A Post Office Mobile Alert Application

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A Post Office Mobile Alert Application: Case of Postal Corporation of Kenya (November 2014) Peter Njoroge Nyambura1, Prof. Ismail Ateya Lukandu2 Faculty of Information Technology, Strathmore University. [email protected] [email protected] (+254) (0) 725567229  Abstract— Communication has received a major boost from technology and it is very easy to send and receive messages, example by use of SMS, email and social media. Even with these advancements the post office has managed to still be in the market, it is still delivering millions of letters. The letter sending process has had to face a lot of challenges, these ranges from lost letters, and undelivered letters due to difficulty in reading the letter details, mail redirecting and many more, therefore there is a need to improve the services that the post office is offering. This can be achieved by integrating technology into the process to make it effective and reliable. The study used qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data, both because there was need to get a deeper understand into how the Postal Corporation works in order to understand their letter sending process and how well the application would slot into their operations and improve them. It also sought to help see the number of their customers who thought having a mobile application would help solve the challenges faced. 60 % of the sample population thought having technology would greatly enhance the letter sending process, most of the users even preferring to pay a premium for monthly updates. During development the study used agile methodology as it was more flexible to changing requirements of the users, it helped to go back to the designs and the system specifications and change them according to the needs that were recognised. The users were more involved in the development of the application in this methodology this led to easy acceptability if the application as they felt like they were a part of it. The application was tested by the developer during development to make sure that the functionalities were working well then the results document any errors or bugs found at this were corrected immediately, the users were then given the application and a testing was done. The feedback was positive which shows the application will be of use the majority of the mailbox owners. There were a few challenges that came up regarding the application, the users require Android phones to be able to run the application and the phones must have auto focus to be able to read the QR codes in the letters.

Keywords: Agile Methodology, Bar Codes, Postal Corporation, QR Codes, Mobile application, Postal Corporation I. INTRODUCTION

C

ommunication has always been a big part of our lives and has become a social activity. We pursue it through various means written, spoken, reading or non-verbally i.e. body

language [8]. In Kenya the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) has always handled written communication Postal Corporation of Kenya [65]. They further explain that, letters from the interior of Kenya date back to 1848 when the missionaries sent their correspondence by native runners to the Coast for onward transmission, and they were carried by ship to other countries. Inland there was a system of runners who would be used to deliver letters. Postal Corporation of Kenya [64] states that they now have “31 Head offices and 472 departmental postal outlets and 204 postal agencies (sub-post offices). The population served per post office is 55,630 and as at 2009 they had 4,114 employees”. This is a great number of people that they employee, the number has increased due to the new branches that they have opened to serve different regions. This shows that there is still need for the post office even with the advancements in technology. Times have changed from the runners who delivered letters to using vans or airplanes to deliver letters, technology has come into play. Hartung [32] explains that, letters being sent have dropped due to the emergence of the email, fax, mobile phone that bring SMS, social media, and calls with it and many other technologies. He further says that, it is not that the post office did something wrong the market just shifted, consumers do not really care that physical letters are sent across continents they just want their communication there and then, as effective as possible, and hardly people do not check their mailboxes, this is because people want to communicate immediately. Email providers like Google and Yahoo have even built their mobile applications Gmail application and Ymail application, they have been made to give instant notifications when emails are sent to make sure the users give instant feedback for the letters, this is the same technology that SMS applications use. This means that users are notified of any communications made to them instantly [6]. This has extended to social media website and they are also doing the same thing, Messenger for Facebook is an application that give instant notifications for any messages sent to you, they also have an application that does the same thing. Twitter has followed suite with their own application. The post office in this case needs to have a way to make sure that the letter sending process is more efficient like the modern communication technologies mentioned above. With Kenya in mind, what has been discussed above show the need to make the PCK efficient and reliable? And, this is

2 still through technology. Telecommunications may have brought this postal predicament, and it might also be able to bring us out of it [48]. The USPS has implemented technology in their services which has had good response from the customers. On digitizing letters Marcia Navratil a customer explains, they do not know why anyone wouldn’t get their mail this way, unless they just really like having paper delivered to your house. [39]. USPS were able to get letters scanned and sent to their customers as PDFs. This happened after the customers gave permission to USPS to open the letters and scan the content. They were informed of the letters in the post office at hand. This change might be a good thing but it comes with its own problems which shall be addressed in this study, this include finding the best architecture to use to send data, challenges with sending letters in the post office etc. But, if all are well implemented then the services will be efficient and reliable and will give great service to the customers. By implementing technology into how the PCK operates then it will make it better and more competitive in the market. It will also be a way to raise up their revenues. II. LITERATURE REVIEW A. Introduction The growth in technology the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) still manages to send large amounts of letters and make profits from this Consumer Postal Council [20] gives that numbers at 70% of the 3 billion Kenya Shillings that the post office made in 2007 came from letters, bills, statements etc. which fall in the parcel and letters category, this shows that the post office is still relevant. The study will sought to show the types of parcels sent in the post office, the challenges faced in sending the parcels, the various architecture or models used in sharing information in the post office, mobile technologies that can be used to improve the letter sending process and finally, how to test and evaluate the application built. B. Challenges Faced by the Post Office a)

Sending Letters

The post office has monotony in this market, sending an average of 563 million letters six days a week but even with this it is still faces some challenges which have put it near extinction [44].

Figure I shows how the volumes of mail being sent by the USPS has dropped by 25 percent in five years leading to a drop in revenue as well explains Weissmann [84] he further points out that the biggest expanse for the post office is the labour and transport expenses that it incurs in sending out the letters. The core business of the post office has been sending letters which has been marred by a lot of problems as Leonardo further explains, we shall take a look at how the letter sending process works and the problems that show up from the sender up to when the receiver gets the mail: 1) Post Office Machines Once the senders have prepared their letters and have them in envelope ready to send them out they are required to write the names of the receiver on the envelope plus their address street etc. underneath the name but these are printed out to enable the postal machines to read the address with ease [19]. The main challenge here was that the machines could not be able to read through people’s handwriting, Mauk [47] reports that it ended up which rejecting 85 percent of envelopes and correctly identified the address in only 10 percent of those it read with a 2 percent error rate. But as Mauk later explains they were able to correct the system and the success rate turned to 90 per cent as of 2012. The machines are now more reliable. 2) Letter Tracking At times letters are sent and get lost in the mail sending process, this is one of the biggest problem that the Royal Mail Service (RMS) faces every day [3]. Advice guide further explains that RMS delivers 80 Million letters daily and tracking lost mails becomes problematic for them. It is up to the sender or the receiver to make an initiative to make sure that they follow up on the letter. This doesn’t guarantee that the letters will be found. At times the sender’s handwriting is so bad that it is hard for the machines to read the addresses as Conner Prairie [19] explains, this is when the machines are tasked with reading the addresses. These letters are then sent back to the senders to at least write the addresses well, he concludes by stating that 80% of the letters were rejected by the machines with regards to inability to read the address, but to a human they are able to read. The letters sent are hard to track if they do not have a tracking number, in Kenya the process is to have a stamp on the letters and drop them in the post office. The address are read and the letters are delivered to the respective receivers

3 [61], this makes it hard to be able to track lost mail ones it is in the system. 3) Lost Mail Wilkes [86] reports that over 500,000 letters go missing in the UK post office every week, of this letters 400,000 never actually reach their destination. This would be scary if the letters being sent are sensitive or bound by time. But, this is not the only alarming thing Chambers [17] explains that some of the letters are sent to the wrong people, this is alarming, if the information was sensitive then it would be seen by another party. This she continues is not a mistake of the post office, this is due to bad addressing by senders. The main question is; what happens to the lost letters? The BBC [11] report the lost letters are sent to the “dead letter office” where they are sorted, sent to the correct address or they are sent back to the sender. If they do not have any forwarding or return address then they are held for three months awaiting owners to claim them after this they are disposed. BBC further expound that not all mail is ‘lost’ mail sometime people just forget to go and check for their mail and hence its lost inside their mailboxes, in share mailboxes some are just picked by other people who mistake the letters to be theirs. But as early stated by Conner [19] the post office is not fully to blame bad handwriting by sender and as the BBC explains some mail doesn’t have addresses on them and hence end up in the lost mail category. This shows that senders need better training on how to send letters [11]. 4) Sending Protocols for Different Countries Different countries have different formats of addressing letters, Royal Mail [70] states that it makes it easy for the destination country to easily sort your mail. But, most cases it is hard to know the various protocols for sending letters to different countries which leads to mail getting lost. Royal Mail also reports that with some countries custom has to be paid for the mail going in, this might be problematic, they advise that it is good to have a return address to the mail being sent so that in case of anything then it can be returned to owner. 5) Redirecting Mail/ Forwarding Mail Advice Guide [2] defines redirection as “this is a way of continuing to receive mail sent to your old address when you move home or business, even if the move is only temporary or to an overseas address.” Advice Guide further explains that redirection can be achieved by going to a post office branch and giving the details personally or, they can make an application online to have the mail sent to the new address. Dibben [25] explains her experience in The Guardian newspaper of how she had to wait over a whole year before her mail redirection could work. She explains further that, after moving to her new flat she had her mail take a whole year and which she got paid to have her mail redirected because she her redirect period had already ended. This is a good service but it still needs a lot of work put into it to make sure that it works well she concludes.

b)

Competition

At the moment the post office is facing stiff competition from technology. Hartung [32] Explains that, the post office didn’t really do anything wrong, the market in terms of communication just shifted to something different. He says that no one really cares if mail is delivered on a daily basis because no one really remembers to check their mail any more. We want to communicate immediately, but the post office new of this along time ago and he points out that it is the reason they invested in other businesses. C. Technology in the Post Office As times changed the post office also made a few changes with regards to letters, they implemented a machine to read addresses from envelopes as the sender gives and decide where the mail should be sent, this increased the efficiency of the post office making sure that letters where sorted faster approximately 30,000 letters per hour according to Madrigal [46] in conclusion she says that the post office doesn’t need to deliver mail as fast as possible but maintain the infrastructure that it has needed to deliver mail to any address that the recipient specifies, this is because everyone is on the move and needs to be able to redirect their mail and receive it from where they are. The discussion is been that the Internet has been the death of the post office as pointed out in The Atlantic by Weissmann [84], he says that the Internet is not fully to blame as seen in Figure II, the volumes as at 2000 where still good and constant, but there were no changes made to the way the post office was working and hence they started to go down.

Weissmann further explains that it is the large labour force employed that has led to them making losses, together with laws in countries like the United States that have made it hard, not letting the post office run like a business and blocking any such changes and hence it is still run in the same way it was when it was first opened. Digitizing Physical Mail The biggest news to come close to solving the post office problems was when Outbox was introduced, Khanna [39] gives an insight into how Outbox works, the idea that the founders had that is, Evan Baehr and Will Davis was for all consumers to digitize their mail, this meant that people wouldn’t need to go the mailbox again, they would simply pay and extra $ 5 a month and have their letters redirected to Outbox, the physical mail would be scanned and made available online meaning they

4 would access it right at home. Their clients would then read the mail and ask for it to be directed to them if they wanted. They would also give options on what letters to be opened or not. Khanna further explains that they went on to try out their product small and they proved their hypothesis right, consumers want to limit their postal mail, be able to save a copy of the mail they get and also be able to access their mail from anywhere in the world. When the launched it was a success and many users subscribed to their services, they got good reviews and their product was good. Their only problem was expansion and how to handle the big demand. Khanna [39] quotes Matt Galligan in his article on Outbox, “Outbox is one of those ‘wow’ products. The moment I got my first batch of mail through their interface, I couldn’t believe it. It was pure magic. I’m a customer for life.” – Matt Galligan, CEO of the newspaper disruptor Circa. The biggest benefit for the post office is that they would make money out of stamps and not necessarily have to deliver the letter, they would redirected it to Outbox who in turn would scan and only forward the letter if the user asked for it which saves the post office a lot as most of its cost as Khanna mentions comes from delivering the letters. Outbox wasn’t successful in the end as the post office saw it as disrupting its operations and hence it didn’t work out well for them, the main problem was lack of corporation with the USPS which cost them and Khanna concludes.

carry more data and as the team from Mobile QR puts it [54], Bar codes also use a lot of space when it comes to printing them as compared to a QR code, with this research then, the space is limited as the QR code is printed on the envelop, therefore the smaller the better. Generating QR and Bar Codes There are many QR and Bar code generators out there but, it is about finding the right one for your specific needs. This can be in the lines of can you be able to brand your company in the code, can you track or analyse performance [28]. There are a few platforms that offer to create these codes, most are free to create the codes but, for premium services like analytics and tracking some of the platforms require payments. Some of the well-known generators include; Kaywa which help create the codes but has a premium bundle that include analytics, GOQR.me which like Kaywa has the same services free codes which can be linked to a website, SMS or saved to contacts. Finally, Microsoft tag, unlike the other two you can be able to make the codes colourful and not just the normal black and white [28]. An example of branded QR codes is shows in Figure III.

Digital Stamps The Royal Mail [70] explain about how the Croatian Post implemented the QR codes into their stamps to make their services more tech savvy. They changed their stamps into QR codes which connected users to a specific website from which they could track their letters from, adding text messages or images to the code for the receivers before the letter arrives to the recipients. Ferro [29] explains how Germany, Denmark and Sweden have been able to use technology to create digital stamps, someone sends a texts to a specified number with the mail details and they are sent back a code which they write on their letters. The post office saves on having to print the stamps and the errors that come with reading the mail as explained earlier on. D. Bar codes and QR codes Bar codes are generally used to make life easier when it comes to data storage and retrieval, it is easy to read them and store the data they hold in databases, they help to track inventory or the items they hold data for, they type of barcode chosen depends on the retrieval format for data and mostly the data that we want to store [77]. Difference between Bar Codes and QR Codes Both QR codes and Bar codes have one thing in common they are used to carry large amounts of data in a simpler way, unlike Bar codes which carry data in one dimension, i.e. horizontally meaning a bit of data only is carried, QR codes are one step ahead of them, they carry data in two dimension, meaning more data is carried and apart from that there is more to QR codes. They can be used to trigger events like send tweets, call a number, save business details and hence can be customized to suit a given business [75]. This makes QR codes

After designing the code the next step is to generate it, then check that it works fine. Implementing QR and Bar Codes on Mobile When implementing code scanners or generators there are a few ways to go about it but as QR Droid Zapper [68] explain the best way is to use a library that is already built and integrate it into your application. They give the steps required to do this which entail: i. Scanning When one needs to do scanning then they create an intent and make a call to the class that has the scanning method, it accepts one parameter to determine how the information will be relayed back to the developer. The information can be received in full, unprocessed QR contents, or only visible. After the class is launched and code is read then it return the results to the next

5 class as shown in the Figure IV, the Last class receives the details and decides what to do with them. Whether to display them, send or store them.

ii. Generate QR Droid Zapper [68] give the following steps in Figure V for adding the QR code generator to an android application; Like the scanner the generator is saved in a class called the Encode class, this class expects the variable to be encoded into the code. The size of the code is automatic according to the phone in use but, the developer has the ability to give the size they prefer. They Encode method will then return an image which is saved in the phone SD card and the path is returned by the class. The developer can decided what they want to do with the image after it is been created, they can send it or store it in the phone to be used later.

E. Software Design Methodology Review Kent [37] explains that Agile Methodology is a way to ensure that business people and developers can be able to work closely and achieve their set objectives, it main objective is to satisfy the customer and to deliver product as early as possible, He concludes by saying that as a project team, there is an ability to adjust to make sure that things are as effective as possible.

Figure VI explains the steps that are followed in Agile Methodology, and as Steljes [76] explains that this methodology helps teams stay competitive throughout long projects, changes can be made to the applications and not have such a long impact, finally the methodology also encourages participation from clients and hence user acceptance is almost guaranteed. Dr. Joyce explains in Agile Methodology [4] that unlike the Waterfall and other old Methodologies where the requirements were to be stated at the beginning of development, then the development was divided into phases and assigned to various developers who would discuss after completion of those phases. Agile helps to remove this by making communication easy among the teams and changes that should be made are easy. Communication is key in development and involving clients is making Agile a better methodology to use. There are a principles that Waters [82] highlights for agile development, they are explained as follows; Active user involvement is imperative, this relates to the users giving inputs with regards to the developments made on the application at a certain stage. The team must be empowered to make decisions, it should be easy to make decision and hence changes easily to the product without having to follow long procedures. Requirements evolve but the timescale is fixed, regardless of the changes being made the time frame should still remain the same. Capture requirements at a high level; lightweight and visual. Develop small, incremental releases and iterate, make sure that you do releases of the various stages/ phases in small and the clients to be able to interact and see that everything is as expected. Focus on frequent delivery of products. Complete each feature before moving on to the next do not do things simultaneously, complete on thing at a time and have the clients see and test it. Apply the 80/20 rule. Testing is integrated throughout the project lifecycle – test early and often. A collaborative and cooperative approach between all stakeholders is essential [82] F. Development Platform and Framework The study then covers how mobile devices are used within the country and the different types of frameworks there are for developing mobile phones. Mobile Phone Statistics

6 In Kenya 82% of the population own smart phones according to Gicheru [30] of Techweez, and that the competition by phone manufacturers is still stiff, but the biggest number is that of feature phones, but Sato [73] explains that this number will drastically change with time and as per the sale of smart phones compared to feature phones, there was an improvement on sales of smart phone, he says that 51% of sales by the end of 2013 was for smartphones as compared to 49% of Feature phones. This shows that 4.3 Million smart phones will be in the country by the end of 2013. All the above goes to show the need to build the application on mobile and therefore be able to reach a big number of people. In all these Samsung leads the way which runs on Android. This goes to show why the application should be built on mobile platform.

OS

Percentage

Android

68.8%

iOS

19.1%

Windows Phone

11.4%

BlackBerry OS

4.1%

Other

=1.6%

G. Letter Sending Process Model After the sender posts their letters there are a lot of places it has to go through before it reaches its recipient as show in Figure VII;

Letter collection the mail is picked up from the various collection points and from there it is sent to the mail processing plant where it is sorted. At the plant the letters are sent through the machine which separates the letters from parcels and by size makes sure that the letters face up i.e. the address faces up called the culling process, then it give a mark of where the letter was sorted and cancels the postal stamp to avoid it being re-used. The letters are then scanned and every letter is given a code imprinted using a florescent light at the back. Then the mail address on the front is read using a character reader and the address is sent for further processing the letters are then placed in trays and moved to the barcode application equipment. Then barcodes are imprinted on the letters with the delivery details for each letter and the letters are sent into various bins for various ZIP codes. The ZIP codes identify the next processing center. The letters are then transported to their various ZIP code and to the processing plants that are identified by the bar codes. At the plant they are fed into a sorter machine which uses the bar codes to sort out the letters. They are then sent to the various carriers who will deliver them and arranges them in order of delivery. After this the mail is transported to the delivery post office or carrier who will deliver the letters. The carrier then delivers the letters to the various addresses. H. Models/Architecture for Post Office Applications The Australian Post Office mobile application made waves when it was launched, upon being released the application rose to the top of App-stores most downloaded application as Australia Post [10] explains, they state the functionalities of the application as; tracking of mail sent, payment of bills, creating post cards from the application and sending them, they can check on the nearest post office from them and calculate postage costs for what they want to send. The Australian application has some problems, you need other additional applications to go together it. Like an application for tracking which is separate from the mail application, most users have given their comments on this in the Google play store and other problems that they have come across like the application failing on and on as Ricky Cuzy says in Google Play Store [31] while giving reviews on the Australia post application, “Not cool Was great but since the last 2 updates it crashes every time I open it. Please fix as I like to use this all the time.” I. Mobile Architecture Design Mobile application normally adopt a layered approach which consists of data layers, business logic and user experience, this is the norm with most applications. Most applications also have some common design considerations, will they be thin client or thin web clients, this has a significant bearing on the performance of the application. Figure VIII illustrates a rich client architecture where the business and data layers are both located on the device [51].

Figure VII give an outline of how the letter sending process takes place according to USPS [78] from the post office side;

7 able to improve their Post Office and the various ways they have accomplished than, then how best those plans can be implemented on our local Post Office. The second step was establish the sample population to which data was to be collected from, the population was divided into two section, to answer the pre-questionnaire and the Post-questionnaire, the third step was to establish is the study’s viable, these was through the research done on the current system, the challenges faced by the users and data was also collected to help give a conclusive result. The fourth step was to analyse the data that was collected from the previous step and show the need of the application. The data was to be collected from the sample population chosen using carious tools like online questionnaires/surveys, interviews and observing the process of sending a letter. Fifth step was to design the application according to the data analysis done in the previous step, after the design, the application development followed in the next step, this was to convert the designs into an actual application, the next step is to test the application to make sure that the needed functionalities are working are required. The final step in the process was to discuss the application with regards to the set up objectives and see that they were achieved then make conclusions and recommendation with regards to the application built. Also, give recommendations for future studies.

III. RESEARCH DESIGN, FINDINGS, AND IMPLEMENTATIONS A. Research Design The study used 5 steps as shown in Figure IX to develop the mobile application; Feasibility Study Population sampling Data collection

Data analysis

System Design

Developem ent

System Testing

B. Findings and Discussions i. Findings The response received was positive and helped a lot in decided whether or not to build the application. From the response, the researcher was able to decide on some of the functionalities to include in the system which were not considered. The conclusions according to the responses were: Most users had smart phones and were capable of using mobile application, so this would be easier for them to understand using the application and accept it. It was clear to build the application on Android platform since most of the users owned those phones as compared to other platforms. Some thought that using the SMS service would be a better way and that one should have the ability to choose between a mobile application and the SMS application. Most of the company’s employees are computer literate and the ones who aren’t are willing to go for training to keep their jobs and hence this means embracing the application and changes would be easy. Finally, everyone agreed that the application would enhance and make PCK more efficient. The rate of acceptability would be high for the application. Some statistics are show below; a.

Conclusions and recomenda tions

Figure IX shows the steps followed in the research to achieve the set objectives for this dissertation, the first step was to show cause for the research, to see if it was feasible and the value it would add. This was through doing extensive research into the other systems in different countries and how they have been

SMS vs. Mobile Application

The researcher also wanted to know which between a mobile application or using an SMS service would be the best to use and got the following response in Figure X which shows the number of people who considered having a mobile application as a better tool as compared to and SMS service, large organisation were of the opinion that they get more letters meaning they will be getting more SMSs and hence it would be costly to them. They also put forward that if they are getting more letters then it is becomes hard to check the description of

8 all they letters. But, by using the application they are able to read through the letters gauge the urgency of the letters before they go to pick them.

Amount Clients are Willing to Pay Monthly 200

SMS vs Mobile App 150

96 94

100

92 90

50

88 Mobile App

SMS

0 Kshs 500-1000

b.

The next was to find out if the application would be of value, if it would help the users check their mail and reply to the mail on time. Figure XI shows that the users thought the application would be of benefit to the organisation, out of the 185 sampled clients, they thought that the application would greatly improve the services of PCK if implement and they would be willing to use it often as the information would be relevant to them. They would be informed if there are letters in their mailboxes and hence this would save them a trip to the post office. The 28% thought that it wouldn’t be of help, while the rest 12% were not sure of the idea of an application.

Would a Mobile Application Help Improve The PCK Services? 12% 28%

Yes

c.

1001-1500

1501-2000

Viability of a Mobile Application

No

60%

Not sure

Monthly Premiums

Figure XII show the amount that users are willing to pay monthly if the application is ready and running. The time wasted going to the post office is of value to them and if the application gives them a mechanism to save up on this time then they are willing to pay for that service.

ii. Data and Process Modelling This application comprises of a number of entities with the mailbox owner being the key entity, the PCK clerk and PCK management are the also primary entities. They are able to send data to the application. The mailbox owner is able to send requests to the application e.g. making a requests to know the letters in their mailbox and login or register details. The clerk is able to input a sender’s letters details and also change the status of the letters delivered so that mailbox owners are able to see that there are letters in their mailbox. Clerk’s supervisors are able to see the work that their clerks have done, and get an analysis of the business that has taken place in a given day. a. System Architecture. Figure XIII shows how the architecture of the system is and its various components. It shows the two modules in the application the web module and the mobile module. In the web module the PCK clerk logs in and have the options showed, to add the senders details, delete users, edit his profile or is able to produce reports from the work done. Module two is the mobile application module where the user is able to login from there they can check for the letters in their mailbox, they can edit their profile, check the about and the help pages of the application. There is a web service that helps the mobile application be able to communicate with the database and get the needed data, the web module can also use the web service so that they are able to communicate with the database or it can just do that directly.

9 between the various process and the users i.e. Mailbox owners and PCK Clerks. Plus, the various data stores in that process. Mailbox Accounts Register Account

Mailbox owner

1 Register MBO(Users)

Registration confirmation

Delete MBO Delete Confirmation

2 Enter Senders’ details

Letter’s Details

Letters

Change Letter status Sender’s details

Inquires Response Letters Inquires

3 Check Letters

Response to Inquires

Confirmation sender’s details

PCK Clerk

Request fir reports

Check Letters

Inquires

PCK Supervisor

Reports

Clerk’s detials

Register Clerk Clerk Details

b. Data Flow Diagram A DFD shows the flow of data from users to the system and what functions or processes in the system they are interacting with.

5 Process Inquires

Inquires

4 Register Clerk

Delete Clerk Clerk Report Confirm Register/Delete Clerk’s report

Inquires

Inquires

Respond To Inquires

6 Respond to inquires

Confirmation of account Sender’s Details

Mailbox Owner (User)

Letters in Mailbox

PCK Clerk

Change letter status

Response for inquires

d. Check For Letters Create Details

Use Case Diagram

Confirm Details

0 PCK Mobile app

Enquires

Transactions report Clerk’s reports Registration Confirmation

Register Clerk Request clerk’s report

PCK Supervisor

Request for transaction report

Figure XIV shows the interaction between the users and the system, all the data that the various users send into the system. The PCK mobile application is the core of the system, from here the users are able to use all the functionalities, the Clerks as shown will make it possible for the users to know when mail has reached the mailbox accounts. c. DFD Level 0 Figure XIV shows the exchange of data between the various users and the system. Also, it shows the responses that are received, the various processes that are working within the system. This is a more elaborate design of the system as compared to Level 0 diagram in Figure XV. Finally, it shows the data stores available. The check letters use case which is the core functionality if the application has two users who constantly make reference to it, the mailbox owners who want to see if they have letters sent to them and the clerks who give updates when mail is delivered to the mailboxes. This will make the mail visible to the users via the mobile application, therefore they can come and pick the letters. Figure XV shows a breakdown of this use case. Figure XV shows a detailed view of process 3 checking letters, the various data that’s sent

Figure XVI shows the use case diagram for the application, it gives the various functionality of the application and the relationship between the functions and external users. The main use cases to be considered from this diagram are the enter letter details, change letter status and the check letters, all this use cases are tied to the Letter details.

10 iii.

Wireframes

a. Login and Register Figure XVII shows the login and register designs, the users are registered with the Post office when opening their accounts therefore the Post office has their details already. When they get the application the research expects them to only update their passwords. Then they are able to login and use the application. To login they only require the password they created and their mailbox number which is unique to them.

b. Home Screen and Menu Options After the users login in they then can see the letters that have been delivered to them and get a navigation drawer that gives them a mane and they can choose the option that they need. Figure XVIII shows this.

c. Create and Scan QR Code The other options that the user has are shown in Figure XIX. They can create and scan QR codes from the application. To create a code they provide some of the information that will help the receiver get details about the letter as shown in Figure XIX. When users scan they will get the details in the big text are show in the design.

d. Redirect and Edit Profile Finally the other part of the application was dealing with the user profile and redirection of Letters. Figure XX shows the two designs, the profile screen is similar to the register screen and hence take the same data. The redirect requires the user to specify the address they want their mail to be sent to.

11

e.

Admin Panel The PCK other design was for the back end where the PCK clerks would change the status of the letters once they are delivered this helps with updating the profile of the users so that they know that letters have been sent to them, also be able to send the SMS notifications. Figure XXI shows this;

The user is able to create their own QR codes and print them on the envelopes, they only need to give the letter

IV. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION a. Home Page When the user provides the correct information during login they are sent to the home page. From there they are able to perform the available functions. Figure XXII shows the home page and the various functions.

Figure XXIII Shows the steps to generate a QR code, the user has an option to show the QR code which is automatically saved in the phone or to get a URL which they can send to someone to print. They have to give the details that will make up the QR code and same details will be seen when the code is scanned. c. Postal Corporation of Kenya Administrator /Supervisor The supervisor or the main system administrator has the rights to edit the clerk’s details, to remove them if they are fired or no longer needed in the system, to create clerks and other administrators. They use the same login as the clerks. But, their credentials allow them to view a different page as compared to what the clerks will see. The supervisor will send him to the main sends him to the administrator page but the clerk will be sent to the clerk’s page. The clerks are able to add a new user to the system and manage them (Edit and delete). Figure XXIV shows a list of the clerks this is a result of the supervisor clicking on the manager user option in the function available to them. On the list the supervisor is able to delete or edit the clerk’s profile.

Figure XXII shows the first page the user sees after logging in, the user get to see their mail directly, this is the same as what Gmail and Yahoo mail applications do, it also shows how the user is able to check for the letters in their mailbox, change his personal details like password, create their own QR codes, scan QR Codes, track mail and many more. They are also able to read about the application and the help button for feedback and further details on the application. b.

QR Code Generation

12

Application Usability 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Strongly Agree

iv.

Agree

Disagree

Neutral

User Testing

a. Downloading the Application The application was hosted in a server from where the sample population could be able to download it and test it, this is because it is still a prototype and cannot be published without the consent of PCK.

Ease of Downloading and Installation

c. Application Responsiveness When application are engaging the users and giving responses to them, it is more appealing to the use as compared to ones without responses to them, when an action is being performed in the background the user should be notified so as to be patient with the application, these responses are what make the application rate more in stores, Figure XXVII shows the response from the users with regards to this.

Is the Application Responsive?

15% 5%

9% Agree

80%

Disagree 91% Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Figure XXV shows how the response in percentage of the ease of downloading and installation of the application. Due to having the application on a private webserver then this cause issues at times as the server was not always live, but by having the application in Google Play store then all this will be covered. b. Usability The study sort to see if the application was easily understood and the users could interact with it without need for someone to have to explain how to use it. Figure XXVI shows the response from users with regards to their interaction with the application. Did they ask for help with using the application or they were able to user stand the application with ease.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS a.

Conclusions

From the mobile application that was developed by the Australian and French post office it is evident by the number of downloads and people that used the application that people will not shy from adopting new technology and, that the post office still is relevant. The number of downloads just shows how much people are open to technological changes, this said then people will use the application especially gauging by the response from the testing that was done. As things stand in the market more people are embracing technology and changing to something that is more convenient for them and makes communication more effective. Due to this advancements in technology and the downfall of the post office, this paper came up with a way to make the post office competitive by use of the mobile application developed.

13 The PCK application can bring back the organisation and give it a fighting chances, if implemented then PCK will be able to compete with other technological means of communication. It will also be able to make money without necessarily sacking people. Everyone will still get to keep their jobs and it will add more revenues from the monthly subscriptions from the users for using the application. The application will ensure that letters sent are replied to in time as the users will be able to get notifications regarding the mail sent to them. There are more benefits to this application, reading of the QR codes ensure that mistakes are reduce and the strain of having to read bad handwriting is reduced. Mail sent can be easily categorised by the Postal Code if it is included in the QR Codes. More information can be added by the post office which will make it easy for them to sort out the letters. There is more that can be done with the QR Codes to make it easier for letters to be sent and sorted and this study has only scratched the surface. b. Recommendations The mobile application was of great importance to the mailbox owners who were able to access their inboxes, the researcher noted that there was more that could be done on the issue and gave the following recommendations: 1. 2.

3. 4.

Include a SMS or USSD module to the system, this will help to cater for individuals without smart phones, Develop for other platforms, iPhone and Windows phone as they have a share in the market to be able to capture the whole market, Have a push notification feature added to the application to make the alerts/ application real time. Finally, push adverts and have a premier advert-less application would be easy and more money as well.

c. Suggestions for Future Studies This study recognized the possibility of only tracking mail and checking if it is delivered, but more can be done, below is a list things that can be looked at; 1. The post office should implement a QR Code or Bar code system to be able to sort out their mail, currently they read addresses of the letters sent, this brings an issue when the handwriting is bad and the address is not visible, QR Codes could provide a better solution for this, and at the same time help them in cutting down the expenses especially that which regards designing and printing stamps. 2. Have an application for the mail delivery people to be able to track where they are automatically as the letters are being delivered. This will give real time data to the owners, 3. Since the Postal Corporation of Kenya has a bank operational, allow for the application to integrate with the bank and therefore allow for their users to do transactions from the same application. 4. Allow for the mailbox owners to give permissions for their letters to be opened and scanned and sent to the via the application or via email, 5. If the letters being sent are for official purposes and only a signature is needed then allow the

6.

owners to give digital signature and the letters are sent back. Enhance the track so that people are able to see the letter’s movement via maps.

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