TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF KENYA

FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATICS

PROJECT TITLE
SECURE-HOME

STUDENT NAME: STELLA NJERI GACHORA

REG NO: SCEE/01940/2020

SUPERVISED BY: DR. NJERI NGARUIYA AND MR. NGUGI

PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN PARTICIAL FULFILLEMENT FOR
THE DIPLOMA IN TECHNOLOGY IN COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
PROJECT OF THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF KENYA

SUBMISSION DATE:14th May,2024

Declaration
I declare that Secure-Home project presented is original and has not been presented to any
institution for the award of certificate, diploma, or degree program.
Name: Stella Njeri Gachora Registration No: SCEE/1940/2020
Sign: Date: 14/05/2024
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this project to Jacaranda court residents as a means to ease their day
to day activities in the court.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the residents of Jacaranda court for their collaboration while collecting
data for my project. Special thanks to my supervisors Dr. Njeri Ngaruiya and Mr. Ngugi for
their insights and to m family for their support.
Abstract
Secure-Homes is a social and payment application that enables fast and efficient
communication, management of funds and security in an Estate.
Table of Contents
Declaration............................................................................................................................................. 2
Dedication .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................. 4
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 8
1.1 Introduction and Background ................................................................................................... 8
1.2 Problem statement ...................................................................................................................... 8
1.3 General objective ........................................................................................................................ 8
1.3.1 Specific objectives ................................................................................................................. 8
1.5 Scope of the study........................................................................................................................ 9
1.6 Limitations of the proposed system. .......................................................................................... 9
1.7 Project risks and Mitigations ..................................................................................................... 9
1.8 Project scheduling (GANNT CHART) ................................................................................... 10
1.9 Budget and Resources............................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 11
2.1 Reviewed similar systems. ........................................................................................................ 11
2.2 Gaps in existing system. ............................................................................................................ 11
2.3 Proposed solution ...................................................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................... 13
3.1 Methodology and tools .............................................................................................................. 13
3.2 Source of data ............................................................................................................................ 14
3.3 Data collection methods ............................................................................................................ 14
3.4 Resource required/Material ..................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER 4 : SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND REQUIREMENT MODELING .............................. 16
4.1 Introduction to system analysis ............................................................................................... 16
4.2 Objective of system analysis ..................................................................................................... 16
4.3 Problem Definition .................................................................................................................... 16
4.4 Feasibility study ........................................................................................................................ 16
4.4.1 Technical Feasibility .......................................................................................................... 16
4.4.2 Economical Feasibility ....................................................................................................... 16
4.4.3 Operational Feasibility ...................................................................................................... 17
4.4.4 Scheduled Feasibility ......................................................................................................... 17
4.5 System Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 17
4.6 System Investigation ................................................................................................................. 17
 4.6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 17
4.6.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................................... 17
4.6.3 Fact Recording ................................................................................................................... 18
4.7 System Investigation ................................................................................................................. 18
References ............................................................................................................................................ 18
Appendix .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Budget .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Time Plan. ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Interview .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Questionnaire .................................................................................................................................. 20
Guards.............................................................................................................................................. 21
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction and Background
Secure-Homes is a social and payment application that enables fast and efficient
communication, management of funds and security in an Estate.
Jacaranda court is managed by a committee that is made up of flat representative, a chairperson,
secretary and treasurer appointed form the team. The committee handles different tasks as
given by the residents. The residents are notified about meetings through posters posted in the
flats entrance by the chairperson. The residents read on their way into or out of the building.
The committee collects funds for maintaining of the estate and thus make payments directly to
service providers and to the security guards. The money is collected by flat representatives on
the first week of the month. The current system though working has the challenge that residents
don’t receive feedback on payments made and sporadic communication happens between the
committee and the residents. Payment is 200 for residents without vehicles and 300 for those
who have one.
1.2 Problem statement
Residents of Jacaranda court have voiced their concerns about security of the court through
WhatsApp messages which may not have received any response or sometimes gets many varied
suggestions on how solve the issues from various residents. Communication on expenditures
of funds collected has been inadequate and decisions are made when concerns are raised by
residents (Court, 2023). Proper feedback would provide better decision making, enhancing
security of the residents and their property. The court has no scheduled meetings that allows
for the residents to attend or send representations to court meetings especially for those with
long working hours and those travelling out for work.
It is also difficult to keep track of those who don’t pay on time or do not pay at all. Secure-
Home, will provide a platform that allows members to get notified on upcoming meetings and
get minutes from the previous meeting and give their views on it. They will also get a monthly
report of how the funds given were put into use and can also be used to make necessary
decisions for the future using the generated reports.
1.3 General objective
The aim of this project is to develop a mobile application that will help the residents of
Jacaranda court to achieve proper management of security funds and a social platform to get
information detailing the court’s future plans.
1.3.1 Specific objectives
Secure-Home aims to achieve the following objectives:
● To develop an online payment system that gather payment messages and generates a
monthly report.
● To develop a module that provides a social platform for all residents of Jacaranda Court
to bring the sense of belonging, a place for them to give their views and to select days
to hold physical meetings.
● To develop a visitor’s module to be included in order to keep track of the people coming
in and out of the estate. This will help in case of any incident and make it easy to track
those present at that time as of the moment there is no system covering the particular
 area. This will be effective in the sense that retrieving information about any particular
date can be done with easy and is accurate.
● To develop a ticketing system that will help the estate committee to address the
residents complaints. This will aid in assessing which problem been mentioned by many
giving it priority.
● To develop maintenance system that will enable residents to recommend repair teams
that they have worked with to other residents for easy access to a repair crew that will
get the job done.

1.4 Justification and Significance

Secure-Home is a social and payment application that enables fast and efficient
communication, management of funds and security in Jacaranda court. This project will bring
transparency on funds collected and how it is distributed for different tasks including paying
the guards salary. This will help those in management to make future decisions like increasing
the guard’s salary or recommending for increase in residents’ contribution due to increased
costs. It will also create a small community among residents as they will get to know each other
and no long just be strangers that live in one court together. This will also help those who work
long hours to get an opportunity to participate in meetings and give their views on different
matters.
1.5 Scope of the study
This project is aimed at providing a social tool and payment system, to help the residents of
Jacaranda court in giving a safe way of paying for security services and providing a place for
them to discuss different issues concerning the estate.
1.6 Limitations of the proposed system.
Cyber bulling may be a great risk considering the outcome from different platforms reviews.
This can be mitigated by censoring the kind of information posted on the platform and serving
a 30 day ban to anyone who will go against the rules.
Job loss for flat representatives as their role is occupied by the proposed system. They will still
retain their title by becoming administers in the social platform.
A feeling of exclusions for those who will not have access to he social platform due to lack of
a smart phone or access to the internet.
1.7 Project risks and Mitigations
Some of the risks include:
Inadequate time to work on the project. This may cause rushed work leading to a lot of errors
and loop holes in the system that could cause damage once an attacker identifies them.
Insufficient funds to implement the project. This may cause a delay in the launch of Secure-
home or completely lead to dropping the system.
Lost data due to crashing of the operating system. This can be avoided by ensuring a backup
of ones work on a separate storage device.
Lack of steady internet service that may affect one’s research time or during presentation of
the project. This can be avoided by preparing and checking one’s connection prior to the set
time.
Loss of power which may lead to loss of internet connection or shutting down of the laptop or
computer in use leading to the loss of unsaved data. This can be avoided by using a computer
that can save power for a period of 4 to 5 hours that is fully charged and a phone that can be
used to hotspot the laptop.

1.8 Project scheduling (GANNT CHART)

Secure-Homes will be developed in five months’ time and launched in the sixth month after it
has been tested and proven to work smoothly without major defects.
Each module will be assigned a particular time period to ensure completion of the system on
the predicted time or earlier.
A bar chart in the appendix show the representation of that data.
1.9 Budget and Resources
This project will require hardware and software for it to be actualized.
For the hardware I require:
HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14-dh1xxx
Samsung Galaxy A6
Ethernet cable (straight through)
USB cable
Flash drive
For the software I require:
Android studios
Windows 10 operating system.
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Reviewed similar systems.
MLINZI
This is a resident and visitor management system. The aim of Mlinzi is to give the residents
of an estate the power to control the movements in and out of their estate. It also gives them a
sense of security. Mlinzi focus is o external security more than internal affairs of the estate and
would not satisfy Jacaranda courts needs.
The application also provides a distress feature that allows the residents to key in the details
off their next of kin in case of an emergency at their home. They also recently added an e-
payment portal for the residents to transact from anywhere.
RENT CAFÉ RESIDENT (Rent cafe, 2013)
This is a payment and maintenance application offered by Yardi systems. Rent café resident is
aimed as providing a payment system, maintenance request and amenities reservation services
for easy estate management. It best services residents who are mostly on the move and prefer
staying in furnished apartments. Residents are able to get and share information through the
neighbour hood bulleting board.
RESIDENT APP (Chapps, 2022)
This is a communication application that enables direct communication between residents and
their landlords offered by Chapps NV. Resident app allows tenants to read documents
concerning their place of residence and also send direct messages to their landlords to request
maitainace or comment on an issues spotted in the estate. Also landlords are able to post notices
on recent or up coming events in the estate.
RESIDENT CENTER (Buildum, 2019)
A payment and maintenance application offered by buildum. The application provides autopay
through linking once bank account or credit card. This assures no delay in paying rent at any
point. Also, it provides tenants with the option to request for maintenance and submit a video
with it to give the repair team an idea of what caused the damage and give proper feedback on
how long repairs will take.
2.2 Gaps in existing system.
Jacaranda court has been using a manual system to collect security funds and organizing court
meetings. At the end of every month the flat representative in charge collects the money via
M-pesa or is given cash by the residents. Unfortunately they do not give residents any feedback
on the payments made. Therefore, none know how much is spent on security and other matter
in the estate. This bring an issue of transparance among the residence and making financial
decisions a problem as well.
Meetings are also organised manually. The chairperson prints out hard copies of information
they want to relay. This is a problem as children may tear the notice leading to some of the
residents missing the date assigned as they didn’t see the information. This leads to low
attendance and constant dispute between residence due to different views.
2.3 Proposed solution
This project will provide a payment system that will have a module that will enable
confirmation message of payment to enable generation of reports. This will show the residents
who have paid and those who are yet to pay.
A social tool will also be provided to enable communication among residence and also posting
of physical meeting dates and minutes from previous meeting held. This will enable those who
missed the meeting could see what was discussed and give their input on the issues.
 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Methodology and tools
To achieve the aims of this project, I choose Agile methodology to accomplish the
development of Secure-Home. Agile works on project management with emphasis on
collaboration, communication and coordination.
Agile proved to be the best methodology to develop Secure-Home as it has a chronological
approach to it. This will be an advantage when it comes to the step by step process and
seamless transition from one module to another. Agile also allows me to debug each module
individually without altering or causing damage in the other fields.
These are the steps to be followed up to completion of the project:
Plan(Ideation)
In this phase I have already identified the problem in Jacaranda court security payment
system as well as ineffective communication on meetings. This enabled me to create a
solution that I now present as the proposed Secure-Homes.
Having obtained the data needed to conclude Secure-Homes as the best solution, a feasibility
study was conducted to assess whether it would actually be possible to launch the project in
the time frame given.
Design
Design entails understanding dataflow in both the existing and proposed systems. This will
enable a better understanding of how things work and to enable me the developer to create a
simple system that will work without a hitch. For easy vitual comprehension of the flow of
data in the system a data flow diagram would serve that purpose.
Both the current and proposed system are going to be portraited in detail. Then the design for
the proposed system can be developed and ready for use.
Development
Secure-Home is brought to life in this phase of development. The coding of each module will
be done during the time allocated and expected completion not later than that. The tools
required to code and complete the application are selected to suit the design that the
developer is interested or desires to achieve.
Test
Once the system is fully developed a test using dummy data needs to be conducted in order to
asses how each process is performing and to iron outs any errors that will be detected. This
will aid in the seamless implementation of the system.

Deploy(Implementation)
Implementation of the system is done once the system is deemed ready for public
consumption. Secure-Home will be ready for the residents of Jacaranda court to use as the
new system in place.
Review
As the residents of Jacaranda court use the application it is expected that they will give
feedback on their experience with the application and through that the proper upgrades can be
implemented.
Justification for using Agile technology
a) Increased focus on the specific needs of Secure-Home.
b) Reduces wastage by reusing available resources minimizing on resource to be
acquired.
c) Easy detection of issues in the system and easy fix without affecting the whole
system.
d) Increased flexibility when it comes to any updates that may need to be installed after
Secure-Home is launched.

3.2 Source of data

Primary sources used included:
An interview with the chairperson of the estate on the topic at hand. He gave insight on how
the payment is actually done. Also noted that the payment of the guards may be a matter that
may require immediate attention. This application is one he would like to see in action and
when proven good he has no problem implementing it.
I also did a questionnaire and distributed it to the residents of Jacaranda Court based on the
main topics mentioned above.
Secondary sources included:
Reading various articles online on the different experiences people have had in their estates
and also others on how they were able to bring a solution.
3.3 Data collection methods
Aimed at achieving the best results use of questionnaires on the sampled group, interviews with
a few and observation on how things were been done in the past two months.
The purpose of the questionnaires is to try and get the data without making anyone feel like
their privacy was invaded.
The interviews were held with the chairperson and his assistant. They gave more details based
on the managerial point of view.
By observing the payments my mother made over the past two months I had data that would
help generate appropriate questions for the interview
3.4 Resource required/Material
The following are the hardware and software requirements needed to host the application.
For the hardware I require:
Laptop as a work station for the project
Memory 16GB RAM
Processor Speed 1.60GHz 2.11GHz (Intel® Core i5)
Hard disk capacity 1 Terabyte
For the software I require:
Server Windows server 2016 used to collect data and manage authorization specifications
Operating system Windows 10
Kaspersky antivirus to protect the system from any external attacks by viruses by scanning all
documents and files
Android Studios provides a conducive environment for Android based applications.
CHAPTER 4 : SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND REQUIREMENT MODELING
4.1 Introduction to system analysis
System analysis is the process of collecting and analysing the requirements of a system.
In this chapter I will dive into analysing both the current system in Jacaranda court as well as
the proposed system.
4.2 Objective of system analysis
By analysing both systems, I aim to understand the current system get to know its strength
and weaknesses. This will enable the creation of a design for the proposed system to solve the
current system weaknesses, simplify and better the running of Jacaranda court activities.
It is expected that at the end of this chapter a solid design of Secure-Home will be ready for
testing and implementation.
4.3 Problem Definition
Residents of Jacaranda court have voiced their concerns about security of the court through
WhatsApp messages which may not have received any response or sometimes gets many varied
directions from various residents. Communication on expenditures of funds collected has been
inadequate and decisions are made when concerns are raised by residents. Proper feedback
would provide better decision making, enhancing security of the residents and their property.
The court has no scheduled meetings that allows for the residents to attend or send
representations to court meetings especially for those with long working hours and those
travelling out for work.
It is also difficult to keep track of those who don’t pay on time or do not pay at all. Secure-
Home, will provide a platform that allows members to get notified on upcoming meetings and
get minutes from the previous meeting and give their views on it. They will also get a monthly
report of how the funds given were put into use and can also be used to make necessary
decisions for the future using the generated reports.
4.4 Feasibility study
4.4.1 Technical Feasibility
Jacaranda’s security system is not as transparent to it residents as one would expect. The
system that is in place is manual and incorporation of Secure-Home will require the estate’s
committee to upgrade there hardware and software. A small computer based server will be
able to accommodate the system as a whole. This will be the only major purchase to be made
as the rest of the processes are available to the residents on their smart phones.

4.4.2 Economical Feasibility

The residents of Jacaranda court contribute a monthly fee towards security. The amount of
money contributed can be used to aid in the seamless implementation of the system. Given
the amount of money to kick start the business is One hundred thousand shillings, it is
expected that with steady and committed contributions from the security fund this goal will
be achieved in 6 months or less.
The contribution will not bring any stress of payment to the residents as their current payment
is enough to fund the project.
4.4.3 Operational Feasibility
Due to the manual nature of the current system the processes in place are prone to errors main
reason been that humans get exhausted and cannot be as reliable as a computer system. This
has caused problems where one has paid the money but the flat representative forgets to
record this data and leads to an altercation that would have been avoided had there been a
system to record each payment made out to security of the estate.
Secure-Home intends to make the payment and communication process easy and simple for
one to understand. All the residents will do is install the application on their phones and they
will have full access to the systems frontend while all the systems processes will be run by
the system administrator.
4.4.4 Scheduled Feasibility
Secure-Home is expected to be completed and ready to implement in a period of 6 months.
This is enough time to identify the problem, formulate a solution, create a design, test and
debug and eventually implement.
This will also give the estate management team adequate time to get the funds to get the
system up and running for the residents to use.
4.5 System Analysis
Aided by data flow diagrams we get to see the processes of the current running system and
the processes of Secure-Home. This will give a clear view of the activities and better help in
the design of Secure-Home.
Data flow diagrams is the most suitable method to use as it show details of how data,
processes and files work in both the current and proposed system Secure-Home. The
diagrams will make it easier for one to conceptualize the system fully and understand its
importance and purpose.
Working together with Agile methodology, the approach of sequential execution of the
various modules will be smooth and completion of the project on time becomes more
feasible.

4.6 System Investigation

4.6.1 Introduction
System investigation is a crucial step in system development as i look at the existing system
and will able to determine if it could or should be improved.
4.6.2 Data Collection
After a successful exercise of interviews, questionnaires and observations, I obtained enough
information to build the proposed system and pin point where the root issues was with the
existing system.
Interviews were best for first hand information on matters concerning the court. I will
interview member of the committee which is convenient as all flats in the court are
represented in the courts committee.
Queestionnaires is best for aquireing information from a large group as a sample is quick to
get and the fact that no names helps one get non-biased data. This method helped us hear
from other residents who are not part of the committee. Hence a conclusive report can be
prepared that would serve both sides.
Living in Jacaranda court also gave me the chance to observe how things are done. As to
fully understand the system to know which parts work well and which one require fine
tunning.
4.6.3 Fact Recording
Fact-finding is the formal process of gathering information on systems, requirements, and
user preferences.
As the goal of Secure-Home is to computerise the existing system the main focus will be on
system requirements. The committee will play an important role in collecting input
requirements from the residents of Jacaranda court. This will include: Name, Identification
number, house number and vehicle number plates for vehicle owners.
Since the system that is currently been used is manual, I will use the data to create the
database for the new system inorder to have continuity in the new system.
Secure-Home is aimed at completely taking Jacaranda court to been paperless. Hence
majority of the output will be accessed from the platform. A small server will be needed to
host all processes that will be done through the application.
4.7 System Investigation
In this stage the focus was on the gaps and requirements observed on the current system that
would be used in the development of the proposed system.

References
Buildum. (2019, September 23). Resident center.
Chapps. (2022, October 12). Resident App.
Court, C. J. (2023, May 23). Security In Jacaranda court. (S. Njeri, Interviewer)
systems, Y. (2013, December 26). Rent cafe.
Appendix
Budget
ITEM AMOUNT DESCRIPTION JUSTIFICATION
HP 50,000 Pavilion x360 To be used in
Convertible 14- working and
dh1xxx presentation of the
project.
Smart Phone 20,000 Samsung Galaxy A3 Will host the
application.
Ethernet cable 1,500 Straight through For internet access.
USB cable 300 Araimo To be used as a link
cable by android
studio to connect
the smart phone as
a simulator
Flash drive 750 Hp Used as a backup
for the project
documents.
Time Plan.
Chart Title

System Implementation

Testing and debugging

System design

Solution proposal

Identify solution

Problem identification

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5 Task 6

Interview
1.How long have you stayed in the estates?
2. Benefits of staying in this court?
3. How would you describe the security system in the estate?
4. Challenges experienced by management?
5. Have you found a way to solve the problems and how effective are they?
6. Would you embrace an application to aid in managing court activities?
7. How much does it cost to print payment receipt for security payments?
Questionnaire
1.Do you have a smartphone?
Yes No
2. Do you always have access to the internet?
Yes No
3.How would you rate security in the court? Why?
Very bad Bad Average Good Very good

4. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the transparency of how security funds in the estate are
used?

5.What challenge have you noted about security in the estate and has there been a solution to amend
it?

6. Would you embrace an online payment system to make your security payments?
Yes No
7. How involved would you like to be in court decision making meetings on a scale of 1-10?

8. Would you download an application that keeps you updated on court activities? why?
Yes No

9. Do you feel a visitors book is important to have for Jacaranda court guest to sign as they come in
and out?
Yes No
Guards
1.Briefly describe your experience working at Jacaranda court?

2. What challenges have you experienced at work and how were they solved?

3. Do you receive your pay on time or are there delays?

4. If you have experienced delays, have you talked to management and what action was taken?

5. Do you own a smartphone? Yes No

If yes would you download an application to aid you in your job? Why?

Yes No