Car Rental Software Case Study – Engineering Assignment Help

Main Body

Project Overview 

The WeAreCars system should enhance the service offering of car rental through maintaining a clean and easy flowing software. It is possible to improve the work of the company is several directions, providing its staff with an opportunity to rent cars, communicate with the clients, etc. all the processes should be effectively organized to reduce the possibility of chaos. The system’s core functionalities are centred on three primary objectives:

• Staff Login and Authentication: The system comprises a user login option to limit use, which only allows registered users with access to the program (Alladi et al., 2020). It plays an important role in securing relevant information and remain certain that only the staff with the correct identification number can engage the system.
• Rental Management Process: Thus it can administer the whole rental transaction starting from the customer details entering into the program, choice of a vehicle, defining the rental period and additional services. This is the core component of the rental system where all relevant information is captured at one go so that the booking part is easy for staff.
• User-Focused Interface Design: It is an end-user system, and its design is unthinkable without considerate staff interfaces, including the validation mechanisms and tooltips (McNutt, 2023). These design features are to reduce as much as possible the potential for errors and to provide the lay user with an application that will aid the process, and it should be at par with the general car rental business.

To achieve these objectives, the project involves the development of three primary software modelling diagrams:

Detailed Use Case Scenario: In the use case scenario, all the behaviours that a staff performs in relation to the system, throughout the rental booking process will be outlined. Security features are schematized along with defining how the system works in response to the inputs and the primary actions, and it will also describe other possible scenarios (Pham et al., 2023). This elaborated view guarantees the fundamental clarity of how the system operates with different types of activity related to rentals.

Flow Diagram: The flowchart of the validation of the credentials will be created after the completion of the login process. This diagram will illustrate the means through which the system affirms the staff and the parameters followed when confirming the staff, the steps taken as well as the processes that the staff needs to undergo to obtain a code that will enable him/her to gain access to the system. It will give a visual representation of the authentication and some decisions that will be taken during the process.

Class Diagram: UML class diagram will represent the systems high level design major class and the attributes of those classes also the methods linked with them. This diagram will show the overall framework of the software and explain clearly, how all the components that is in the system work according to the system requirement. This type of document is a guide on how a particular software should look like and an aid when developing the system to avoid cases of contradiction in the system.

System Requirements and Specifications

WeAreCars can be described as the software system which helps to perform a number of basic car rental tasks through a safe connection. This part focus on the specification and characteristics of the system as a working tool that will provide customers with convenient and smooth renting experience with reference to ergonomics and security requirements.

Functional Requirements

1. Staff Login and Authentication

It will comprise of an authorized login where the staff is required to type the right username and password (Usmonov, 2021). Its purpose is to provide protection of data by limiting the data access to users authenticated for that specific function:

Credentials:

Username: sta001

Password: givemethekeys123

2. Rental Management Module

The software must also enable the staff to document rental transactions for customers, and their vehicles. The following input fields will be enabled by this module:

Customer Information:

First Name (required)

Surname (required)

Address (required)

Age (required) by it threads the age limits from rental policies

Valid Driving License Confirmation (required; if "No," the booking cannot proceed)

Rental Details:

Number of Days (required, between 1 and 28 days, with a base rate of £25 per day)

Vehicle Type Selection:

City Car (No additional charge)

Family Car (+ £50)

Sports Car (+ £75)

SUV (+ £65)

Fuel Type:

Petrol (No additional charge)

Diesel (No additional charge)

Hybrid (+ £30)

Full Electric (+ £50)

Optional Extras:

Unlimited Mileage (+ £10 per day)

Breakdown Cover (+ £2 per day)

3. Display of Rented Vehicles

There will be a function by which the staff will be able to see all vehicles that are rented at the moment, which will help to track active rentals timely.

Technical Specifications

• Platform Compatibility

This application is to be built as a simple Windows Forms application because it is compatible with company’s current old school systems.

• User Interface (UI) Design

Validation checks will be included on each of the input fields at the interface and the interface layout will be designed with simplicity (Bunian et al., 2021). Anytime help options will also be provided on the computer so new users are less likely to make wrong entries when filling the forms.

• Data authentication and Error Handling

There has to be adequate validation procedures built into the system that would guarantee that all the necessary fields are filled in competently. For example:

Age and the holder of the driving license must undergo authentication before proceeding to make a booking (Levin, 2020).

This is true because input constraints will restrict rental period and charge a premium depending on type of vehicle and optional accessories (Mancini and Gansterer 2021).

The users will be informed by the program through error messages and feedback prompts which info is missing or wrongly entered to facilitate straight-forward end operation.

• Scalability and congeniality in the future

This design will also enable upgrades in the future for the inclusion of other forms of transport and new available optional services as may be deemed relevant in the future by the growth of WeAreCars’ business model.

System Workflow and Data Flow

The system is designed to guide staff through a sequential workflow:

Login Authentication: The first time login by providing the right credentials such as the user name and password.

Rental Process Initiation: When staff log in they can start a new rental process where they have to complete the customer details and select rental options (Gyde and McNeill, 2021).

Data Verification: All input fields will be validated with regards to required fields as well as constraints where required by the system.

Completion and Confirmation: As soon as all the data in the provided form is checked and validated, the booking process may be completed, and all the rental data collected will be saved in the database, depending on potential further use (Koh and Hassim, 2021).

Use Case Scenario

Flow chart 

Flow Diagram Description

The following illustrates the flow chart of how WeAreCars software system authenticates a user and gives the user a permission or enable the user to log on. The aim of the process is to justify the access of the system by checking the validity of the staff member before allowing the staff member access to the system (Turner et al., 2022).

1. Start: The first step is when the staff member logs into the application to start the operation of the system.
2. Enter Username and Password: The staff member is asked to provide the system with the username and the password.
3. Validate Credentials: Depending on the type of screen the entered credentials with the valid credentials in the system.
   • Valid: If the inputted credentials are accurate then the system allows the staff in the system (Rector et al., 2021).
   • Invalid: This is done under the assumption that the wrong credentials were entered hence the following message appears to alert the staff member that the credentials entered were wrong; he or she enters the right credentials.
4. Access Granted: This step thus sanctions only those staff members who entered the correct credentials to access the system. The validation process allows users to access the fundamental functionalities of the system (Howard and Gugger, 2020).
5. Login Successful - Access System: Once the researcher has successfully verified his identity, he is accorded the required rights, which unlock the meat of the system for the staff members.
6. End: The sign-in phase ends when the staff member enters the right details, and is granted access to the system.

This guarantees that only individuals with permission of accessing the system get to do so while using the WeAreCars software.

Class diagram

Class Diagram Description

This is a class diagram that illustrates the kind of system that has been developed at WeAreCars. According to the suggested scenario, the aim of this class diagram is to define the minimum set of classes, attributes, methods and relations to be used for cars’ rental organization.

1. Staff:

This class is responsible for handling the staff’s authorization and login credentials. The class includes two primary properties: login name and password which is used to enter in the login system. The class also specifies function validateCredentials() that verifies the source of the login details as correct before allowing them into the system.

2. Rental:

The Rental class model describes a single transaction of a car rental business. It includes the following attributes:

rentalID – this act as a reference number for every rental that is being offered for rent.

numberOfDays (the number of days the car is rented),

totalCost (and these are the total cost of rental).

The class includes functions such as:

calculateTotalCost(): Summative calculation of the total cost of renting the car by using the button created in the option tabs.

confirmBooking(): Provides an option to check out pending reservations automatically once all details are entered or upon pressing a check out button.

3. Customer:

This class keeps records of the customer data in their database. The attributes include:

First name, second name, address, and age, and hasValidLicense, which shows whether the customer has a valid driving license.

The Rental class applies the validateCustomerInfo() method to check the customer’s information relating to renting the car such as age and driving license.

4. Vehicle:

The Vehicle class contains information for the chosen automobile for the renting agreement. Attributes include:

These they include; vehicle type, fuel type, base rate and additional charge.

The method selectVehicle() is employed to select a particular vehicle, the selected vehicle is then used in the rental transaction.

5. Extras:

The Extras class describes additional products and services that go with the rental. These extras include features such as:

unlimitedMileage (if the cost includes unlimited mileage).

breakdownCover (in case the renting entails a safe for incidences of breakdowns).

The functions calculateExtraCost() calculate the extra cost of these additional extras.

Relationships

• Staff to Rental: The Staff class controls the Rental class, meaning only staff have the ability to perform rentals. This relationship is important because it will only allow persons in the rental department to handle rental entries (Stewart et al., 2024).
• Rental to Customer: Every Rental is connected to the Customer and represents the customer for which the booking is provided.
• Rental to Vehicle: A Rental must include a Vehicle which allows the Renting of a particular Vehicle to accommodate the precise characteristics of the customer for the Rental.
• Rental to Extras: A Rental can also have Optional Features like, an Extra which could be Standing Mileage or Breakdown Cover. This relationship sees to it that other services are extended as complementary to the rental service (Lee et al., 2021).

Conclusion

The WeAreCars software model provides foundational classes that cover areas of user access, bookings, customer records, and selection of extra services in car rental management. Car rental processing use case describes the activities that occur during car rental processing including login, inputting and capturing customer details, selecting the vehicle and confirmation of the processing. Flow in the diagram stresses on strong credential check as susceptible to increased risks of system compromise. Concerning the system’s architecture, our identification of key classes of the future system is described in the class diagram below, which is designed to be easily expandable as the system evolves. In its totality, these aspects provide a coherent plan for prominently addressing the aspects of software design, security, usability, and both the immediate needs and organizational and developmental objectives for the future.

References 

Alladi, T., Chamola, V., Sikdar, B. and Choo, K.K.R., 2020. Consumer IoT: Security vulnerability case studies and solutions. IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, 9(2), pp.17-25.

Bunian, S., Li, K., Jemmali, C., Harteveld, C., Fu, Y. and Seif El-Nasr, M.S., 2021, May. Vins: Visual search for mobile user interface design. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).

Gyde, C. and McNeill, L.S., 2021. Fashion rental: smart business or ethical folly?. Sustainability, 13(16), p.8888.

Howard, J. and Gugger, S., 2020. Fastai: a layered API for deep learning. Information, 11(2), p.108.

Koh, W.S. and Hassim, Y.M.M., 2021. Hotel reservation management system. Applied Information Technology And Computer Science, 2(2), pp.973-992.

Lee, S.E., Jung, H.J. and Lee, K.H., 2021. Motivating collaborative consumption in fashion: Consumer benefits, perceived risks, service trust, and usage intention of online fashion rental services. Sustainability, 13(4), p.1804.

Mancini, S. and Gansterer, M., 2021. Vehicle scheduling for rental-with-driver services. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 156, p.102530.

McNutt, A.M., 2023. Understanding and Enhancing JSON-based DSL Interfaces for Visualization.

Pham, C.T.A., Magistretti, S. and Dell'Era, C., 2023. How do you frame ill‐defined problems? A study on creative logics in action. Creativity and Innovation Management, 32(3), pp.493-516.

Rector, L.R. and Scott, B.P., 2021. Hoffman Inbound Inventory Management System Improvement.

Stewart, M., Portman, J. and O’Connell, A., 2024. Every Landlord's Legal Guide. Nolo.

Turner, L., Weickgenannt, A.B. and Copeland, M.K., 2022. Accounting information systems: controls and processes. John Wiley & Sons.

Usmonov, M.T.O.G.L., 2021. Autentification, authorization and administration. Science and Education, 2(7), pp.233-242.

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