Section 15: Evaluating the solution

1. Section 15: Evaluating the solution Evaluation

2. Stage 4 Evaluation 7 marks Strengths  Weaknesses  Areas for improvement  Evaluation criteria  Client / user needs  Own performance

3. Strengths  Weaknesses  Areas for improvement Strengths and weaknesses • It is tough to work so hard on a system and then have to criticise it, but criticism can be constructive. This section of the project, worth 2 marks, should cover: • Strengths – what your system does well, which client needs were met in full • Weaknesses – what your system does less well or fails to do at all, needs that were not completely fulfilled • What you would improve given more time or the ability to start all over again

4. Evaluation criteria  Client needs  User needs Evaluation criteria and client needs • This section of the project, worth 2 marks, involves evaluating: • how well your solution meets the evaluation criteria you set during analysis • whether or not you have met all the needs of the client and the users • whether you produced all the deliverables you defined during analysis. Remember – the whole point of producing the system is to meet your client’s needs. You need to evaluate to what extent you have done so.

5. Strengths  Weaknesses  Strategies for improvement Own performance • This section of the project, worth 3 marks, is about your own performance – not always an easy thing to judge! Try to cover: • your strengths – what did you do well and what new skills have you learned? • your weaknesses – where do you think you let yourself down? • strategies for improvement – what have you learned about yourself and the way you work that will help you perform well in future projects?

6. Hints and Tips • Section 8 of the AS level book may help you with this exercise. • This exercise involves being realistic and is not an opportunity to whinge or make excuses! • If your original criteria were clear and objective, this section is much easier. • Aren’t you glad you gathered lots of evidence of client approval along the way?!

7. Judge for yourself... Which of these is better? “…I should have started testing earlier but revision for the mock got in the way. I didn’t know what test data to use and Mr. Z forgot to send some examples of year 7 test responses…”. or “More time needed to be allowed for testing. In fact, some of the preliminary testing could have been carried out as sections were being developed instead of just being tested as a whole later on. Acquiring realistic test data should have been an early priority to give the client/user time to find test cases that show the day-to-day operation of the business. From these test cases, I could have developed further examples for testing. More emphasis needed to be put on extreme cases and validation of inputs at an earlier stage as some unexpected extreme cases arose during user testing that exposed problems with the system. In future, more test cases with extreme and erroneous data need to be developed during the design stage. The users are bound to have examples that have arisen during previous years with the old system.” Back