I did quite a bit of analysis work on this project last winter, and I even got some documentation done. I've been thinking about this project off and on for the last six months. I've considered a number of different designs, and I now have a clear idea of how I want the software to look.
This week, I spent some time on creating some UI prototypes, writing the Phase 1 Scope document, and fleshing out the first use cases for creating, reading, updating, and deleting users. I also finalized the entity-relationship diagram for the database.
Phase 1 Scope Document. I have big plans for this software, but I need to be realistic about what I'll actually be able to accomplish this summer. Phase 1 will include the minimum functionality for chapters to register students for conferences. Eventually, I'd like to add functionality for judges, schedules, locations, and scoring, but that will probably have to wait until next summer.
Entity Relationship Diagram. I don't have Visio, so I'm using Access to create my ERD. I tried using an open source product called MySQL Workbench, but I was using a beta version which was too buggy to be useful. The actual database will run on a MySQL engine, but Access provides some acceptable (not great) diagramming tools.
UI Prototypes. I have the basic template done, as well as some mock-ups of reports and add/edit forms.
Use Cases. I'll be using agile methods to create this software, but documentation is still important, even for a single-developer project. Designing this software is an iterative process; the use cases I wrote are meant as a starting point.
Since it's the first week of my summer break, I decided to take a full day off today and not work on the project. I'm away this weekend and will pick up the work on Monday. I'm satisfied with the progress I've made so far.
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