Term Project Overview

This course is built around a term project that each of you will complete to integrate and apply your understanding of GISystem design in the context of an application scenario you choose. You will select ONE project option from the list below and complete a system design proposal. To a large degree, you will have the freedom to shape the specifics of your term project around a GISystem context that you desire. I hope that this allows you to either focus on a topic related to your day-to-day work or choose an area that sparks your curiosity.

As you will see below, all project options focus on a “design” and/or “plan” for something (a revised, extended, or completely new system for a specific application domain). Thus, your term project for this course will not be a finished product (i.e., you will not implement a new GISystem or carry out a full assessment or usability study of some existing system), instead you will produce a formal plan for such a product. A good way to conceptualize the term project that you will submit at the end of the term (following an iterative process of preliminary steps and feedback on each) is as a proposal appropriate for submission to a decision maker or funding agency, who would evaluate and decide whether or not to support/fund the idea.

A critical component of any successful proposal is to ground the planned work in relevant existing knowledge/guidelines. Thus, we will work through a series of steps in weekly lessons designed to provide you with (or reinforce existing) knowledge related to multiple aspects of geospatial system analysis and design, along with strategies for leveraging literature and other resources from academia, government, and industry that can help you fill in knowledge gaps specific to your chosen design/plan target. The set of activities in the lessons, along with feedback on your in-progress work, will enable you to end up with a well-organized, well-grounded design/plan that would be convincing to decision-makers judging whether or not to support doing what you propose.

Each week, you will notice at least one page of the lesson dedicated to a goal or assignment associated with your term project. Each week, you will also have one graded deliverable related to your final project. I've developed a project schedule that is designed to make sure you make steady progress on the term project and that also ensures that we have one full round of draft editing to refine your work.

Term Project Options

Here are five options you have for your term project. You should choose one of these options. If you have another project idea in mind that you think would work well, send me a note so we can talk about it. Your idea may be an excellent alternative to these pre-canned options,

• OPTION 1: A GISystem design proposal that incorporates the use of mobile devices to access and update geospatial data from the field in real-time.
• OPTION 2: A design proposal to audit a GISystem with the goal of proposing changes that will improve system functionality.
• OPTION 3: A design proposal for a GISystem application that serves the needs of a professional niche (e.g., forest management, city planning, etc…).
• OPTION 4: A design proposal that incorporates the use of a web portal to access and update geospatial data
• OPTION 5: A design proposal to apply Artificial Intelligence/ Deep Learning to established geospatial products and services.

Term Project Outline

1. Executive Summary: The Executive Summary (abstract) should motivate readers to study the full report. The executive summary is a short, powerful synopsis of the report, highlighting important needs, presenting key features of the proposed solution, and listing the significant benefits of the solution. It should be less than one page in length, address issues of greatest interest to decision makers, including pivotal technical and business merits of the conceptual design, and it should recommend desired responses to the proposal.
2. Table of Contents: The table of contents is a list, usually before the start of a written work, of the section titles with their commencing page numbers.
3. Background: This background section provides a background of the problem, explains the current situation, identifies the proposed solution to the problem, and provides of the overall objectives of the design and proposal. You will write this like a literature review and have sources/citations (around 10).
4. Needs Assessment: The Needs Assessment section discusses the different users of the system and how each of the users will be involved in the design project. This section also describes the different needs assessment options, which one you chose and why, and how you will implement the needs assessment in your proposal.
5. Concepts Considered: The Concepts Considered section describes the options explored by the design team in its search for a solution to the above problem. It should address both original ideas and those derived from other sources, summarize the scope of ideas considered and highlight the most creative and relevant concepts for the overall solution and for its component parts.
6. Concept Selection: The Concept Selection section describes the processes and rationale used for selecting the “best” concepts for the overall product and for the component parts of the design product. It may include summary tables comparing concepts against design criteria or summary evaluations of specific concepts.
7. Wireframe design: The wireframe design section includes multiple designs to show the user interface screens, arrow/explanations for each feature and screens of the interface, an explanation of the steps the user will take to navigate the interface, and a justification for the design.
8. System Architecture: The system architecture section describes the overall architecture and components of the design including the GIS workstations, software, hardware, network resources, database design, and requirements. You will also discuss the enterprise GIS requirements including performance considerations, maintenance considerations, and security considerations.
9. Data Storage: The Data Storage section describes in the detail the software you will use to house the design and the data you will use to populate the map.
10. Evaluation: The evaluation section will identify and explain the method(s) you will use to evaluate the effectiveness of your design, justify the final evaluation method you choose, and explain how you will implement the evaluation method.
11. UML Design: The UML Diagram will illustrate the system, actors, use cases, and relationships in your GISystem design. You will also include a short explanation of the diagram.
12. Cost/Benefit Analysis: The cost/benefit analysis section should explain AND justify the specific costs of the design.
13. Future Work: The Future Work section sets forth clear recommendations and rationale for project continuation. It summarizes the principal features of the product that satisfy users’ needs and provides an anticipated work schedule with milestones for the next phase of the project. Any unresolved issues should be highlighted at this time. Specific approvals for project continuation are requested here.