UNSW Business School
School of Information Systems
and Technology Management





INFS2608 Team Assignment T1, 2021
“Rental to Go”





Source: pinnacleproperties.com.au
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Contents
1. Overview ................................................................................................................................. 2
2. Key Dates ................................................................................................................................ 2
3. Scenario and Requirements ..................................................................................................... 2
3.1 Scenario ................................................................................................................................ 2
3.2 Requirements ........................................................................................................................ 3
4. Tasks ....................................................................................................................................... 4
5. Formatting and Deliverables ................................................................................................... 5
6. Diaries and Reflection ............................................................................................................. 6
6.1 Individual Diary .................................................................................................................... 6
6.2 Group Diary .......................................................................................................................... 6
6.3 Critical Reflection ................................................................................................................. 7
7. Peer Review ............................................................................................................................ 7
7.1 Between-Groups Peer Review .............................................................................................. 7
7.2 Within-Group Peer Review .................................................................................................. 7
7.3 Tips based on Previous Experiences .................................................................................... 8
8. General Rules .......................................................................................................................... 9
8.1 Professional Group Work ..................................................................................................... 9
8.2 Proper Academic Conduct................................................................................................... 9
8.3 Assignment Submission ..................................................................................................... 10
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1. Overview

Overall, this assignment requires you to design and implement a database system according
to the below scenario and requirements. You will need to (1) design a relational model and
implement it in Oracle SQL; (2) implement a frontend application prototype in Oracle APEX
(or another frontend system of your choice); (3) provide a written report; and (4) present your
team project.
Your assignment is evaluated based on a system prototype, a written report, and an oral
presentation. The assignment accounts for 30% of the marks of the course.
• The assignment is to be undertaken in groups of 5 (or 6 to fit) students who must come
from the same lab class.
• The group will be awarded a group mark as a baseline mark. This baseline mark may or
may not be adjusted for the individual group members (based on within-group peer
review).

2. Key Dates

Tasks Due Dates
Project group formation (students need to
find their own arrangements)
In Week-2 lab
Submission of assignment written report and
ZIP file of the prototype
Electronic PDF/ZIP submission via Moodle
Friday, 16 April, 11.00am
Final oral presentations In Week-10 labs

3. Scenario and Requirements

3.1 Scenario

Rental to Go (R2G) plans to develop an online platform that creates a marketplace for real
estate agencies and tenants. Your team has been hired to develop the platform for R2G.
Specifically, R2G involves the following types of users
a. Tenants who can search for apartments or houses and apply for renting;
b. Real estate agencies who can post renting advertisement;
c. R2G’s employees who can retrieve their information from the database;
d. R2G customer support staff who provide support and can read data
about advertisement postings, agencies, and tenants; and
e. Database and site administrators who are able to update, create, and delete data.
The users need to be able to use the database system through an intuitive and well-designed
frontend application. The application and the database together form the system that
implements R2G key requirements and provides the intended functionalities.
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R2G has articulated their key requirements as follows. They have also indicated that they are
open to your suggestions to implement additional functionalities (if a clear technical or business
rationale is articulated in your team’s final report).
Tenants
• Tenants should be able to create a profile page that includes their basic information (first
name, last name, contact information, etc.).
• Tenants should be able to apply for renting.
• Tenants’ “landing page” (after login) should be an overview of their current applications.
Agencies
• Agencies should be able to create a profile page, similar to the Tenants’ page (company
description, contact information, etc.).
• Agencies’ “landing page” (after login) is a view in which they can see their current
advertisement postings.
• If a tenant has applied for an agency’s house/apartment posting, that agency should be able
to see the tenant’s personal contact details. An agency can close an advertisement once a
property is rented out.
R2G
• R2G’s IT support staff should be able to see all entries in the database, including contact
information and financial information, but should not be able to edit such information.
• R2G’s database administrators, however, should be able to retrieve and edit information
(e.g., creating, updating, removing users, etc.). The system should allow R2G administrators
to have access to internal system user accounts (i.e., tenants, agencies, and R2G user
accounts).
• R2G adopts a commission-based revenue model. If an apartment has been rented out, an
agent needs to pay for R2G at 10% of the fortnightly rent of the apartment. The commission
occurs only once when the apartment is rented out. For example, if an agent rents out an
apartment at $1000/fortnight, the agent should pay R2G $100 ($1000*10%). Please note
that the R2G platform does not offer the functionality for the transaction between an agency
and a tenant.
Big Data Strategies:
In addition to deploying a database system, R2G is interested in Big Data Analytics strategies.
While there is no expectation for any implementation in the system prototype, R2G requires
you to conduct research with the aim of developing a strategic plan for the use of Big Data at
R2G. Specifically, R2G seeks to understand the potential of Big Data for their business and the
strategies they can take in the future to realize such potential. You need to develop research-
based recommendations for R2G. In other words, your recommendations need to be supported
by relevant references.

3.2 Requirements

R2G expects the following key deliverables from your team. First, you are to design and
implement the data model in Oracle and design and implement a working prototype of the
system using Oracle APEX (or another application that works with the Oracle database).
Second, you are to deliver a comprehensive final report presenting your solutions. Third, you
are to present your team project to R2G.
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R2G has indicated that they will consider additional features/functionalities, provided that your
team presents a convincing implementation and articulates the technical or business rationale
in the report. They ask you to clearly state assumptions and provide justifications.

4. Tasks

In your report, you should cover the following topics:
Introduction:
• Provide a summary of the system. In the summary, you should articulate the mission
and/or the objectives of the system based on the business issues that your team seeks to
help with R2G.
• Justify the reasons for why the issues you identified are important for the development of
R2G.
• State any assumptions you make as well as the scope of the database system project.
Analysis:
• Identify key users of the system and gather requirements of the system. In the report, you
should discuss the need for the system and identify its key requirements (based on the
business scenario, the industry background, competitor analysis, etc. – supported by
references). You should identify and analyze similar systems that have been offered in the
industry and benchmark best practices.
• Specify the functionalities the system should provide. In the report, you can consider to
use “use case diagrams” (limit to most important use cases) and tables to concisely describe
the functionalities. Categorize the functionalities into modules. Clarify the boundary of the
system to be developed.
Design:
• Develop ER diagram(s)/relational model for the database. In the report, you should
include ER diagrams and data dictionaries for each user’s view of the system (if there are
differences between users). Provide a brief rationale for the diagrams. Provide an overall
relational model (normalized) for the database. You can refer to textbook chapters on
conceptual and logical design as a reference; you can either use the textbook notation or
notation from INFS1603.
• Develop a data dictionary for the system.
• Implement a relational database in Oracle based on the relational model you developed
(“backend”). Populate the tables of the database with at least eight sample records in each
table. You must make sure that you have adequate data to run and test queries and showcase
the database.
• Develop a web application in Oracle APEX (or an equivalent web application platform
that connects to Oracle).
• Provide 4-6 major SQL queries based on the key areas you identified to help with R2G.
More importantly, you should provide recommendations for the executive board at R2G
based on the queries you develop.
• Discuss the approaches to be adopted to ensure the security of the system.
Project Management:
• Provide an overall project management plan. In the report, you should specify how the
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all assessment items need to be included in the main text.
Appendices do not count towards the word limit. However,
footnotes, references, endnote, appendices etc.
(excluding coversheet, table of contents, summaries/outlines,
overall project proceeds over time. You can use a Gantt chart or Trello to illustrate the
breakdown of your team work over time.
• Clearly specify individual workload allocation, for example, the roles and responsibilities
of each team member. You can use a table to present a detailed overview of the group work
performed (who did what) and a critical reflection on the group work itself. Include any
other details that you would find useful (i.e. some team members have exams on a certain
date).
Big Data Strategies:
• Provide a section on Big Data strategies. You should conduct your own research and provide
recommendations to R2G. (Approximately 500- 700 words and it counts part of the written
report workd limit).
Critical Reflection:
• Provide a critical reflection on the group work itself – This is part of the written report and
it should have 500-700 words. The words count of this section is also part of the report word
limit. (see Section 6).
Oral Presentation (in Week 10)
• An oral presentation of the overall project and a brief demonstration of the system (15 mins
Presentation and Q&A).

5. Formatting and Deliverables

• UNSW Coversheet. Submit your assignment with a signed coversheet (actual signatures,
not typed, of all group members). Failure to include the UNSW coversheet will lead to a
10% penalty, and no marks will be released until the coversheet is received.
• Length. The total length of the report must not exceed 5,000-6,000 words
(approximately 10 pages)
). You may be able to stay well below this
limit.
• Table of Contents. Should not exceed one page, restricted to two levels of headlines.
• Format. You should use headings, sub-headings, page numbers, bullet points, diagrams,
and tables as appropriate. The file format of the report is PDF.
• References. References and citations should follow the Harvard citation style standard.
• Appendices. In the case that you have additional materials or clarifications, you could
include them as appendices.
Appendices are not a way to
extend the word limit.
• ZIP File. The ZIP file should contain an “SQL dump”, all code of your system (frontend
and backend). Walkthrough Video (or a link to walkthrough video) is to be included here
as well.
• Walkthrough Video. The Walkthrough Video that explains the system (the video is to be
included in the ZIP File; or a link to the video on a non-public Internet location, such
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as a Dropbox link – the group is responsible for the link working). The time limit of the
video is a total of 7 minutes.
• File naming: should be “INFS2608-GroupName-Assignment”.XYZ. Your group will be
assigned a GroupName on Moodle. Fail to use the correct file naming will lead to a 10%
penalty. The group names are NOT 01, 02, etc. The Group names include your tutorial
session code. Please refer to Moodle to get your complete/correct group names.
• You have to submit 2 files: .PDF and .ZIP. The PDF file should be separate and NOT part
of the zip file.
• Only one submission per group. The project manager (or a delegated person) is to
complete the submission. Fail to comply will lead to a 10% penalty.
• The clarity and readability of your diagrams are very important. You can divide your
diagram over more than one page if needed.

6. Diaries and Reflection

An important part of a project is to record and to evaluate the teamwork. The purpose of the
diary is to reflect and learn from the project (in addition to achieving the project’s aims in a
narrow sense). The project requires that each team member to keep a personal diary, and the
group to keep a group diary (diaries might be asked for in cases of disputes) and that the group
includes a critical reflection in their report.

6.1 Individual Diary

You, as an individual member of a group, are required to keep a diary of your work activities.
The individual dairy should record your work on the assignment and should note details such
as what you did and when you did it. You may also record meeting notes in the diary. The
individual diary is NOT to be submitted with the assignment and will NOT be marked. The
individual diary may be consulted by the LiC/Lecturer in case of group disputes. Failure to
produce an individual diary on request by the LiC/Lecturer will be taken as evidence for a lack
of a structured effort in the project.

6.2 Group Diary

Your group’s dairy must record all the activities that take place in completing the assignment.
The group diary is NOT to be submitted with the assignment and will NOT be marked. The
group diary may be consulted by the LiC in case of group disputes.
The format of your group’s diary is up to you, but it must record the following details for each
group activity:
• A group needs to agree on who is responsible for keeping the group diary.
• Record what the activity (meetings, work) entailed.
• Record location, time, date and duration of a group activity.
• Record who was present at the activity.
• For “next actions”: specify who is doing what by when.
• Signatures of all members, or other suitable forms of demonstrating that all members
have seen and approved meeting minutes and other records in the group diary.
The project manager is responsible for keeping the group diary unless other arrangements
are made within the group.
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6.3 Critical Reflection

Each group is to submit a reflection on their teamwork experience.
The reflection is a critical mini-essay in which you should:
• Reflect on overall collaboration in the team; evaluate the distribution of responsibilities
and the contributions to the teamwork.
• Consider why problems and issues emerged and how such problems and issues were
resolved. If some issues remain unresolved, you will need to report conflicting viewpoints.
You may consider the following structure to organize the reflection on your project:
• Describe the contribution of each team member and the overall team organization. For
example, how tasks were divided and why they were divided in that way (this is not a full
diary of meetings and events).
• Reflect on your problem-solving skills based on a discussion of:
(a) What problem(s) did you encounter?
(b) What solutions did you attempt to solve the problem(s)?
And (c) What have you learned for the future?
• Reflect on your time management skills based on a discussion of:
(a) How did you manage your time throughout this project?
(b) What worked and did not work in your time management?
And (c) What are the lessons that you learned about your time management skills and
how do you plan to apply these lessons to future projects?
• Summarize the “good” as well as the “bad” practices of your team project management and
what you have learnt for future improvement.
• There is no “right” way to reflect because it is a personal exercise, but try to reflect in a
critical, fair and informative way so that the reader understands the “story” about the
management of your project.

7. General Rules

7.1 Professional Group Work
Groups must plan, schedule and conduct activities in due time. Groups must meet on a
regular basis (at least once per week) while the assignment is being undertaken and keep are
record (diaries, meeting minutes) of such meetings. The groups must ensure that all members
are involved in the completion of the assignment. The work is to be divided equally among
the group members.
All group members are expected to behave professionally and work diligently. Group
members should contribute in a useful and constructive way to the teamwork. Deadlines
should be kept and work should be delivered at a professional standard. If problems emerge
in your group, then these problems should in the first instance been openly be discussed
in the group (different members might have different views) and resolutions should be
agreed on. If internal arrangements repeatedly fail to remedy the situation, then you should
bring the issues to the attention of the LIC/Lecturer. The LIC/Lecturer may call a meeting
of the group in which each group member will be asked to describe in detail his or her
input into the assignment and provide supporting documentation of this effort (e.g.,
individual diary, group diary, meeting notes, emails, Facebook messages, texts labelled
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with author names). If group members are found to be making inadequate effort or
delivering poor quality, then they will be counselled to improve their effort. If sufficient
improvement is not made despite group efforts and LIC/Lecturer interventions, then the
mark of under-performing group member(s) may be moderated to reflect the relative lower
input into the assignment. Note that the inability to resolve internal group conflicts without
involving the LIC/Lecturer does not reflect well on the group’s project management and
teamwork skills.

7.2 Proper Academic Conduct

All assignments need to follow UNSW’s guidelines regarding proper academic conduct.
The submission of materials that are non-original or have been submitted elsewhere will be
considered plagiarism. Plagiarism is unacceptable. All instances of plagiarism or other
academic misconduct will be pursued. Plagiarism may lead to you failing this course and
may have negative consequences for your studies at UNSW. The general UNSW guideline
on academic conduct is available online. For group assignments: If your group suspects
that a group member’s work contains plagiarism then you should raise this with the group
member concerned and have the problem rectified. If the problem is not rectified, notify the
LIC who will call in a group meeting.

7.3 Assignment Submission

Assignments are to be submitted via Moodle/Review on or before the day of the deadline. Late
submissions of assignments are to be avoided, disrupt the course timelines and are a sign of
poor time management. The late submission of assignments carries a penalty of 10% of the
awarded marks for that assignment per day of lateness, including weekends and public
holidays. For example, a 70 marking would be reduced by 7 marks per day of lateness.
Assignments submitted late or did not follow the submission instructions will miss marked
components that are in their nature dependent on timely submission, especially peer review.
An extension of time to complete an assignment may be granted by submitting a Special
Consideration in the case of illness or misadventure. For group assignments: groups are
expected to plan ahead and to be able to balance out a missing member without an extension.

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