20 Common Mistakes in �Chapter 3

By: Dr. Muhammad Izzad Ramli

METHODOLOGY SELECTION

Selecting an inappropriate methodology like Prototyping or Spiral for projects that no iteration conducted.

FLOWCHART TERMINATORS

Failing to include the essential 'Start' and 'End' terminators, which creates ambiguity in the flowchart's entry and exit points.

LOGICAL CONTINUITY

Leaving disconnected arrows in flowcharts that fail to lead to a subsequent process or terminal shape.

NAVIGATION LOGIC

Neglecting to use the decision diamond shape to represent menu navigation and conditional branching in system flowcharts.

VISUAL CLARITY

Designing flowcharts that are unnecessarily long and cluttered, making the process logic difficult for the evaluator to follow.

SYSTEM COMPLEXITY

Presenting a system architecture that is oversimplified and lacks the technical depth required to understand component interaction.

USE CASE NAMING

Failing to use active verbs when naming use cases, leading to vague labels that do not represent system actions.

UML RELATIONSHIPS

Misapplying 'Include' and 'Extend' arrows, resulting in logical errors regarding the dependency and optionality of functions.

SCOPE MANAGEMENT

Including an excessive number of actors and features that far exceed the manageable scope of a Final Year Project.

INTERFACE DESIGN

Providing UI designs that remain as simple wireframes instead of high-fidelity, polished, and realistic system interfaces.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Listing hardware and software requirements without including specific versions and technical specifications relevant to the project.

TESTING STRATEGY

Failing to specify at least two distinct testing methods and failing to explain how each will be conducted.

PROJECT PLANNING

Forgetting to include milestones or setting a 12-month timeline when the project duration is typically shorter.

CONTENT BALANCING

Over-elaborating on maintenance and deployment phases, which require only minimal discussion in the Chapter 3 methodology.

SCHEMA DESIGN

Failing to include an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) to illustrate the logical data structure of the system.

DATA SPECIFICATION

Omitting the essential Data Dictionary required for projects involving structured database management systems.

FUNCTIONAL MAPPING

Failing to map every use case function to a specific, detailed test case in the functionality testing documentation.

DECISION JUSTIFICATION

Describing methodology steps descriptively without providing the academic justification for why those methods were chosen.

FORMAL CONSISTENCY

Failing to maintain consistent naming conventions and figure numbering for all diagrams throughout the chapter.

DESIGN GROUNDWORK

Jumping directly into the design phase while neglecting a rigorous and well-documented Requirement Analysis phase.

Q & A