Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Jones, and I'm really pleased you decided to join this lesson today.

In this lesson, we will look at interpreting and analysing a project brief to ensure you have clear and exact requirements to fulfil throughout the project.

You'll be looking at a specific project called StreamScheduler.

So let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called The Project Brief from the unit, Python Programming Project.

And by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to interpret and analyse a project brief to extract clear, actionable requirements for a programming project.

There are two keywords to today's lesson: project brief.

Project brief is a document that outlines the goals, scope, and requirements of a project.

Functional requirements.

Functional requirements: these define the specific actions or behaviours that a software system or application must perform.

There are two sections to today's lesson.

The first is Identify key components of a project brief and the second, Identify functional requirements.

So let's start with Identify key components of a project brief.

The SDLC, software development lifecycle, defines the main stages of software development.

There are many different approaches to software development and most development teams use an iterative approach where stages are combined and revisited throughout the project.

And those stages are analysis, design, build, testing, evaluation.

The first stage of the SDLC is the analysis stage.

This stage of a project focuses on understanding and defining the user requirements.

It is usually carried out by a systems analyst.

The systems analyst works very closely with the client to make sure that their requirements are fully understood.

Let's have a quick check.

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentence.

The first stage of the SDLC is the blank stage.

This stage of a project focuses on understanding and defining the user blank.

Pause the video to consider the missing words, and then we'll go through the answers.

Let's check your answers.

The first stage of the SDLC is the analysis stage.

This stage of a project focuses on understanding and defining the user requirements.

Well done if you got that correct.

The outputs of the analysis stage include: problem definition, which is a clear definition of the problem; system requirements or objectives, and this is a clear description of what the system needs to do, and these should be SMART targets.

Over the course of this project, you will be developing a computer programme for a project called StreamScheduler, which will help a content creator plan their game review stream.

The next few slides will outline the project brief.

A content creator is preparing a live stream where they review a series of upcoming games to people online.

They want a computer programme that will help them to plan the duration of their stream.

The programme will ask for the total duration of the stream and how long they will spend reviewing each game.

Once the total review time reaches the planned stream time, the schedule is complete.

The programme will also choose a random time during the stream to display a discount code to the viewers as a giveaway.

And let's have a quick check.

Which of the following are features of the StreamScheduler project? A: ask for the total duration of the stream? B: display a like and subscribe message every two minutes? C: choose a random time to display a discount code? Pause the video to consider your answer, and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer was A and C.

Ask for the total duration of the stream and choose a random time to display a discount code.

Well done if you got that correct.

There are some assumptions about the system you can make.

The duration of the stream will be entered in minutes and stored as seconds.

The duration of the stream will be between 20 and 40 minutes.

The duration of each game review will be entered in seconds.

The programme will choose a random time to display a discount code for viewers to use as a giveaway.

Let's do the activity.

Write a short introduction to identify the key components of the StreamScheduler project, and as a tip, write your introduction as if you are a systems analyst who is finding out as much information about the project as possible to pass on to a team of software developers who do not know anything about the project or the user requirements.

Pause the video, go back through the slides, use your worksheet and then we'll go through an answer.

Let's have a look at an answer.

The StreamScheduler programme will help the content creator plan their game review stream.

The programme will ask for the total duration of the stream and how long they will spend reviewing each game.

The duration of the stream will be entered in minutes and stored as seconds.

The duration of the stream will be between 20 and 40 minutes.

The duration of each game review will be entered in seconds.

Once the total review time reaches the planned stream duration, the schedule is complete and the content creator will be informed that enough games have been entered for the stream.

The programme will choose a random time in the stream to display a discount code for viewers to use as a giveaway.

Well done if you've got that correct.

Let's move on to the second part of today's lesson, Identify functional requirements.

Functional requirements define the specific actions or behaviours that a software system or application must perform.

These requirements will help clarify the functionality of the programme and identify the features to be implemented.

They will also help you evaluate whether the system meets its intended purpose after the development is complete.

The functional requirements should cover the main ways in which users will use the programme.

Functional requirements are defined in this project in terms of inputs, processes, and outputs.

Many computer programmes process data that is input by a user.

Once data has been processed, the results will be output.

Outputs can come in many forms, such as information displayed on a screen, sound from a speaker, or printed copy.

And you can see the diagram here.

Something is input.

It is processed using storage, and then it is output.

When looking at the functional requirements for a programme, you should consider: Inputs: What data will the user input into the programme? Processes: How will the data be processed? What operations or calculations will be performed? Outputs: What will be output from the programme? What type of data will be output and how will it appear? Let's do a quick check.

Replace the missing labels from the diagram.

You can see we have input and storage here, but two are blank.

Pause the video to consider what are the two missing labels, and then we'll go through the answer.

Let's check your answer.

The answer is the input, then process, then output.

Well done if you've got that correct.

The inputs for the StreamScheduler programme are: the user inputs the total duration of the stream in minutes; the user inputs the name of each game to be reviewed; the user inputs the review duration for each game in seconds.

Let's have a quick check.

What are the benefits of listing the inputs, processes, and outputs before designing or implementing a programme? Pause the video to consider your answer and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

Listing the inputs, processes and outputs before coding helps you clearly understand what the programme needs to do, avoid mistakes and save time later.

It breaks the problem into smaller steps, making it easier to solve and explain to others.

Well done if you've got that correct.

Let's do the activity.

Using the information you have been given about the StreamScheduler project, finish identifying the functional requirements for the system.

Identify the processes, and then identify the outputs.

Pause the video, go back through the slides, use your worksheet and then we'll go through the answers.

Let's check your answers.

The processes for the StreamScheduler programme are: 2.

1: Store the total duration of the stream.

2.

2: Convert the total duration to seconds.

2.

3: Store the names of the games being reviewed and their durations.

2.

4: Store the running total of games reviewed.

2.

5: Validate that running time is between 20 and 40 minutes.

2.

6: Stop asking for more games once total review time is more than or equal to stream duration.

2.

7: Randomly select a time from total stream time to display discount code giveaway.

Those are the processes, now let's look at the outputs.

The outputs for the StreamScheduler programme are: 3.

1: Display the total number of games reviewed.

3.

2: Display the name and duration of each game reviewed.

3.

3: Indicate the time when the discount code will be given away during the stream.

3.

4: Display the total planned stream duration in minutes and seconds.

Well done if you got those correct.

In summary, a project brief explains what the programme should do.

Analysing a brief means looking closely at the information to understand exactly what the project needs to achieve.

Functional requirements describe what the programme should do like inputs, outputs, processes, and key features.

Well done for completing this lesson, The Project Brief.