URCovered Inc: Designing Mobile App for Improved Customer Service - Essay Sample

Introduction

URCovered Inc is a major auto insurance company in the United States. The company has decided to develop a mobile application in a bid to extend its business. The main purpose of the application is to improve its customer service when managing claims. One of the major phases in the development life cycle of the mobile application is system design. This phase will focus on providing solutions to the problem experienced by URCovered Inc. The suggested solution is expected to rotate around five key take-aways: data design, system specifications, system architecture, interface design, and feasibility analysis.

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The application will have various pages that are intertwined. The first page will be the login page. Here, the user will have to log in with their credentials to access the features of the app. If the user does not have an account, then he/she has to create one. The second page will enlist the main options of the application, i.e., read a message, create a claim, make a payment, edit the account, check security settings, or get help from the support team. The architecture and design of the system will involve components that will work together to ensure the efficient functioning of the overall system. These components will include the firewall, user mobile device, the database, and the webserver. Initially, the user would send a request to the webserver via the cellphone tower. A GPS satellite would be incorporated if the user location would be required. From the cellphone tower, the request would then be sent to the web which will then connect to the internal system. A firewall will control all access routes to the internal system before redirecting them to the webserver for processing. If any data is required. The server will connect to the database management system for accessibility.

Corporate Organization Culture

URCovered has established an organizational culture where every employee shares the same values and standards and is focused to ensure that the customers achieve the highest levels of satisfaction. The IT department is open-minded and creative in handling new projects like the mobile app. The leadership motivates its employees daily to develop a passion for productivity. The employees are constantly trained since the company believes that knowledge never ends.

Enterprise Resource Planning

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program is used by URCovered to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from their various business activities. However, the new system will blend with the ERP to ensure the efficient flow of information between the interior business functions and the outside stakeholders.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Owning the mobile application is estimated to cost the company approximately $36,000.

Scalability

The app will have the possibility to handle an increasing amount of work and capacity to be enlarged to accommodate any growth that may come. Moreover, any changes will also be easily and perfectly integrated into the system without affecting its operations.

Integration and Interface Requirements

Interface refers to the flow of data between systems or applications without the applications being affected (Roberts, 2018). The applications should, therefore, be able to send and receive data while acting independently from each other. Integration, on the other hand, is a much more complex arrangement that involves a combination of the object model and architecture to establish a unified user experience that combines data, reporting, and workflows.

In this case, the mobile will be an extension of the exiting company web application. Both applications will, therefore, operation as a whole and the same product and will share the same database.

Security

The mobile app will contain sensitive customer information such as the username and password which will be encrypted. Moreover, the firewall will monitor any incoming and outgoing network traffic basing on predetermined security rules.

Feasibility Analysis

The idea to develop a mobile application was born from the fact that most customers preferred using their mobile phones than traditional computers. URCovered therefore, took upon the task to establish a solution that will enable them to use their mobile phones to access the services.

Operational Feasibility

This will entail enabling the customer to submit and follow their claims via their mobile devices. The proposed solution will not only provide a solution to this problem but also satisfy the requirements analysis phase where the customer has to directly call the case manager via the mobile application.

Technical Feasibility

The programming team for URCovered Inc is well-experienced in Java, Android studio, database management, and graphical user interface.

Economic Feasibility

The approximate cost of developing the mobile app is $36,000. The finance for the project will come from various sources, such as a bank or equity finance. The company estimates that the application will attract more customers and the projected cash flows and profitability of the application will be higher than the TCO.

Schedule

The project has a reasonable time frame of 69 days stipulated in the system planning phase. This makes it not to take too long to be completed before it becomes useful. To achieve this, every task of the project has a stipulated due date to ensure that the project meets the deadline.