / Customer Data Management products are geared specifically towards use in certain environments, such as call centres. Some may even dedicate themselves to a specific industry. This allows the developers to add features design to assist business operations in that sector. As well as the standard list of Customer Information Management capabilities, it includes sector-specific features such as route selection and optimization routines. Others are more versatile and designed to be used in a number of contexts.
The rise to mass popularity of the World Wide Web has opened up new dimensions for the use of Customer Information Management. Web-based businesses have greater opportunities both to harvest information about their customers and to use that information to shape the customer experience. In some cases, when a customer visits the company site, unique web pages are generated based on previously gathered data about what it likely to appeal to that specific customer. This approaches the business ideal which lurks at the heart of all the talk of Customer Information Management or Customer Relationship Management: allowing the company to present a different face to every customer, based on the customer’s unique needs, desires and characteristics. [4]

Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology This study used the descriptive method which incorporated quantitative and qualitative methods of research design concerning the proposed system. The researchers will be conducted interviews with a representative from well-known photography studios and freelance photographers to see what they think and what other features they need in the web portal to suit their needs. The data gathered were analyzed and were used to help improve the proposed system. The researchers gathered information and data systematically, accurately and factually from different forms of printed materials such as books and articles from the internet that was essential which further assisted in determining the appropriate solution to the problems.

To gather beneficial data to the study, the researchers used the following instruments: * Literature Review * Library Research * Internet Browsing * Interviewing

Due to a limited number of photography studios geared towards event photo shoots in the area. The researchers mostly interviewed freelance photographers. The researchers also used a structured technique as a way of interviewing respondents. Structured technique is where there will be a standard set of questions that are asked to all candidates.
The researchers used opinion research; a quantitative tactic used to measure the opinions of the people involved which is considered as the qualitative information, through interview / survey.

Software Development Methodology

Figure 3.1: Iterative and Incremental Development Model
In the developmental process of this study, Iterative and Incremental Development Model (see Figure 3.1) were used where the development process was through repeated cycles (Iterative) and in small portions at a time (Incremental). The proponents decided to use this model due to its flexibility. Bugs or flaws in the system were corrected immediately and improvements were added after testing and evaluating the part being developed before working on another part of the proposed system. Having worked with the said model created focus for the programmer since parts of the system were developed, were corrected and, were improved one step at a time until the system was completed.

Planning & Requirements In the first phase of the Iterative and Incremental Development Model, the proponents conducted a survey using a series of questions that focused on the firm and people who will benefit from this study. This method was used to gather information on what features the system must have in order to cater the needs of the respondents to help them in their business and field of work. The proponents determined various stages of the process model and came up with the process chart that was used by the proponents as a guide in the development of the system.
Statistical Treatment of Data In the survey, the proponents adapted the Likert Scale to gain information on their priority or most valued option. The questions for the prospective clients were: 1. “How will you look for a photographer that will cover your planned event?” 2. “How will you rank the following criteria in searching for a photographer?” 3. “If we are going to develop a web portal, what features would you like to be included in the site that you think would be helpful in looking for a photographer?”

Data Analysis
From 10 respondents
Q#1 – 5 out of 10 chose “BY ASKING FRIENDS (REFFERRAL METHOD)” as the most favored way to look for a photographer. 4 out of 10 chose “ONLINE” and 1 out of 10 chose “MAGAZINES / NEWSPAPER ADS”.

Figure 3.2: Preferred Method for Looking for a Photographer

Q#2 – The top ranked criteria in searching for a photographer is the “PRICE”, followed by “PHOTOGRAPHER’S PORTFOLIO”, then “PHOTOGRAPHER’S SPECIALIZATION”, and lastly the “PHOTOGRAPHER’S REPUTATION”.

Figure 3.3: Criteria in Looking for a Photographer: PRICE

Figure 3.4: Criteria in Looking for a Photographer: PORTFOLIO

Figure 3.5: Criteria in Looking for a Photographer: SPECIALIZATION

Figure 3.6: Criteria in Looking for a Photographer: REPUTATION

Q#3 – Most of the respondents answered that “PORTFOLIOS” showing past works and events should be added to the site along with the “PHOTOGRAPHER’S INFORMATION”, “COMMENTS AND RATINGS” from past clients, and their “PACKAGE PRICES”.

Figure 3.7: Features that Potential Clients Would Like to be Add to the Portal

The questions for freelance photographers were: 1. “How will you advertise your photography services?” 2. “What methods do you use in monitoring your client (conversations, transactions, meetings, etc…)? “ 3. “If we are going to develop a Web Portal, what features would you like to be included in the site that you think would be helpful in looking for clients?” Data Analysis From 10 respondents
Q#1 – 7 out of 10 chose “ONLINE” as the most favored way to advertise the photographer’s services. 5 out of 10 chose “BY TELLING FRIENDS (REFERRAL METHOD)” and 2 out of 10 chose “MAGAZINES / NEWSPAPER ADS”.

Figure 3.8: Preferred Method for Advertising Services
Q#2 – The top ranked method in keeping track of schedule, client information and events is by using a “PLANNER”, followed by using an “ONLINE SCHEDULING SYSTEM”, then by taking down “NOTES ON THEIR ORGANIZER”, then by using a “SMART PHONE APPLICATION”, and lastly by “POSTING MEMOS ON A CORKBOARD OR WHITEBOARD”.

Figure 3.9: Criteria in Monitoring Clients, Events and Schedules: TAKING DOWN NOTES IN AN ORGANIZER

Figure 3.10: Criteria in Monitoring Clients, Events and Schedules: USING A PLANNER

Figure 3.11: Criteria in Monitoring Clients, Events and Schedules: POSTING MEMOS ON A WHITEBOARD OR CORKBOARD

Figure 3.12: Criteria in Monitoring Clients, Events and Schedules: USING A SCHEDULING SYSTEM

Figure 3.13: Criteria in Monitoring Clients, Events and Schedules: USING A SCHEDUING SYSTEM
Q#3 – Most of the respondents answered that “PORTFOLIOS” showing past works and events should be added to the site along with “COMMENTS AND RATINGS” from past clients, “SITE RECOMMENDATION BASED ON NUMBER OF VIEWS”, “REPUTATION RATINGS”, and a “CHAT MODULE” for faster response and transaction.

Figure 3.14: Features that Photographers Would Like to Add to the Portal

Software Design
In the second phase of the Iterative and Incremental Development Model, the proponents used the process flow as guide for the data flow process of the system. In this phase, the gathered information in the Planning & Requirement phase through interviews was used to take in consideration the design and features that the proponents needed and suggested to have in the system in order to help them with their business or field of work.

Use Case Diagram (Prospective Client)

Figure 3.2: Use Case Diagram for Prospective Clients The Use Case Diagram (see Figure 3.2), Illustrates the different actions the prospective client can do within the site. Prospective clients that have registered should have their own unique Username and Password for logging-in. Clients can create their profile after first login and edit the information whenever they want. Clients can use the search option to look for freelance photographers and use the filters to narrow down their search. After using the search feature, the screen will be populated with a list of freelance photographers. Clients can click on a photographer from the list to see the photographer’s profile, portfolio, and calendar. After dealing with the photographer, clients can rate the satisfaction level they have experienced with the photographer. Lastly, clients can use the forum for sharing thoughts, insights, and suggestions with the community for the betterment of the site.

Use Case Diagram (Photographer)

Figure 3.3: Use Case Diagram for Freelance Photographers The Use Case Diagram (see Figure 3.3), Illustrates the different actions the freelance photographers can do within the site. Freelance photographers that have registered should have their own unique Username and Password for logging-in. Photographers can create their profile, add portfolios, update their calendar after first login and edit the information whenever they want. Photographers can use the search option to look for prospective clients and use the filters to narrow down their search. After using the search feature, the screen will be populated with a list of prospective clients. Photographers can click on a client from the list to see the client’s profile. Lastly, photographers can use the forum for sharing thoughts, insights, and suggestions with the community for the betterment of the site.

Database Diagram

Figure 3.4: Database Diagram

Site Map

Figure 3.5: Site Map
Sequence Diagram

Figure 3.6: Sequence Diagram

Implementation In the third phase of the Iterative and Incremental Development Model, the proponents worked with the implementation of the features and its functionality into the proposed system with the aid of the information gathered from “Planning and Requirements” phase and by applying the design of the software that the proponents stated in the “Software Design” phase. The system was built using Asp.Net as front-end of the system and MySQL for the back-end.

Testing
In the fourth phase of the Iterative and Incremental Development Model, the proponents used Black-Box Specification-Based Testing. With this method the testers have no knowledge of how the system was coded. The testers aim was to test the functionality of the system according to the applicable requirements. The testers inputted data into, and only saw the output from, the test object. This testing required thorough test cases provided to the testers, who then simply verified if the functionality based on phase 1: Planning & Requirements and phase 2: Software Design was met and was working as expected. The test was functional and non-functional in order to avoid dissatisfaction in the user’s end.
Test Script (Refer to Appendices for the Test Script)

Evaluation In the fifth phase of the Iterative and Incremental Development Model, after testing has been done, the system was evaluated. The proponents prepared a survey for the evaluation of the system respondents answered questions that are related to the following areas: Ease of use; if the website is easy to navigate. Attractiveness; if the website with its buttons, layout and color is appealing to users. Informative; if the website shows real-time and up-to-date results and relevant information. After conducting the survey, the proponents tallied the feedback and used it as a guide for further development of the system.
Statistical Treatment of Data In the survey, the proponents adapted the Likert Scale to gain information on their priority or most valued option. The questions for evaluating the web portal were: 1. Please rate the web portal on the following aspects: * Attractiveness of the design / appearance of the web portal * Efficiency of the web portal’s search engine * User-Friendliness Of The Web Portal 2. Did you get what you wanted from the web portal? 3. How likely are you to recommend the web portal to your family members, friends and colleagues? 4. With the current features shown on the web portal, are there any features that you wish to add so that it could meet the needs of users?

Data Analysis
From 10 respondents

Deployment
In the sixth phase of the Iterative and Incremental Development Model, the proponents published or put the system online to be seen by as many photographers and prospective clients. The proponents also included a user’s guide or help page in order to assist the end-user in the navigation and use of the system.

DELIVERABLES | | | | PHASE | TOOLS | DELIVERABLES | | | | Phase 1: Planning and Requirement | Survey | Survey Result | | Research | Requirement Specification | | | | Phase 2: Software Design | Process Modelling | Data Flow Diagram | | | Use-Case Diagram | | | | Phase 3: Implementation | | Coding | | | Database | | | Prototype | | | Database Schema | | | Program Documentation | | | | Phase 4: Testing | Test Plan / Test Case | Test Result | | Test Data | | | | | Phase 5: Evaluation | Survey | Questionnaire Response | | | | Phase 6: Deployment | | Publish Online | | User Document | User Guide | | | |
Table 3.13 Deliverables

Reference

1. Heizer, Jay & Render, Barry. Operations Management (Ninth Edition). Pearson Education South Asia PTE. LTD, Philippines, 2009. 2. Reh, John F., Management 101 – The Basics of Management. Retrieved January 14, 2012, from About.com: http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/Management101.htm 3. Rivera, Ronda. What are the Features of an Appointment Scheduling System?. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from suite101.com: http://ronda-rivera.suite101.com/what-are-the-features-of-an-appointment-scheduling-system-a323939#ixzz1lCRlSPZd 4. Customer Information Management. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from bestpricecomputers.co.uk: http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/customer-information-management.htm 5. Photography Business Management Software. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from B2Web: http://www.websitetemplatereviews.com/photography-business-management-software 6. Scheduling. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from TheFreeDictionary.com: http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/scheduling
The Outline of Business Management. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_business_management 7. Web Portal. Retrieved March 8, 2012, from Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_portal Chapter 4 CONCLUSION The objective of the proponents is to create a web portal where prospective clients and freelance photographers can meet, introduce their proposal and services, and negotiate. The site has several features that would help reach the main objective: Messaging Module; where prospective clients and freelance photographers can send messages to each other until they have negotiated. Search Module; this feature helps prospective clients to search and zoom-in on a particular photographer based on their specifications. Using the filters, the search will be even more specific and will show more relevant results. Update and Reminder Module; this will remind prospective clients and freelance photographers who have agreed on a date. And visual pop-up alerts that will remind users that they have a message. After conducting a series of test on the site, results show that there were no major errors occurring, no dead buttons, no dead links, no misaligned contents, and all stated features are working as it should.
After letting users evaluate the site. We have found that the site can actually help these people mainly the prospective clients and the freelance photographers in searching for what they need more conveniently, rather than using magazine and newspaper ads or by blindly searching the net.
The proponents therefore conclude that the web portal developed will help future users, both freelance photographers and prospective clients to find each other in the most convenient and efficient way with their own preferences and needs.

Chapter 5 RECOMMENDATION
In upcoming updates, the site will upgrade and use a more appealing and more user-friendly GUI (Graphical User Interface). This will help common people who are not savvy with computers to get the hang of skimming through the site even without instructions. The developers will improve the search features functionality through added filters and more complex matchmaking feature to get the most relevant results according to what the user is searching for. The developers will add an online payment system for faster transactions or reservations using a credit card or an online account like PayPal etc. The developers are also planning to add a module for creating the photographer’s own detailed package price list to compliment the online payment and scheduling module, and also a premium listing where photographers’ profile can be seen on the first page of the list after searching. An advertisement portion will be added to the site when there are enough regular users. These will be a major source of income for the site.

APPENDICES

Web Portal for Freelance Photographers
Name: ______________________________
Signature: ______________________________

Good Day!
We, Firas Ahmed Abdulrahim and John Michael Pena, would like to ask for your participation for the requirement specification and data gathering phase of our proposed system entitled Web Portal for Freelance Photographers.
Please take some time to answer the series of questions that would help us in developing an online system that will be beneficial to both photographers and prospective clients. We appreciate your time and effort.

How will you look for a photographer that will cover your planned event? * Online Search * Magazines / Newspaper Ads * By asking friends (Referral Method) * Others (Please Specify)
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

How will you rank the following criteria in searching for a photographer?
(Please rank the following criteria starting with 1 for your most preferred)
[ ] Price
[ ] Photographer’s Portfolio
[ ] Photographer’s Reputation (Through reviews submitted by former clients)
[ ] Others (Please Specify and Rank)
[ ] ____________________________
[ ] ____________________________
[ ] ____________________________

If we are going to develop a Web Portal, what features would you like to be included in the site that you think would be helpful in looking for a photographer?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Web Portal for Freelance Photographers
Name: ______________________________
Signature: ______________________________

Good Day!
We, Firas Ahmed Abdulrahim and John Michael Pena, would like to ask for your participation for the requirement specification and data gathering phase of our proposed system entitled Web Portal for Freelance Photographers.
Please take some time to answer the series of questions that would help us in developing an online system that will be beneficial to both photographers and prospective clients. We appreciate your time and effort.

How will you advertise your photography services? * Going Online * Magazines / Newspaper Ads * By telling friends (Referral Method) * Others (Please Specify)
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

What methods do you use in monitoring your client (conversations, transactions, meetings, etc…)?
(Please rank the following criteria starting with 1 for your most preferred)
[ ] Writing notes on your organizer
[ ] Using a planner
[ ] Posting memos on a corkboard/whiteboard
[ ] Using an online scheduling system
[ ] Using Smartphone Apps
[ ] Others (Please Specify and Rank)
[ ] ____________________________
[ ] ____________________________

If we are going to develop a Web Portal, what features would you like to be included in the site that you think would be helpful in looking for clients?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Web Portal for Freelance Photographers
Name: ______________________________
Signature: ______________________________

Good Day!
We, Firas Ahmed Abdulrahim and John Michael Pena, would like to ask for your participation for the evaluation phase of our proposed system entitled Web Portal for Freelance Photographers.
Please take some time to answer the series of questions that would help us in developing an online system that will be beneficial to both photographers and prospective clients. We appreciate your time and effort.

Please rate the web portal on the following aspects: * Attractiveness of the design / appearance of the web portal * Very Good * Good * Neither Good Nor Poor * Poor * Very Poor

* Efficiency of the web portal’s search engine * Very Good * Good * Neither Good Nor Poor * Poor * Very Poor * User-Friendliness Of The Web Portal * Very Good * Good * Neither Good Nor Poor * Poor * Very Poor

Did you get what you wanted from the web portal? * Got Everything I Wanted * Got Most Of What I Wanted * Got Some Of What I Wanted * Got None Of What I Wanted

How likely are you to recommend the web portal to your family members, friends and colleagues? * Definitely * Probably * Probably Not * Definitely Not

With the current features shown on the web portal, are there any features that you wish to add so that it could meet the needs of users?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have other comments and / or suggestions regarding the web portal?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Test Script | | | | | | Table 3.1 Default Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "HOME" link | The "HOME" link will be underlined | The "HOME" button will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "ABOUT US" link | The "ABOUT US" link will be underlined | The "ABOUT US" link will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "CONTACT US" link | The "CONTACT US" link will be underlined | The "CONTACT US" link will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "FORUM" link | The "FORUM" link will be underlined | The "FORUM" link will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "ADVANCED SEARCH" link | The "ADVANCED SEARCH" button will be underlined | The "ADVANCED SEARCH" button will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "CLIENT ACCESS" link | The " CLIENT ACCESS" link will be underlined | The " CLIENT ACCESS" link will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "SIGN UP HERE" button | The "SIGN UP HERE" button will be highlighted | The "SIGN UP HERE" button will be highlighted | Changed the backgroud color from none to orange/Passed | Hover on the "SEARCH FOR" drop-down | The "SEARH FOR" drop-down will be highlighted | The "SEARH FOR" drop-down will be highlighted | Added this feature for a precise search/Passed | Hover on the "GO" button | The "GO" button will be underlined | The "GO" button will be underlined | Changed it from a magnifying glass to a GO word/Passed | Hover on the "SEARCH FIELD" | The mouse pointer will change in to cursor pointer. | The mouse pointer will change into cursor pointer. | Passed | Hover on the "ZOOM IN" logo | The mouse pointer will change and will referring to the "ZOOM IN" logo as a link | The mouse pointer will change and will referring to the "ZOOM IN" logo as a link | Passed | Hover on the "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" link | The "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" link will be underlined | The "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" link will be underlined | Passed | Hover on the "SLIDING PICTURES" | The "SLIDING PICTURES" will stop | The "SLIDING PICTURES" will stop | Passed | Hover on the "PHOTOGRAPHER ACCESS" link | The "PHOTOGRAPHER ACCESS" liink will be underlined | The "PHOTOGRAPHER ACCESS" liink will be underlined | Passed | Click on the "HOME" link | The "HOME" page will be displayed | The "HOME" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "ABOUT US" link | The "ABOUT US" page will be displayed | The "ABOUT US" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "CONTACT US" link | The "CONTACT US" page will be displayed | The "CONTACT US" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "FORUM" link | The "FORUM" page will be displayed | The "FORUM" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "ADVANCED SEARCH" button | The "ADVANCED SEARCH" page will be displayed | The "ADVANCED SEARCH" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "CLIENT ACCESS" link | The "CLIENT ACCESS LOGIN" page will be displayed | The "CLIENT ACCESS LOGIN" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on "SIGN UP HERE" button | The "SIGN UP HERE" page will be flashed | The "SIGN UP HERE" page will be flashed | Changed the Sign up here page from a separate page to a flashing page/Passed | Click on the "SEARCH FOR" drop-down | The "SEARH FOR" drop-down will have an option to choose for "Photographer" and "Client" | The "SEARH FOR" drop-down will have an option to choose for "Photographer" and "Client" | Added this feature for a precise search/Passed | Click on the "GO" button | The "SEARCH RESULTS" page will be shown | The "SEARCH RESULTS" page will be shown | Passed | Click on the "SEARCH FIELD" | The "SEARCH FIELD" will have a blinking cursor | The "SEARCH FIELD" will have a blinking cursor | Passed | Click on the "ZOOM IN" logo | The "HOME" page will be displayed | The "HOME" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" link | The "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" page will be shown | The "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" page will be shown | Passed | Click on the "PHOTOGRAPHER ACCESS" link | The "PHOTOGRAPHER ACCESS LOGIN" page will be displayed | The "PHOTOGRAPHER ACCESS LOGIN" page will be displayed | Passed | | | | | | | | | Table 3.2 Sign Up Here | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Enter email address
Confirm email address
Enter password
Confirm Password
Enter full name
Choose account type
Enter captcha code
Click the "Submit" button | The registration successful page should appear and a verification email will be sent before activating the account. | The registration successful page should appear and a verification email will be sent before activating the account. | Passed | Enter an invalid email address | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Enter a valid email and enter a wrong email for confirmation | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Enter a password and enter a wrong password for confirmation | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Enter a name | It will be the permanent name | It will be the permanent name | Passed | Choose "As Client" account type | The user will have an access to the features of the site for clients | The user will have an access to the features of the site for clients | Passed | Choose "As Photographer" account type | The user will have an access to the features of the site for photographers | The user will have an access to the features of the site for photographers | Passed | Enter the wrong captcha code | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Click on the link in the verification email | The account will be validated and can now login | The account will be validated and can now login | Passed | | | | | Table 3.3 Client Access Login | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Enter registered email address
Enter registered password
Click on the "LOGIN" button | Successfully logged in and the client main page will be displayed | Successfully logged in and the client main page will be displayed | Passed | Enter an invalid email address | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Enter an invalid email password | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Hover on the "LOGIN" button | The "LOGIN" button will be highlighted | The "LOGIN" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "FORGOT PASSWORD?"" button | The "FORGOT PASSWORD?" button will be highlighted | The "FORGOT PASSWORD?" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "LOGIN" button | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Login using the Photographer's access | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Click on the "FORGOT PASSWORD?" button | The "FORGOT PASSWORD" page will open | The "FORGOT PASSWORD" page will open | Passed | | | | | Table 3.4 Photographer Access Login | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Enter registered email address
Enter registered password
Click on the "LOGIN" button | Successfully logged in and the photographer main page will be displayed | Successfully logged in and the photographer main page will be displayed | Passed | Enter an invalid email address | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Enter an invalid email password | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Hover on the "LOGIN" button | The "LOGIN" button will be highlighted | The "LOGIN" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "FORGOT PASSWORD?"" button | The "FORGOT PASSWORD?" button will be highlighted | The "FORGOT PASSWORD?" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "LOGIN" button | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Login using the Client's access | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Click on the "FORGOT PASSWORD?" button | The "FORGOT PASSWORD" page will open | The "FORGOT PASSWORD" page will open | Passed | | | | | Table 3.5 Client Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "DASHBOARD" link | The "DASHBOARD" link will be highlighted | The "DASHBOARD" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "INBOX" link | The "INBOX" link will be highlighted | The "INBOX" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "PROFILE" link | The "PROFILE" link will be highlighted | The "PROFILE" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "EDIT PROFILE" link | The "EDIT PROFILE" page will be displayed | The "EDIT PROFILE" page will be displayed | | Hover on the "FORUM" link | The "FORUM" link will be highlighted | The "FORUM" link will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "CLIENT PAGE" link | The "CLIENT PAGE" page will be displayed | The "CLIENT PAGE" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "MESSAGE" link | The "MESSAGE" page will be displayed | The "MESSAGE" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "EDIT PROFILE" link | The "EDIT PROFILE" page will be displayed | The "EDIT PROFILE" page will be displayed | Changed to a popup screen/Passed | Click on the "FORUM" link | The "FORUM" page will be displayed | The "FORUM" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "LOGOUT" link | Takes the user back to the default page | Takes the user back to the default page | Passed | | | | | Table 3.6 Photographer Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "DASHBOARD" link | The "DASHBOARD" link will be highlighted | The "DASHBOARD" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "MESSAGE" link | The "MESSAGE" link will be highlighted | The "MESSAGE" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "EDIT PROFILE" link | The "EDIT PROFILE" link will be highlighted | The "EDIT PROFILE" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "FORUM" link | The "FORUM" link will be highlighted | The "FORUM" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "ADD PORTFOLIO" link | The "VIEW PORTFOLIO" link will be highlighted | The "VIEW PORTFOLIO" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "PORTFOLIO" button | The "PORTFOLIO" link will be highlighted | The "PORTFOLIO" link will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "CALENDAR" button | The "CALENDAR" button will be highlighted | The "CALENDAR" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "DASHBOARD" link | The "DASHBOARD" page will be displayed | The "DASHBOARD" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "MESSAGE" link | The "MESSAGE" page or inbox will be displayed | The "MESSAGE" page or inbox will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "EDIT PROFILE" link | The "EDIT PROFILE" page will be displayed | The "EDIT PROFILE" page will be displayed | Changed to a popup screen/Passed | Click on the "FORUM" link | The "FORUM" page will be displayed | The "FORUM" page will be displayed | Passed | Hover on the "PORTFOLIO" button | The "PORTFOLIO" page will be displayed | The "PORTFOLIO" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the ADD PORTFOLIO" link | Displays the page for uploaded portfolios | Displays the page for uploaded portfolios | Passed | Click on the "CALENDAR" link | The "CALENDAR" page will be displayed | The "CALENDAR" page will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "LOGOUT" link | Takes the user back to the default page | Takes the user back to the default page | Passed | | | | | Table 3.7 Message Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "REPLY" button | The "REPLY" button will be highlighted | The "REPLY" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "VIEW PROFILE" button | The "VIEW PROFILE" button will be highlighted | The "VIEW PROFILE" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "MARK IT READ" button | The "MARK IT READ" button will be highlighted | The "MARK IT READ" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "DELETE" button | The "DELETE" button will be highlighted | The "DELETE" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "REPLY" button | The window for your message will be displayed | The window for your message will be displayed | Passed | Hover on the "SEND" button | The "SEND" button will be highlighted | The "SEND" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "SEND" button | The message will be uploaded and sent | The message will be uploaded and sent | Passed | Click on the "VIEW PROFILE" link | The profile popup of the sender will be displayed | The profile popup of the sender will be displayed | Changed to a popup screen/Passed | Click on the "MARK IT READ" button | The message will be marked as read | The message will be marked as read | Passed | Click on the "DELETE" button | The message will be deleted | The message will be deleted | Passed | | | | | Table 3.8 Edit Profile Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "BROWSE" button | The "BROWSE" button will be highlighted | The "BROWSE" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "UPLOAD" button | The "UPLOAD" button will be highlighted | The "UPLOAD" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "EMPLOYMENT STATUS" radio buttons | Each radio button will be highlighted without moving the solid circle | Each radio button will be highlighted without moving the solid circle | Passed | Hover on the "COURSE" drop down menu | The menu will not be displayed | The menu will not be displayed | Passed | Hover on the "INDUSTRY" drop down menu | The menu will not be displayed | The menu will not be displayed | Passed | Hover on the "UPDATE" button | The "UPDATE" button will be highlighted | The "UPDATE" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "BROWSE" button | The explorer window will open for you to choose the image file to upload | The explorer window will open for you to choose the image file to upload | Passed | Click on the "UPLOAD" button | The chosen image file will be uploaded and displayed as profile picture | The chosen image file will be uploaded and displayed as profile picture | Passed | Click on any "EMPLOYMENT STATUS" radio button | The solid circle indicator will be placed on the clicked radio button | The solid circle indicator will be placed on the clicked radio button | Passed | Click on the "COURSE" drop down menu | Displays a list of courses, then click to choose | Displays a list of courses, then click to choose | Passed | Click on the "INDUSTRY" drop down menu | Displays a list of industry type, then click to choose | Displays a list of industry type, then click to choose | Passed | Click on the "UPDATE" button | Save the information entered inside the edit profile | Save the information entered inside the edit profile | Passed | | | | | Table 3.9 Forum Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "POST" button | The "POST" button will be highlighted | The "POST" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "REPLY" button | The "REPLY" button will be highlighted | The "REPLY" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "VIEW PROFILE" button | The "VIEW PROFILE" button will be highlighted | The "VIEW PROFILE" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "NEXT" link | The "NEXT" link will be highlighted | The "NEXT" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "LAST" link | The "LAST" link will be highlighted | The "LAST" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "SET RATING" link | The "SET RATING" link will be highlighted | The "SET RATING" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "POST" button | The message will be uploaded and sent | The message will be uploaded and sent | Passed | Click on the "POST" button without a "SUBJECT" | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed | Click on the "REPLY" link | The window for your reply to the specific message will be displayed | The window for your reply to the specific message will be displayed | Passed | Hover on the "SEND" button | The "SEND" button will be highlighted | The "SEND" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "SEND" button | The message will be uploaded and sent | The message will be uploaded and sent | Passed | Click on the "VIEW PROFILE" link | The profile page of the sender will be displayed | The profile page of the sender will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "NEXT" link | The next page of the forum will be displayed | The next page of the forum will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "LAST" link | The previous page of the forum will be displayed | The previous page of the forum will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "SET RATING" link | The rating window will appear | The rating window will appear | Passed | | | | | Table 3.10 Add Portfolio Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "BROWSE" button | The "BROWSE" button will be highlighted | The "BROWSE" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "POST" button | The "POST" button will be highlighted | The "POST" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "BROWSE" button | The explorer window will open for you to choose the image file to upload | The explorer window will open for you to choose the image file to upload | Passed | Click on the "POST" button | The chosen image file and the information written on the text editor will be uploaded and displayed | The chosen image file and the information written on the text editor will be uploaded and displayed | Passed | Add another portfolio | The limit is 5 uploaded portfolios | The limit is 5 uploaded portfolios | Passed | Add a photo for the portfolio | The first photo will be the cover photo | The first photo will be the cover photo | Passed | | | | | Table 3.11 Search Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "SEARCH" button | The "SEARCH" button will be highighted | The "SEARCH" button will be highighted | Passed | Hover on the "GO BACK TO PROFILE" page | The "GO BACK TO PROFILE" page will be highlighted | The "GO BACK TO PROFILE" page will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "SEARCH" button using "CLIENT" on the drop-down menu | A list of clients will be displayed on the screen | A list of clients will be displayed on the screen | Passed | Click on the "SEARCH" button using "PHOTOGRAPHER" on the drop-down menu | A list of photographers will be displayed on the screen | A list of photographers will be displayed on the screen | Passed | Click on the "GO BACK TO PROFILE" button | The user will return to the profile page | The user will return to the profile page | Passed | | | | | Tabe 3.12 Calendar Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "PREVIOUS" button | The "PREVIOUS" button will be highlighted | The "PREVIOUS" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on the "NEXT" button | The "NEXT" button will be highlighted | The "NEXT" button will be highlighted | Passed | Hover on a cell | The cell will be highlighted | The cell will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "PREVIOUS" button | The previous page / dates will be displayed | The previous page / dates will be displayed | Passed | Click on the "NEXT" button | The next page / dates will be displayed | The next page / dates will be displayed | Passed | Click on a cell | A window for entering the schedule and event information will be displayed | A window for entering the schedule and event information will be displayed | Passed | | | | | Table 3.13 Forgot Password Page | | | | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Remark | Hover on the "SEND PASSWORD" button | The "SEND PASSWORD" button will be highlighted | The "SEND PASSWORD" button will be highlighted | Passed | Click on the "SEND PASSWORD" button | The password will be sent via email | The password will be sent via email | Passed | Enter an invalid email | An error message will appear | An error message will appear | Passed |

Screenshots

Default Page

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Successful Registration Page for the Client

Successful Registration Page for the Photographer

Client Login Page

Photographer Login Page

Client Home Page

Photographer Home Page

Client Message Page

Photographer Message Page

Client Access Forum

Photographer Access Forum

Portfolio Page

Photographer Add Portfolio Page

Photographer Schedule / Calendar Page

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Public Forum Page with Rating

Search Page

Forgot Password Page

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