Project Examples
During the MIS program, we were assigned a variety of projects ranging from working through a CRM system all the way to an entire Project Portfolio which included major deliverables for a semester long project. Here I will outline a few of these projects and provide examples of work for each one.
The first project I would like to discuss came from our Project Management course, 3535. Here, we worked alongside a team of Business Analysts in 3504 to help them come up with a final solution to a given problem. We ourselves needed to hand in a final deliverable binder which included things like the project charter, the scope, and management documents that outlined the process of dealing with things like certain risks all the way to the process of reporting information. The information below is some of the information from our final deliverable in the class.
Project Charter
The project charter provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project.
Project Title: Visa Inc. Credit Card Fraud Protector
| Description: | The aim of this project is to develop a working application that will in effect help decrease credit card fraud for all Visa users. |
| Prepared by: | Dan Matronia, Nick Hockley, Celynna Zoleta |
| Revision Dates: |
|
The purpose of this project is to help eliminate credit card fraud for Visa customers everywhere through some sort of innovative security initiative. Today, 42% of Americans have fallen victim to credit card fraud. In many cases, these people being victimized have their credit ruined for life which makes it hard for them to purchase things like houses and cars, and it could also restrain them from getting a job. Many businesses do not check photo ID when swiping credit which makes it easy for thieves to just swipe their victim’s card for whatever they want to buy. To help eliminate these serious problems, Visa is looking to implement this project to give their customers a sense of security when using their card; something that is very important in the credit industry.
Dan Matronia, Nick Hockley, and Celynna Zoleta are the project managers for this task, their abilities consist of:
- Assigning responsibilities to the business analysts
- Approving or denying change in the relation to scope, budget, and time
- Making sure the project is within scope, budget, and time constraints
Project Scope:
The project scope is the bible of the project. This document gives a background of the problem at hand and the initial plan to solve the problem without jumping into specific conclusions. The scope document also outlines SMART objectives for the project which means objectives that are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound. Assumptions that remain true for the entire project and constraints to the project are also outlined.
Statement of Purpose:
Visa Inc. is an American financial services corporation that facilitates electronic fund transfers worldwide via Visa-branded credit and debit cards. In 2008, according to The Nilson Report, Visa held a 38.3% market share of the credit card marketplace and 60.7% of the debit card marketplace in the United States. In 2009, Visa’s global network processed 62 billion transactions with a total volume of $4.4 trillion (Visa). As statistics show, 42% of Americans have experienced some form of card fraud in the preceding five years (The Economist, 2014).
In the banking business, credit card frauds have been an issue regarding customers’ transactions and privacy. Credit card fraud has been an ongoing issue in the banking industry due to a lack of consistent security and an improvement in technology, hence an increase in online hacking. Banks have a specific security fraud department that would investigate frauds and monitor customer transactions to prevent them, but those actions are not enough. Cases of unauthorized purchases are still being reported yearly and further actions need to be taken in order to lessen the percentage of fraud occurrence.
By taking initiative through security fraud departments, we want to look into whether a combination of biometrics, such as fingerprint scans, and an app can be used to ease the process of securing credit card transactions. By analyzing and improving credit card transaction processes, Visa can introduce a higher security protection for cardholders and also benefit their business operations to be more efficient and effective. In order to fund the project, the main sponsor would be Visa’s CIO. Lastly in this project, we will deliver a project scope, a prototype, and a presentation of our recommendation.
Objectives:
- Within 3 month, have 80% of the retail stores and employees familiar with the system.
- Within 4 months, raise customer awareness about the system by 50,000 customer engagements through marketing and test markets.
- Within 5 months, officially launch the biometric system in the retail stores.
- Within 6 months after launching the biometric system, decrease fraud percentage by 60%.
- 100% of our users will not become victims of credit card fraud due to the additional layer of security.
Assumptions:
- Retailers are willing to implement the new biometrics system.
- Consumers are willing to adapt in providing their biometrics information.
- The biometrics system also works well with smartphones.
- Consumers’ biometrics information are well-secured in Visa database.
Constraints:
- There is no budget for the project.
- The project needs to be developed and implemented into the market within one year.
- The biometrics system needs to be tested in small region before implementing into the market.
- The Sponsor wants to see improvement in eight months after the biometrics system is implemented.
- Not ALL retailers will want to implement the new biometrics system.
Stakeholder Registry
The stakeholder list below lists all the stakeholders of the Visa Inc. Fraud Prevention project. Outlined for each stakeholder is their title and role in the project. This list also helps the project managers and the business analysts in regards to communicating about the projects tasks. It is important to keep the stakeholder list to make sure the solutions meet the stakeholders demands.
| Name: | Title | Role: |
| Visa Inc. | Sponsoring Company | Any changes to Visa Inc.’s security features will affect the company as a whole. |
| Ryan McInerney | CIO and President of Visa | In charge of technology advances and ensures financial responsibility within the company. It is his job to make sure each new technology will make their company more efficient |
| Security Fraud Department | Security | Manage the company’s security procedures and makes sure everything in the system is working and well protected to ensure their customers’ privacy. |
| Credit Card Users | Customers | The people who is our main concern for the project because it is their satisfaction that matters when the project is complete. |
| Daniel Matronia | Project Manager | Manages the project from the beginning to end. Some tasks include documenting all status, estimating overall project health, and reviewing project deliverables. |
| Nicholas Hockley | Project Manager | Manages the project from the beginning to end. Some tasks include documenting all status, estimating overall project health, and reviewing project deliverables. |
| Celynna Flor Zoleta | Project Manager | Manages the project from the beginning to end. Some tasks include documenting all status, estimating overall project health, and reviewing project deliverables. |
| Tennyson Coleman | Business Analyst | Works closely with the project and designs solutions to eliminate Visa Credit Card fraud. |
| Kit Heng Lau | Business Analyst | Works closely with the project and designs solutions to eliminate Visa Credit Card fraud. |
| Jonathan Math | Business Analyst | Works closely with the project and designs solutions to eliminate Visa Credit Card fraud. |
| Jannette Tam | Business Analyst | Works closely with the project and designs solutions to eliminate Visa Credit Card fraud. |
Change Management Plan
The change management plan is an important tool that lays out a standardized process of change in the organization. The document serves as a way to keep the team and the stakeholders of the project informed on changes that affect the scope. schedule, or budget. In order to keep the project on time and under budget, proposed changes must be reviewed by the change management board. This plan allows team members to make orderly and efficient change decisions through a structured process which helps eliminate scope creep or excessive budgeting decisions.
| The Process | |
| 1. | A proposed change is sent out via either GroupMe, email, or team meeting. |
| 2. | Project Management team meets to evaluate the proposed change in relation to the scope, schedule, and budget. |
| 3. | The change is either approved or denied. If the change is denied, the decision is relayed to the team through one of the mediums used to propose the change. If it is approved, the change is documented in a change log where |
| 4. | Approved change is relayed to the entire team through the change log where those responsible for implementing the change are informed of their altered responsibilities. |
Communications Plan
The purpose of having a Communication Management Plan is to define the communication protocols for the project. Communication plays a very important role in projects and without it the project may end up as a failure. The Communications Matrix below clearly defines the mediums this project will use along with the objective, the users, and the frequency and time.
| Medium: | Objective: | Audience: | Frequency: | Time: |
| GroupMe | To act as the main method of communication that will be used for the duration of the project. It allows all members participate in a group chat to ensure fast replies. | PMs and BAs | As Needed | Any Time |
| Phone Call/SMS Text Messaging | If there are any urgent issues with project deliverables or processes, direct phone calls and/or texts will be used. | PMs and BAs | As Needed | Any Time |
| The primary means of distributing project files and scheduling meetings. | PMs and BAs | As Needed | Any Time | |
| Google Drive | Serves as the system file where all the project’s documentation will be uploaded. Project members will organize the project files into folders for later editing, access, and review. | PMs and BAs | As Needed | Any Time |
| Team Meetings | Meetings will take place in a breakout room once a week. We will receive weekly updates and members can voice their concerns or major changes to the project at this time. It should also be used for reflection on completed tasks and preparation for upcoming tasks | PMs and BAs | Weekly | Tuesdays @ 5pm |
Risk Management Plan
The purpose of a risk management plan is to aware the stakeholders of various risks that may arise during the course of the project. The risk management plan provides stakeholders with contingency plans that are already in place prior to the beginning of the project to address any of the risks identified. Four of the basic ways of dealing with risk is avoidance, mitigation, acceptance, and transfer to third party.
Risks are added to the risk registry when they are identified and can calculate the estimate the probability and impact of the various risks. It is just as important for the project sponsor and stakeholders to communicate risks which directly affect the success of the project.
| Description: | Likelihood:
low=1 high=5 |
Impact:
low=1 high=5 |
Score:
(likelihood * impact) |
Mitigation Plan: |
| BAs fail to agree on the project scope. | 2 | 5 | 10 | Mitigate – Help the BAs come to a mutual understanding on their scope by creating brainstorming sessions or planning extra meeting times. |
| BAs do not finish project deliverables | 1 | 5 | 5 | Mitigate – Create a timeline for the BAs so they know when certain deliverables should be completed. Give BAs advice and suggestions on how to complete deliverables if they are confused or don’t know what to do |
| BAs procrastinate on learning how to use the program JustinMind | 3 | 5 | 15 | Mitigate – Create a sense of urgency by holding training session where the PMs teach the BAs how to use the application. |
| BA decides to leave the group | 1 | 5 | 5 | Acceptance – Reassign the work again within the team. Make sure to to divide the remaining work between the lower number of BAs |
| Business rules do not match the project | 3 | 1 | 3 | Acceptance – Not really much of a concern in the holding of the project. Focus on the more important tasks then go back to fix any errors if necessary. |
| Use cases not matching with the business rules | 2 | 1 | 2 | Acceptance – The risk of use cases not being completed is not critical enough to the entirety of the project that accepting the risk is manageable. |
Quality Management Plan
The quality management plan defines the required level of quality stated by the client. It outlines in detail how the deliverables and work processes will meet the standards from the start of the project to the final delivery as well as identifying the project’s quality factors, procedures and criteria for identifying possible areas of issue.
| Process: | |
| Quality Planning | The team identifies quality standards, procedures to meet the standards as well as a conditions for the sponsors to sign and accept the deliverables. |
| Quality Assurance | The team defines the actions and metrics to measure the quality of the deliverables and the project. This will reassure both the team and the stakeholders that quality standards are being met. |
| Quality Control | The team identifies the monitoring and controlling actions that will be used to control the quality of the project throughout its lifecycle. This will also define how the quality standards will meet the standards defined in the Quality Planning section. |
| Standards: | Criteria: |
| Working Condition | The team checks the working condition of all the deliverables, they must all be working properly, serving their purpose and without any errors. |
| Usability | The team determines the ease of use of the deliverables for the stakeholders. The team must check to see if any of the deliverables have inconsistencies or any confusing factors, they must also provide adequate explanation on the use and purpose of the deliverables. |
| Innovation | The team checks to see if the deliverables are innovative in nature or if they have been already created. The team must also check to see that the deliverables provide a new and valuable experience for the user. |
| Client Satisfaction | The team determines if the deliverables are on par with the client and stakeholder’s expectations. The team must check to see that all of the deliverable requirements are in agreement with the client’s needs. |
Close Out Report – Key Takeaways
What went well?
-Organized meetings
-Stuck to the schedule
-Able to increase urgency
*able to hand in deliverables on time
Failures
Our major flaw in the project was the inability to increase urgency with JustinInMind to our BA’s. At first, our team had trouble increasing overall urgency until we started offering additional meetings during the lunch hour on Wednesday’s. From there, our team worked hard towards their solution.
Lessons Learned
As a team, we have collectively gained some important skills. One skill was time management. Deliverables came fast; our team had to learn to delegate time to work on these documents. We also learned that learning by example and constructive criticism works well with projects like this. There were times where we saw our peers present certain documents and the class would bounce ideas off of each other which in end helped us improve the quality of our work.
Close Out Report – Approval
The undersigned acknowledge they have reviewed the Visa Credit Card Fraud Protector deliverables and agree with the approach it presents. Changes to any of the deliverables will be coordinated with and approved by the undersigned or their designated representatives.
Signature x_________________________
Date: 12/7/15
Print Name: Celynna zoleta
Role: Project Manager
Signature x_________________________
Date: 12/7/15
Print Name: Nick Hockley
Role: Project Manager
Signature x_________________________
Date: 12/7/15
Print Name: Dan Matronia
Role: Project Manager
Another project we worked on was the same project the Business Analysts from 3504 did. While in 3504, we teamed up with the Temple University Press to create a solution for their failing digital presence. As a team working with the Project Managers from 3535, we created a solution that implemented an online interactive study guide with a game. The link to our final presentation is below.
Lastly, a colleague of mine and myself worked on the Data Analytics Challenge in 2502. Here, we were to discuss the impact on employees in Lockheed Martin were to change its headquarters to a different location. Through the use of excel and Tableau, were were able to create a visual map that displayed the costs and benefits of the move. We ended up with a 95% on the project, though we did not win the challenge.