CAPSTONE PROJECT: PLANNING PHASE ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
You must create a functioning information systems (IS) component that solves a business need.
You must design and build your functioning IS component during this course. Your functioning
IS component is due in the Capstone Project: Closing Phase Assignment. You must
demonstrate progress toward completing your functioning IS component by submitting progress
reports in the form of the Capstone Project: Planning Phase Assignment and Capstone
Project: Deployment Phase Assignment. You must submit two files for each phase of this
project.
1. A Microsoft Word document report that follows the instructions in each project
assignment. Do not place this report inside the ZIP folder. Submit this report as a separate
file.
2. A ZIP file containing all content you have developed up to this point in the class. Digital
resources include, but are not limited to, all programming code, system configuration
files, and setup instructions. You must show progress toward completing your
functioning IS component by submitting development work in both the Capstone
Project: Planning Phase Assignment and Capstone Project; Deployment Phase
Assignment. You must submit the functioning IS component in the Capstone Project:
Closing Phase Assignment.
Your functioning IS component project is a demonstration of your skills developed throughout
your academic degree program at Liberty University. You have completed the training. Now it is
time to demonstrate what you can do.
FREEDOM TO DECIDE
This project gives you extensive freedom to make your own choices. With freedom comes
responsibility. You must create an IS component that is significant enough to count as a capstone
project in your degree program. You must make choices that allow you to create your IS
component within the eight weeks of this course.
You are free to choose:
• Business need: Select a real business need or create a fake business scenario. Select a real
company or create a fake company. The choice is entirely yours. Small, large, local,
international, real, fake. You choose.
• Development environment: Select any development environment you need to create your
project. This includes any available development tools and programming languages. The
choice is entirely yours. Caution: Copying the work of others is plagiarism unless you
properly cite your source. You should cite sources in your report and code whenever you
rely on significant help from a source. For example, a function or moderately complex
block of code that you borrow from a source to accomplish a specific task should be
cited. In addition, borrowed conceptual designs should be cited. For example, a database
design, object functional design, or network design that you borrow from a source should
be cited.CSIS 484
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• IS component. Select any IS component you desire for this project. This is your choice.
Use your experience in previous courses to consider different IS components that you
could create. Caution: Your project must be significant enough to count as a capstone
project in your degree program. This means it must require significant work over the
eight weeks of this course. This is a subjective standard that is difficult to measure. A
website with a single page is insufficient. An ERP system is too much. Use your Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS), see description below, as your guide. Ensure the necessary
work for your IS component fills the remaining weeks of this course. Your project is too
small if there is not enough work to fill the remaining weeks of this course. Your project
is too large if you cannot complete all the work before the end of this course.
• Changes to your project. You are free to modify anything about your project as the
course progresses as you encounter new information or unforeseen challenges in creating
your IS component. You are not required to receive permission to modify your project.
The decision is yours. Caution: Your modified project must still meet all the requirements
of this course. This includes, but is not limited to, being a significant enough project to
count as a capstone project in your degree program and being completed by the end of the
course. Follow the phase report instructions to document the changes being made to your
project.
PLANNING PHASE REPORT INSTRUCTIONS
I. General Outline
a. Adhere to the most recent version of APA standards.
b. Include a cover page.
c. Do not include a table of contents.
d. Provide an abstract that summarizes your paper. An abstract is limited to 250
words and appears on a separate page between the cover page and start of your
content.
e. Provide sufficient content to meet the requirements listed below.
f. Provide supporting references from the textbook, respected industry whitepapers,
and scholarly information systems journal articles.
II. Organize your report with the following section headings.
a. Cover page
b. Abstract page
c. Purpose Statement
d. Business Context Scenario
e. User Acceptance Testing Plan
f. Work Breakdown Structure
g. Evidence of Development Work
III. Purpose Statement
a. Begin this section by completing the sentence, “I am developing an information
system (IS) …”. This must be the first sentence in your paper.
b. Explain what functioning IS component you are creating during this class for your
capstone project.
IV. Business Context Scenario
a. Clearly state in your first sentence if the business context scenario is real or
fictitious.CSIS 484
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b. Explain the business context scenario and business need that your functioning IS
component will solve.
V. User Acceptance Testing Plan
a. Clearly state in your first sentence if the end-user evaluating your functioning IS
component is an actual end-user from the real business context or a surrogate for
the fictitious business context. You cannot serve as the end-user. You must have
someone else evaluate your functioning IS component.
b. Describe your plan for having at least one end-user evaluate your functioning IS
component.
c. Provide a list of tasks the end-user should be able to complete using your
functioning IS component and a description of how you will evaluate the end-
user’s ability to complete each task.
VI. Work Breakdown Structure
a. Identify all necessary tasks to successfully create your functioning IS component.
b. Identify your timing for completing all necessary tasks by the due date for the
Capstone Project: Closing Phase Assignment.
VII. Evidence of Development Work
a. Provide three to five screenshots of important aspects of your development work.
b. Under each screenshot, provide one paragraph describing the development work
captured by the screenshot and how this development work contributes to meeting
your goal of delivering a functioning IS component in the Capstone Project:
Closing Phase Assignment.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.