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Problem, Need or Opportunity

Your Starting Point

The first part of the SAT requires you to identify a problem, need or opportunity that can be developed as a software solution.

You can reach out to:

  • friends
  • relatives
  • local businesses
  • community groups

This gives you an authentic client who can provide feedback and clarification throughout the SAT.

Important Rules for Choosing Your Idea

  • You need to generate your own problem, need or opportunity.
  • You should start thinking about your SAT idea as early as possible.
  • You should document your thinking from the start so that you can show how the idea developed.

What Makes a Good SAT Idea

Your idea needs to be:

  • realistic to complete within the available timeframe
  • manageable for your current programming skill level
  • clear enough that you can collect data, analyse the situation and design a full solution around it

Approval

Before you proceed, discuss your SAT idea so it can be checked for:

  • feasibility within the time available
  • scope that matches your demonstrated programming skills

SAT Project Proposal Template 2026

Use this template when you are narrowing down possible SAT directions before your final project is approved.

Software Development Units 3 and 4

Name: _________
Due: Mid March

For your school-assessed task, you will analyse, design, develop and evaluate a software solution that meets a need or opportunity you determine. This task is the primary assessment for Unit 3 Outcome 2 and Unit 4 Outcome 1.

For Unit 3 Outcome 2, over about 8 to 10 weeks of class time, you need to:

  1. Identify a real-world need or opportunity, propose a project that addresses it and get it approved by your teacher. Compile a project brief that documents the above and includes:
  2. problem / need / opportunity outline
  3. proposed users
  4. programming languages to be used
  5. feasibility and originality
  6. Prepare a project plan, taking into account all stages of the problem-solving methodology covered in both outcomes and determine the milestones of your project. Document this in a Gantt chart.
  7. Collect data to analyse the need or opportunity you identified and create an SRS document, using the provided template, containing:
  8. solution requirements: functional and non-functional
  9. constraints and scope
  10. appendix with your collected data, analysis tools and diagrams
  11. Create a design folio:
  12. generate two or three different design ideas for creating your solution
  13. include annotations to indicate key functions and layouts
  14. develop and apply evaluation criteria to select the preferred design idea
  15. create a complete design for the preferred design idea, including the functionality and user interface of the solution
  16. keep the evaluation criteria ready to be used in Unit 4 to evaluate the quality of the finished solution

Proposal 1

Working title for this proposal / project:

Brief description of the project. Include:

  • who the client is, or clients are
  • a guess at its main use cases
  • what limitations and constraints there are
  • what data is needed for the solution and how it is processed
  • sketches of GUI ideas

Who will you contact to gather information for your project analysis, individuals or groups?

Which of the following do you think you might need to incorporate into your solution? Give details.

  • a set or two sets of data, such as a list, dictionary or database of products, users, items and so on
  • when you would need to edit this data
  • when you would need to add new data and validate data
  • when you would need to delete data
  • how you would search through your data
  • when you would sort your data or use a complex algorithm to process the data
  • how the solution would produce output, printed or on screen, such as a ticket, order form or sales summary
  • whether secure access to files and or data is required

Proposal 2

Working title for this proposal / project:

Brief description of the project. Include:

  • who the client is, or clients are
  • a guess at its main use cases
  • what limitations and constraints there are
  • what data is needed for the solution and how it is processed
  • sketches of GUI ideas

Who will you contact to gather information for your project analysis, individuals or groups?

Which of the following do you think you might need to incorporate into your solution? Give details.

  • a set or two sets of data, such as a list, dictionary or database of products, users, items and so on
  • when you would need to edit this data
  • when you would need to add new data and validate data
  • when you would need to delete data
  • how you would search through your data
  • when you would sort your data or use a complex algorithm to process the data
  • how the solution would produce output, printed or on screen, such as a ticket, order form or sales summary
  • whether secure access to files and or data is required

Proposal 3 (Optional)

Working title for this proposal / project:

Brief description of the project. Include:

  • who the client is, or clients are
  • a guess at its main use cases
  • what limitations and constraints there are
  • what data is needed for the solution and how it is processed
  • sketches of GUI ideas

Who will you contact to gather information for your project analysis, individuals or groups?

Which of the following do you think you might need to incorporate into your solution? Give details.

  • a set or two sets of data, such as a list, dictionary or database of products, users, items and so on
  • when you would need to edit this data
  • when you would need to add new data and validate data
  • when you would need to delete data
  • how you would search through your data
  • when you would sort your data or use a complex algorithm to process the data
  • how the solution would produce output, printed or on screen, such as a ticket, order form or sales summary
  • whether secure access to files and or data is required