Lesson video

Hello and welcome to Computing.

My name is Mrs. Holborow.

I'm so pleased you've decided to join me for the lesson today.

In today's lesson, we're going to be developing testing documentation, and then evaluating a completed project.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit, Using IT in project management.

This lesson is called Evaluate Your Project, and by the end of today's lesson you will be able to develop testing documentation to demonstrate how the product has been tested and use this test data to evaluate a completed project.

Shall we make a start? We will be using these keywords throughout today's lesson.

Let's take a look at them together now.

Evaluation.

Evaluation: reflecting on what has been done well and what could be improved.

Test plan.

Test plan: a planned list of things to check to ensure something is working as expected.

Look out for these keywords throughout today's lesson.

Today's lesson is broken down into two parts.

We'll start by Developing testing documentation and then we'll move on to Evaluate a completed project.

Let's make a start by Developing testing documentation.

Now that you have completed the execution stage of the project, you're going to start thinking about the evaluation stage.

I have a quick question for you to check your understanding.

Before you start the final evaluation, what do you need to do first? Think back to the Delicious Desserts project.

Do you A: need to complete the SMART goals? B: develop testing documentation? Or C: finalise the feasibility report? Pause the video whilst you have a think about your answer.

Did you say B? Well done.

Before you start the final evaluation, you need to develop testing documentation.

What can you do to check that the products are fit for purpose? By fit for purpose, we mean they do what they are intended to do.

The answer to this is testing.

You can create a testing table for the sales sheet and you can obtain feedback for the poster and business card.

This is just another form of testing.

Time to check your understanding.

I have a true or false statement for you.

Testing should be done during and at the end of a project.

Is this true or false? Pause the video whilst you have a think.

Did you say true? Well done.

Why is it true? It's good practise to test projects during and at the end of a project.

In the sales sheet example, it would be helpful to address any issues that arise during the creation of the tool.

Then do a final check to ensure everything is working as a whole.

Testing tables can be used to check that everything works properly in a digital tool.

A testing table includes: the test type, the expected results, the actual outcome of the test, and what changes were made as a result, if any.

You can use a testing table to organise the test you will carry out on the sales spreadsheet.

So here's an example of a table.

We have the test number, we have the test where we'll include a description of the test, the expected result, the actual result, and any changes that may need to be made.

For example, for test number one, we could check that when you input values into the "in stock on-site" and "number of items sold" cells, the value in "out of stock on-site" is equal to "in stock on-site" minus the "number of items sold." So the correct calculation is being performed.

The expected result for test one.

For example, if "in stock on-site" was 10 and the number of items sold was eight, the value in the "out of stock on-site" column should be equal to two.

The actual result, we can enter the values into the spreadsheet and check that the out of stock on-site calculates the correct value.

Does this work for the whole column? So you can see here we've entered the test data and the column where it says number of items sold is equal to two.

So it's done the formula correctly.

Are there any changes to be made? In this instance, the formulas work well, so there are no changes that are needed.

You can't test the poster and business card in the same way as the sales spreadsheet.

Instead, you can gain feedback from people by asking questions and making changes as needed.

Okay, we're moving on to our first task of today's lesson.

Task A.

For part one, identify a minimum of five tests for the sales sheet and add these to your testing table.

For part two, state what you expect to happen.

So what is the expected result? For part three, record the outcome of the test and what, if any, changes were made.

And then for part four, ask a minimum of five questions to gain feedback on your poster and business card and reflect on any changes you may need to make.

Your questions could include things like: Does it meet the requirements? Does it look appealing? Pause the video here whilst you complete the task.

How did you get on? Did you manage to complete your testing table? Great work.

Let's have a look at this sample answer together.

So here I have Aisha and she's added test number one to her test table.

So this is the example we used previously in the deck.

So we've got does out of stock on-site calculate in stock on-site minus number of items sold? The expected result is the "out of stock on-site" value will show "in stock on-site" minus number of items sold.

It may also change colour based on the conditional formatting if the "out of stock on-site" is greater than zero to show there is stock available.

The actual result is that all values within the "out of stock on-site" column are changed correctly.

So no changes are needed.

Let's have a look at Aisha's test number two.

This time the test is, is the sale price 33% more than the cost price? 'Cause remember, we want to make 33% profit on each item.

The expected result is that each sale price will be 33% more than the cost price.

In the actual result, Aisha says, "I checked that the profit added per item was 33% of the cost price and then added them together to see if they equaled the value in the sales price column.

The profit added per item column worked okay.

The first formula in the sales price column worked, but the rest were incorrect." So Aisha needed to make some changes here.

"I need to drag the top formula down the sales price column to ensure the formula works in all cells." Let's now have a look at some poster feedback.

So, Andeep has given Aisha some feedback.

Andeep says, "I think Aisha tried really hard to stick to the house style." Sam says, "I think that the white writing at the bottom of the page is quite small and difficult to read" So some changes to consider here are maybe to increase the text size of the white writing at the bottom of the page.

That's a really useful suggestion there from Sam.

Let's now have a look at the business card feedback.

Andeep says, "I think Aisha could improve this further by adding some photos, a little bit like the poster to show examples of the obstacles." That's a good suggestion, Andeep.

Sam says, "It matches the house style of the poster really well and covers everything listed in the brief." So some changes to consider; adding photos to match the style of the poster, to show examples of the equipment used.

Did you have some similar feedback? Did you have any changes to consider? Remember if you need to pause the video whilst you go back and revisit any of your feedback, you can do that now.

Okay, we are moving on to the second part of today's lesson where we are going to evaluate a completed project.

Has the project been successful? Maybe pause the video whilst you think about that question.

How do you know whether you have met the user requirements outlined in the feasibility report you created during the initiation stage? To see whether your project has been a success, you can look back at your SMART goals and planning tool to see if you've completed everything you set out to do before you carry out the final evaluation.

Make sure that your Gantt or PERT chart shows which tasks are being completed.

This will help you to make a judgement about whether you've completed all of the project tasks.

So remember, you were provided with a template for the Team Outdoor Obstacles Gantt chart or PERT chart.

This will help you to see the progress you've made across the life of the project.

Your final evaluation will start by stating what the project was for.

In this instance, the Team Outdoor Obstacles scenario.

As you saw previously in the Delicious Desserts project, the final evaluation is a summary of each stage of the project lifecycle.

Time to check your understanding.

Can you recall each stage of the project lifecycle? Maybe pause the video whilst you have a think.

Did you remember each stage? Let's check.

So the first stage is initiate.

The second stage is plan.

The third stage is execute, and the final stage is evaluate.

At each stage you'll consider: one, what went well, two, what could have been improved, and three, how to implement these improvements.

You will then write a conclusion stating whether the user requirements have been met or not.

Finally, you will give recommendations to follow for future projects.

Time to check your understanding.

I have a true or false statement for you.

Reviewing the original objectives helps you to determine whether the project met its goals and delivered what was promised.

Is this true or false? Pause the video whilst you have a think.

That's right, it's true.

Well done.

But why is it true? The original objectives define the user requirements.

If these have been met, then the client should be happy and the project will be a success.

Okay, we're moving on to our final task of today's lesson, Task B.

For part one, use your Gantt or PERT chart to indicate completed tasks.

So which tasks have you managed to do and which ones maybe you haven't quite got round to doing? Two, write your final evaluation by addressing the following: A: the project scope.

So what was the project about? Remember, somebody reading your evaluation might not know anything about the project, so you need to give them a good idea of what you set out to achieve.

B: the initiation stage.

What did you do for this stage? C: project planning.

How did you go about planning the project? Did you use a Gantt chart or a PERT chart? D: the execution stage.

What resources did you use and how successful were the outcomes? E: the conclusion.

So summarise the stages of the project.

And then finally your recommendations.

What could be improved and why? Pause the video here whilst you complete the task.

How did you get on with your evaluation? I'm sure you've done a great job, so well done.

Let's look at some sample answers together.

So here we've got Aisha, and this is Aisha's section on the project scope.

"Team Outdoor Obstacles is an established business that provides inflatable obstacles for organisations to use when completing team building activities.

Following feedback from participants in these team building events, TOO have decided to extend the services they offer to club competitive events and charitable fundraisers." That's a really good project scope, Aisha.

It gives somebody who may not know about the project, a really clear understanding of what you are trying to do.

Let's look at Aisha's initiation stage.

"During the initiation stage, I became more familiar with what the project was all about by analysing the project brief.

I identified the following user requirements: One, create a merchandise sales spreadsheet.

Two, create an advertising poster.

Three, create a business card.

I then created documents in the form of a feasibility study to see if the project was viable.

I identified constraints and how to mitigate them.

Finally, I created my SMART goals." Do you remember doing all of those steps? Let's have a look at Aisha's planning stage.

"In the planning stage, I outlined each of the project's aims and how these would be met.

I then used a PERT chart to map out the SMART goals and added in the timings for the project.

I chose a PERT chart as I've used them before and I like the way it's very visual, linking the task dependencies with arrows.

It was helpful to start from a template as I could just adapt what was there." Let's have a look at the execution stage.

"Within the execution stage, I used the spreadsheet template to complete the sales sheet in Google Sheets.

It was helpful to work through the testing table as there were a few things I had to tweak.

I created the poster and business card using Canva, which I really enjoyed.

Gaining feedback on my designs gave me some great ideas on how to make my work better in the future." Let's have a look at Aisha's conclusion.

"In conclusion, I hit all of the project aims within the given timeframe.

I found that planning the poster and business card before using a device really enabled me to think carefully about the content rather than the technology.

The feedback about the posters and business card was really helpful.

Although I haven't had time to make these changes, If time permits, I can do some editing to improve my work further." Let's finally have a look at Aisha's recommendations.

"I would recommend Canva as a tool for creating visual designs.

Uploading the predefined images was easy and I could copy and paste parts of my design from one document to the other to ensure continuity within brand or house style.

I think it made the designs look really professional and I was proud with what I created." Okay, we've come to the end of today's lesson, Evaluate Your Project.

Let's summarise what we've learned together in this lesson.

Creating a test plan helps you to outline what needs to be tested, who will do it, when it will happen, and how success will be measured.

Performing tests helps to see which part of the system work and which parts may need to be improved or modified.

Reviewing the original objectives helps you to determine whether the project met its goals and delivered what was promised.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and I hope you'll join me again soon.

Bye.