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BRIEF AND PITCH

Brief & Pitch: CV

PITCH

My name is Chris Swinney, Network Security Bachelor’s Degree candidate for 2021. My Student Innovation Project has a working title of ‘ID-to-PDF’, a mobile application to assist dealerships in streamlining the purchase and sales experience.

During my 5 years of motorcycle sales and management, I spent my time specializing in sales process and technique efficiency. Under supervision of the sales manager, we succeeded in tripling profits and cut the average time spent on a single sale in half.  Even with these victories, the single biggest bottleneck for any salesperson’s process was the write-up.

A write-up, in the dealership business, is the point where the customer wants to find out numbers, payments, down payment, and possibly run credit. This important stage can take anywhere up to an hour, and sometimes more, before the customer even gets a chance to see what they qualify for. This has always bothered me, because I know it can be done better. Faster.

For anyone who has been to an auto dealership or made any big-ticket item purchase, you know it tends to be an all-day experience. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if there were a portable solution that could turn hours at the dealership into minutes before you’re on your way with a new vehicle?

So What does ID-to-PDF Really Do?

My software takes the information in a US-issued ID 2D barcode and parses it across a pdf file. Once the user confirms the information and modifies anything that needs to be modified, the user can enter vehicle information and submit the form. The application will then compile the PDF document with the user-entered information and send it securely to the appropriate end point, such as a specific email or server. By doing this, the process of the write up is dramatically decreased and the salesperson does not have to leave his or her guest unattended. They can continue with the buying experience and customer experience that turns a stressful experience into a fun and important experience.

While this app has not gotten any in-dealership testing yet, there are plans to install this into a dealership for user testing and improvements within the next year. However, the reason I believe this will work is from my own utilization of mobile devices to skip the paperwork process and discover the time saving of digitizing and mobilizing the sales process. I was able to use the direct resources the sales management had, for processing credit applications and building deal paperwork while performing the write up from a salesperson perspective. This turned a 30-minute stage in the sales process into a 5 to 10-minute experience for the customer. Instead of sitting and waiting for the deal to be entered into the computer system, it was already done. Instead of waiting for the deal to be built from scratch, it was already halfway done. This allowed the customer to be more involved in customizing their vehicle, accessorizing their clothing, and getting a tour of the dealership they would be doing business with in the future.

The current market does have ID scanning software made for checking customers out at low-ticket retail and for bars, but to-date, there are not any competitive applications, especially mobile, that can be customized and utilized for the dealership buying experience.

Conclusion

Now, you may ask yourselves, why would a mobile application for tablets and smartphones be an important resource for the sales process? Why should consumers and investors care? They shouldn’t… Unless they value what time means for them. Saving time leads a customer to a better buying experience. Saving time leads a dealership to higher sales, more sales, and better customer reviews. Saving time sets them apart from their competition. More time to spend with your customers as a dealership, more time to spend enjoying your new purchase and taking care of the things that are more important to you and your family, means a win for everybody involved. So, if your time is important and your family is important, ID-to-PDf should be important to you.

BRIEF

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Team Members:

Chris Swinney, Network Security

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Last Updated: December/11/2018

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Technical Field

This project involves the technical fields of Computer Science with regard to programming and engineering.

Background Information

I work in a motorcycle dealership. We pride ourselves in having a transparent and fast process. The bottleneck to our process is the length of time it takes to fill out the necessary documents to present numbers to a potential buyer. This process can take up to an hour, depending on the person doing the paperwork and how efficient they are at maintaining conversation control at this stage. We discovered a mobile application for our iPads that allows us to verify if an ID is real or fake. In using this, the former sales manager thought up a what-if idea on being able to use the tablet to do all of the documentation. We then started to think of a way we might be able to gather the information off of a buyer’s ID card to auto-fill 5 pages worth of information to be able to shorten the paperwork process. In an effort to boast lightning fast sales processes, the IDtoPDF idea began to develop. Upon his separation with the dealership, who does not yet support the use of the IPads for customer personal information, he commissioned me to build this application.

 

Prior Art (legal term)

IDScanGO

The most relevant prior art is the program, IDScanGO, that we used to verify the authenticity of an ID. In contacting this company, they will not build custom software to perform the task we hope to perform, but invited us to look over the code and build our own version. Upon inspecting the code of the software, it uses the camera to capture the image of the front of the ID and the bar code on the back. It then uploads it to another service provider that verifies the information on the front and the back match. Additionally, this program converts the bar code on the back into readable information, but this information is not used in any form or PDF capacity. This achieves only the first part of what I am trying to accomplish.

IDScanNet

This company creates hardware and software solutions for verifying age or identity, information collecting, and data organization. This is close to the second function but not applicable to what is needed by the dealership. This company does offer custom software build, unlike IDScanGO, however the goal of this program is to minimize cost to the dealership. So, as of yet, I have not reached out to this company for this specific custom build.

HD Test Ride App

This is the application we use for test rides, written by corporate Harley-Davidson. This program nearly does what I want to do. It takes the bar code of an ID and fills a web-app form that is uploaded to Harley-Davidson corporate for data mining and marketing (in some cases). This is similar, but I do not need to upload to an off-site area and I need to fill a fillable PDF form and not a web-app form. Again, this does not do what the dealership needs to be able to be functional.

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Project Description

Currently, when wishing to move forward in the buying process and looking for final numbers on a bike purchase, the process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and sometimes longer. Of this time, the salesperson spends anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour gathering needed information to properly calculate items such as taxes, licensing, and when needed, run credit information for interest rates, payments, and down payments. The amount of time it takes for a salesperson to gather this needed information depends on many factors including the amount of off-topic conversation that occurs. Some people can talk for hours and the salesperson may not be skilled at keeping the questions moving along. Another issue is the time it takes to get copies of IDs and take all of the documentation to the sales desk or office. All of this time lost not only wears on the customer, but the entire sales process. Imagine going in to buy a vehicle, which used to take an entire day or more, and being able to decide on buying within 20 minutes. While you shop for your vehicle accessories, you would get your approval and be shown all of your options. No one wants to wait around all day to have not purchased something. My app will resolve this by converting all of our documents into electronic PDFs and enabling the information from an ID, such as a driver’s license, to be transferred to the forms. This would take a 30 minute process and cut it down to 2 minutes.

 

Innovation Claim

My application will take digitized versions of the most commonly used documents in the dealership and use a bar code on an applicable ID to auto-fill all applicable information.

 

Usage Scenario

The application can be used, eventually, for multiple dealerships to assist salespeople in filling documents out faster using an ID bar code. However, some people do not prefer to work with humans. They could simply take photos of their ID, finish the missing information with their down payment and monthly payment goals and receive a quote on a personalized payment option for them. This eventual automation of the sales process will draw in a new demographic of customer; the technological and impersonal type of person, as well as anyone who might value efficiency. Additionally, with modification, this application will be able to intake any fillable PDF and be redesigned for any function using a bar code with employee information and reports or documents, for example.

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Evaluation Criteria

The following questions will identify the successful completion of the project:

  • Does the program effectively translate barcode data? DONE

  • Does the program properly apply given information to PDF document? FUNCTIONS NEEDS MORE FIELDS

  • Does the program effectively secure collected information? TBD ESTIMATED JUNE 2020

  • Does the program have a way to securely transfer the completed documents to the dealership servers?TBD ESTIMATED JUNE 2020

  • Does the program have a functional GUI? DONE NEEDS LAYOUT UPDATES BASED ON DEALER NEEDS

  • Does the program have an effective user experience? DONE

  • Is the program easy to understand and use? YES

  • Do all the options and button work completely? YES

  • Can everything be easily read? YES

  • Is the company logo on display? DONE

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Objectives and Tasks Associated with the Project

Design prototype PDF document

  • Create a fillable-PDF document to simulate proprietary PDFs being used in program- DONE

  • Properly label all used lines of PDF to match the information collected during buying process. -DONE

  • Link any common or repetitive lines so the information is filled out automatically across all pages.-DONE

Design layout of program

  • Choose color layout and decide if this is to be dynamic based on the dealership using the program-DONE

  • Choose fonts legible to most eyesight levels-DONE

  • Create main menu-DONE

  • Allow for import from gallery or from camera-DONE CAMERA ONLY

  • Allow for saving progress automatically into encrypted folder

  • Decide on and implement encryption and protection methods for sensitive information

Acquire necessary programs and files for development

  • Learn C# to the extent needed by this program. This will take up to a year and will be the key to the next steps.-NOT NEEDED UNTIL APPLE MIGRATION

  • Download and/or update Android Studio. This will be used to breakdown and create programs used in the application. -DONE

  • Download Camera SDK. This is used for features currently now commonly used in programs, including barcode translation. REPLACED BY BARCODE SDK FROM ANDROID DEVELOPERS PAGE.

  • Download barcode SDK. If this exists, it will convert barcode information into human readable information.-DONE

  • Disassemble IDScanGO and understand how it secures information collected as well as how it translates barcode data using the aforementioned SDKs. -SKIPPED NOT NEEDED

Check Legal Requirements of Program

  • What are the requirements in protecting people’s personal info of this specific type?

  • How much of this information actually classified under NPI (Non-Public Information)?

  • How will the information be transmitted and stored and how are these methods regulated?

Test program

  • Test functionality on multiple types of ID cards and barcodes.-IN PROGRESS DEPENDENT ON DONOR ID STATES

  • See if the program can identify an ID card vs a random barcode and decide if this matters to development.-DIDN'T MATTER BUT IT WORKS

  • Test orientation detection using gyroscope in phone. -DISABLED ORIENTATION DETECTION. NOT NECESSARY

  • Test layout styling when in landscape or portrait.-LOCKED INTO PORTRAIT

  • Test signature requirements and how they display in the two given orientations. -SIGNATURES SHOULD BE CAPTURED IN PDF APP SUCH AS ADOBE I THINK

  • Test data accuracy to what is printed on the face of the ID. -ACCURATE

  • Verify all data fields are correctly filled out with correct information.-VERIFIED. FURTHER VERIFICATION NEEDED AS APP IS DEVELOPED.

  • Test security of encryption.

  • Possibly find a service to thoroughly test the security of the program storage and transmittal of sensitive information.

  • Return to program design/redesign if and when needed.

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Description of Design Prototype

The design prototype will be created in C# and Java for use in the Android platform to start. Goals of later creating an Apple-compatible app is likely as most businesses tend to gravitate towards Apple for its alleged security, but also its ability to have one uniform way of performing any task. The prototype program will contain a test PDF with programmed fields, such as name and address, for testing all of the gathered data from an ID barcode. The program will have three (3) main focuses:

  1. Scan ID/barcode to fill PDF form

  • This will be done by using the barcode of an ID or possibly using an image to text conversion algorithm for IDs without barcodes.

  2. Capture signatures

  • There are credit applications and test ride documents that need signatures. There is a high probability that this can be easily captured.

  • As the program develops, the possibility of integrating with Docusign may become a focus for verifying signatures. However, this may not be needed as later in the process, Docusign is used again to capture signatures on the same application.

  3. Encrypt and securely transmit data to dealership servers

  • This will be done by using a standard hashing algorithm in use currently and possibly by restricting the device’s connection wirelessly to ONLY on a server OR by sending the data through a Secure VPN.

 

Evaluation Plan

Testing will begin by testing on multiple types of ID cards and bar codes. We will check to see if the program can identify an ID card vs a random bar code. Since this is a private program, the ability of the program to do this may not be of major importance during initial development. We will fully test orientation detection by using the on-board gyroscope of the device. This will be tested on multiple Android devices (and iPad devices as development calls for it). During this testing, we will also refine the layout format of the styling when in landscape and portrait positions. This includes the signature fields and how they orientate in the two positions. Next, would be to test the data accuracy that is captured from the bar code to how it matches on each ID face. Once encryption is integrated, thorough testing of its security should be performed to ensure protection of Non-Public Information (NPI). This may lead to enlisting a service to thoroughly test our application’s security strength in storing and transmitting sensitive data. After all testing and design has been completed, additional design and redesign will be performed as needed.

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Project Completion Assessment

First version of app is almost completed. Assessment is dependent on the dealership requesting this app but cannot be evaluated until encryption and email capabilities have been set and the dealer provides me with a PDF (I have created a temporary should I finish the encryption and sending stages before then).

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Appendices

Appendix A: SIP Documentation Site- https://chrswinn.wixsite.com/siproject

 

Appendix B: References

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Bar & Club Stats. (n.d.). ID Scanner - Bar & Club Stats - iPhone, iPod, iPad or Android App. Retrieved November 25, 2018, from https://www.barandclubstats.com

 

DynamSoft. (2018, October 8). Extract data from PDF417 of driver licenses. Retrieved from https://www.dynamsoft.com/blog/imaging/extract-data-pdf417-driver-licenses/

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IDScanGO. (n.d.). Mobile ID Verification with Facial Recognition Software - idScan Go. Retrieved November 25, 2018, from https://www.idscango.com/

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IDScanNet. (2018, July 27). IDScan.net - Leader in security solutions, age verification and data automation. Retrieved November 25, 2018, from https://idscan.net/

 

Infinum. (2014, June 12). 'Scannr (ID check). Retrieved November 25, 2018, from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scannr-id-check/id880966829?mt=8

 

Java. (2017, October 24). Barcode API Overview | Mobile Vision | Google Developers. Retrieved from https://developers.google.com/vision/android/barcodes-overview

Evaluation Criteria
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