Student Academic Planner System: A Review

Abstract

In this research, the target user of UniPlanner: Student Academic Planner will be focused on USIM students. It is a system used to help student manage their time. The purpose of developing this system is to maximize and improve the time management of USIM students, organize their daily life and increase the effectiveness of their studies. The description of the problem to be solved, how the system works, the methodology, and the tools used in the development will be discussed in this paper. Overall, this system will include with calendar, planner, notes, watch and timer, and CGPA calculator. These functions can lead to the betterment of student performances in academics.

Full text

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 63
[mjosht.usim.edu.my]
Article
Student Academic Planner System: A Review
Fathi Amalin Mohamad Zukriyani and Nurdiana Azizan
Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 71800 Nilai, Negeri
Sembilan, Malaysia
Correspondence should be addressed to:
Nurdiana Azizan; nurdiana@usim.edu.my
Article Info
Article history:
Received:30 August 2022
Accepted:17 November 2022
Published:6 April 2023
Academic Editor:
Hanis Yahya
Malaysian Journal of Science,
Health & Technology
MJoSHT2023, Volume 9, Issue No. 1
eISSN: 2601-0003
https://doi.org/10.33102/mjosht.v9i1.326
Copyright © 2023 Nurdiana Azizan et
al. This is an open access article
distributed under the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original
work is properly cited.
Abstract— In this research, the target user of UniPlanner: Student Academic Planner will be focused on USIM students. It is a
system used to help student manage their time. The purpose of developing this system is to maximize and improve the time
management of USIM students, organize their daily life and increase the effectiveness of their studies. The description of the problem
to be solved, how the system works, the methodology, and the tools used in the development will be discussed in this paper. Overall,
this system will include with calendar, planner, notes, watch and timer, and CGPA calculator. These functions can lead to the
betterment of student performances in academics.
Keywords— Planning, Time Planning, Time Management, Planner, Organize, Learning
I. INTRODUCTION
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO)
declared a pandemic situation with the spread of a new type of
coronavirus that caused the outbreak of COVID-19 [1]. In line
with this epidemic declaration, all countries have closed all
sectors. The education system is one of the areas severely
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic nationwide [2]. The
closure of the education department led to the closure of all
schools and universities to break the chain of transmission of
this dangerous epidemic. As a result, the ancient face-to-face
teaching and learning process had to be stopped and replaced
with online learning also known as e-learning [3]. In the
critical situation of the outbreak of COVID-19, the transition
to online learning was the only one [4]. As e-learning is being
practiced in student life these days, some students have
difficulty managing their time properly between family,
studies, and entertainment resulting in substantial disruptions
in learning [5]. Students can easily slip right on the
assignment or project deadline without being noticed. Based
on these issues, the researcher decided to develop a system
named UniPlanner which will help students to solve their time
management problems while increasing the effectiveness of
their studies and productivity.
Among the problems that arise from the implementation of
new teaching and learning processes which is e-learning is
that students have poor management of time. According to [2],
time management consisted of several indicators. Activities
such as time productivity planning, organization, mobilization,
and control are time management efforts. At the beginning of
the virtual learning period, students spend more time at home,
causing them to be poor at spending time with family,
entertainment, and education. Balancing studies with the fun

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stuff in life can be challenging to maintain [5]. This unfamiliar
learning method and poor time planning cause many students
unconsciously miss classes that are conducted virtually or
have insufficient time to complete the assignments given
because they miss or forget the deadline. When students have
too many assignments, students also tend to have trouble
determining and completing assignments according to the
priority deadline. To add to this, students had to be more
independent and disciplined in their learning process as the
physical presence and direct supervision of their educators
were not possible [6].
Other than that, a student's academic performance is
measured using the Cumulative Grade Average (CGPA).
CGPA calculates the overall average of student coursework
for all assignments and examination grades for all semesters
throughout the study at the university [7]. Since students rely
heavily on the CGPA exam results issued by the university,
academic performance and learning outcomes in the new
semester depend a lot on previous achievements. Thus, it can
make it difficult for students to plan their studies to achieve
their targets and if students do not know how to calculate
examination results, they may not be good at planning to score
in certain subjects.
Next, in the existing planner system, the reminder features
function by sending email notifications. For students who
regularly receive emails, it can cause them to miss reading the
email and cause them not to be alerted by the due date.
According to [8], the reminder features are designed to help
people to remember future tasks that they might otherwise
forget. At a minimum, the reminder features should include
the types of tasks, task description, the date and time the
reminder was created, and the time between the reminder and
the notification creation.
Finally, some students are too focused on learning and
chasing the deadline causing them to have health problems
because they do not wisely divide their time accordingly and
spend long hours in a sitting position with supine bent forward
while using electronic devices [9] where they study too often
without resting or enjoying the entertainment. Although this is
good for their academic achievement, it is not good for their
mental and physical health.
The following are the research questions of the research: (1)
What are the gaps in the existing student academic planner for
USIM students? (2) How to ensure the student academic
planner, UniPlanner is protected from any threat? and (3) How
to ensure the secured UniPlanner is working?
The research objectives of the research are as follows: (1)
To investigate the gaps in the existing student academic
planner for USIM students, (2) To develop a student academic
planner UniPlanner that has a security feature, and (3) To
conduct a user acceptance test to ensure the UniPlanner is
working.
Web-based applications use web browsers and web
technologies such as JavaScript, CSS, and HTML to provide
one or more features to browser clients over the network [10].
Web-based applications make it easy for system users to
update data as it is stored in the database. Databases are an
important part of information systems because they serve as
storage for data to be processed later [11]. Another advantage
of this application is that it can be accessed from anywhere
using a web browser [10].
Further investigation is carried out by observing the
existing planner system. Four existing systems were selected
in this research which are the Global Open Access Learning
System (GOALS), Trello, Todoist, and myHomework Student
Planner. GOALS is selected because it is the current system
used by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) students and
lecturers as an education platform, whereas Trello, Todoist,
and myHomework Student Planner are chosen based on the
ranking place second, third and fourth respectively of the best
planner and reminder apps for students according to [12]. The
existing system is chosen based on these four criteria which
are projects which allow the system to sort the information by
any necessary criteria, tags that allow users to systematize all
current and strategic tasks effectively by tagging them with
appropriate tags, and colors that visually highlight tasks of a
certain degree of urgency and importance and filters which
allows user to quickly select the necessary tasks using the
filtering function built in the system.
GOALS (https://goals.usim.edu.my) is an abbreviation for
Global Open Access Learning System which was established
by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in line with the
development of online education systems. Fig. 1 shows the
homepage of GOALS. The system provides users with a
single dashboard that integrates information, management,
and education while providing all USIM academic staff with
reference and learning materials for educational programs
such as quizzes, discussions, and teleconference systems. The
system aims to coordinate e-learning programs such as Open
Distance Learning (ODL), Lifelong Learning, and Open
Educational Resources (OER) programs.
Fig 1: Global Open Access Learning System (GOALS)
GOALS is a web-based platform that can be used by both
USIM students and lecturers and act as a learning medium
between them. Modules that have been introduced to the users
for this system are (i) news forum (online announcement), (ii)
course outline, (iii) forum, (iv) upload file and website links,
(v) online quiz, (vi) Web 2.0 tools (Prezi) and (vii) assignment.
Those modules could be accessed through the e-learning tools
used by both lecturers and students using GOALS specifically
in USIM. To use the application, the user is required to log in
by using the staff id or matric number. GOALS offered
features Dashboard, Site Home, Calendar, My Courses, and
others.
The dashboard contains a course overview that displays all
courses that students enrolled in and recently accessed courses.
Site home display GOALS website cover page. The calendar
displays all assigned assignments and quizzes as shown in Fig.
2 in the monthly overview. In My Courses page, it displays all

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 65
courses that students enrolled in other forms. It also displays
all courses that are available in USIM where users can sort in
alphabetical order or the opposite alphabetical order and
search for the course using the course code or course name.
The system also serves as a place for students to submit their
assignments. The assignment module allows teachers to
collect and review student assignments and provide feedback
such as grades. Students can submit any digital content (files),
including word-processing documents, spreadsheets, images,
audio, and video clips.
Fig. 2: GOALS – Calendar
One of the advantages of this system is that GOALS is a
student-lecturer platform that is helpful and easy to use
because the user can refer to all notes and learning materials
on GOALS. GOALS also acts as an assignment submission
place and quizzes can be done by using GOALS. It will be a
burden for lecturers if there is no student-lecturer platform
exist where they need to share learning materials daily or even
hourly on communication platforms such as WhatsApp,
Telegram, or other platforms. However, GOALS also have
disadvantages. The disadvantage of GOALS is that GOALS is
unable to offer the user reminder and notification features
where it can alert the user. The existing reminder and
notifications feature available on GOALS are notifications
sent through email that has been registered in the USIM
database. For the student who keeps on receiving lots of
emails, the reminder emails sent by the GOAL system can be
pushed down by other emails and cause the student to miss the
notifications. Fig. 3 displays how the notification is sent
through email.
GOALS are encouraged to implement a planner function
with a feature where users can add plans and update the plan's
progress. It is also recommended that these features
implement with a scheduling algorithm where it can help user
arrange their plan or task in priority order. The reminder and
notification features that existed in GOALS are also
recommended to undergo changes and upgrades from using
email notification features to alarm notification features. For
example, the alarm notification feature that is available on a
smartphone is the notification displayed on the screen of the
phone which is included with the countdown of the day and
time from the marked dates.
Trello (https://trello.com) is a popular, simple, and easy-to-
use collaboration tool that allows users to organize their
projects and everything related to them on a board. Trello's
workspace allows users to invite other members to join or edit
the scheduler. Many advantages are of working together.
Teams can complete tasks faster and more efficiently. Trello
is ready to use right after the user signs up. It provides a free
registration that gives users access to almost all features.
Trello follows the Kanban system, which is a common method
used to achieve lean management.
Fig. 3: Reminder and Notification sent through email.
Even though Trello is more focused on collaboration, it
also can be used for personal purposes. Features that are
available in Trello are board as shown in Fig. 4, lists, and
cards that enable the users to organize and prioritize their
personal and work life in a flexible and rewarding way. Lists
and cards are the building blocks for organizing work on the
Trello board. Trello card is a portal to more organized work,
where users can manage, track, and share individual tasks
with teammates. Each card on the board has an ecosystem of
checklists, due dates, card labels, attachments, conversations,
and more. Card labels are used to differentiate the type of task
where users can edit the label's name and color. A to-do list is
also one of many features that Trello offers.
Fig. 4: Trello – Board
The advantage of Trello is this easy-to-use and most user-
friendly way to organize workflow with a unique board and
card system for a comprehensive progress view. With a
dedicated board for each project and a card for each task, all
tasks are ordered and tracked in a specific outcome list,
minimizing the risk of confusion. The downside is that Trello
has limited storage space. Trello allows attachments, but users
of the free version only allow up to 10MB per upload.
However, users can upgrade to 250MB for each upload and
users need to pay monthly to upgrade their plans. Other than

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 66
that, for every complete checklist, the user needs to manually
click the button for the cards to move from the To-Do list to
the Done list, instead of automatically moving if all the
checklists are done.
Todoist (https://todoist.com) is a project management
software designed to help users effectively manage their day-
to-day tasks. Todoist is focused on improving user workflows.
Todoist provides multiple features such as subtasks,
subprojects, recurring tasks, and notifications as shown in Fig.
5. In addition, there are labels, filters, and task priority levels
for easy task classification and customization. Users can
create new tasks, view the status of tasks in progress, and
view all tasks completed with their Todoist account.
Fig. 5: Todoist
Todoist uses a unique scoring system called Todoist Karma
to help users get going. Todoist Karma provides points to
complete tasks by using advanced features and reach weekly
and monthly productivity goals. Users can see specific
progress using visual charts that are color-coded by project.
Other features of the platform include task commenting,
tracking expired tasks, creating recurring tasks, setting daily
goals, creating customizable workflows, and personalized
productivity trends.
The benefit of Todoist for task and project planning is it
easy to use. This helps to divide a large project into smaller,
more manageable parts with subprojects and subtasks.
Projects, labels, filters, and priorities allow users to customize
Todoist for their workflow. The drawback of this application
is that Todoist has a built-in Today and Next 7 days view,
which needs some fiddling with Todoist’s filters if the users
want to view the next week's dues. Users also need to upgrade
their plan to be able to use other limited features.
myHomework Student Planner
(https://myhomeworkapp.com) is a digital planning app that
allows users to organize their schoolwork, upcoming tasks,
and daily schedules. Fig. 6 shows this planner is designed to
keep users organized, and on track, and significantly reduce
stress. myHomework Planner is a clear, easy-to-use, and
highly effective app. This is ideal for college students who
have multiple classes that include assignments, tests, and
homework that need to be tracked. myHomework is available
on several platforms. This application allows users to use it
anonymously or login with their Facebook, Google, or email
accounts to store data in the cloud. myHomework is also
integrated with Teachers.io, a free website where teachers can
share class schedules, links, and announcements.
This planner is equipped with homework, classes, calendars,
teachers, and announcements. The homework feature allows
users to add assignments, quizzes, and project-related tasks. If
the user wants to attach a file, it includes an in-app purchase.
In the class feature, the user creates a course to attend, and the
calendar provides the user with a monthly overview. The
calendar allows users to add other tasks such as Event, No
School Day, Late Start, and Early Release. Late start and early
release refer to a class that starts later or is released earlier.
Each added task is categorized based on the course created
and the user can also set a reminder time.
Fig. 6: myHomework Student Planner
The advantage of myHomework Student Planner is the
collaboration platform between teachers and students
implemented in this application. All tasks are categorized by
the course taken. Users can set reminders for due dates and
other purposes. Users can also add details for each task and
update their progress in the form of checkboxes. The
weakness of this planner is that it does not help students
prioritize assignments. This is only one-way communication,
as teachers can upload class information, but students can only
view it. It is recommended that this application implement
features with scheduling algorithms that help users prioritize
tasks.
Each system has different advantages and limitations.
However, the purpose of each system is to help organize users'
tasks and workflow efficiency. Table 1 shows the comparison
between Global Open Access System (GOALS), Trello,
Todoist, and myHomework Student Planner.
II. METHODOLOGY
A methodology is a structured process when working on a
project. The purpose is to provide a systematic approach to
software development [13]. All methods have different
strengths and weaknesses and exist for different reasons [14].
To manage projects efficiently, developers need to choose the
best method for a particular project. Developers are spoilt with
choices from the various software development methodologies
that are available. Overall, this section presents the
methodology approach by the researcher in developing a
proposed system and the rationale for choosing it. The method
chosen includes several phases that must follow, and this
section describes each phase.

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 67
TABLE 1. COMPARISON OF EXISTING SYSTEM ON SYSTEM PLANNER
Existing System
Advantages
Limitations
Proposed Solution
Global Open Access Learning
System (GOALS)
- A student-lecturer platform
that is helpful and easy to use
because the user can refer to all
notes and learning materials
- Act as assignment submission
place and quizzes
The existing reminder and
notifications feature available on
GOALS are notifications sent
through email.
Upgrades from using email
notification features to alarm
notification features.
Trello
- Easy to use, the most user-
friendly way to organize
workflow, and come across
with a users' board and card
system for a comprehensive
progress view.
- All assignments are ordered
and tracked in a specific service
list to minimize the risk of
confusion.
For every complete checklist, the
user needs to manually click the
button for the cards to move from
the To-Do list to the Done list,
instead of automatically moving
if all the checklists are done.
Automatically moved if all
the checklists are done.
Todoist
Use subprojects and subtasks to
help divide large projects into
smaller, more manageable
parts.
Todoist has a built-in Today and
Next 7 days view, which needs
some fiddling with Todoist’s
filters if the users want to view
the next week's dues.
Add a function where the list
can be viewed in the monthly
overview.
myHomework Student
Planner
- All tasks are categorized by
the course taken.
- Add details for each task and
update the progress in the form
of checkboxes.
- Doesn't help students prioritize
tasks.
- Teachers can upload class
information and students can only
view it, so only one-way
communication.
Implement a function using a
scheduling algorithm to allow
users to prioritize tasks.
The waterfall method is a linear model consisting of a
series of phases which are requirements, design,
implementation, verification, and maintenance with a focus on
specific goals, as shown in Fig. 7. Developer must complete
each step of the workflow before proceeding to the next step.
Waterfalls are suitable for projects with clear goals from the
start of development. Hence, the chosen Software
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) for developing the proposed
UniPlanner: Student Academic Planner system is a waterfall
methodology.
Fig. 7: Phases in Waterfall Methodology
The waterfall model is an SDLC model first defined by
Royce in the 1970s [15]. The waterfall model is suitable when
the final product has a clear picture and well-defined
requirements. This process includes a set of steps that help
developers find an error in one phase so that developers can
identify and fix the error before proceeding to another phase.
The waterfall model is chosen for the proposed system
because according to [15], the waterfall model provides the
structure for organizing and controlling software development
projects. Design details and flaws are captured by methods
before the software is created, saving developers time in the
development process.
The requirement analysis phase is also known as Software
Requirement Specification (SRS). This is a complete
description of the behavior of the software being developed
[15]. Both functional and non-functional requirements are
defined in this phase [15]. Functional requirements can be
defined as requirements specifically requested by the end user
as basic functionality that the system must provide, such as
purpose, scope, perspective, functionality, software attributes,
user characteristics, and database requirements [15]. Non-
functional requirements, on the other hand, are quality
constraints that the system must meet by the following project
contracts such as constraints, limitations, and requirements on
the design and operation of the software [15]. All
requirements for the product designed and developed are
collected and documented in SRS documentation. The
requirement analysis of this project is based on the studies of
the existing student academic planner and the current situation
faced by the student during the pandemic Covid-19.
The next phase of the SDLC is the design phase. In this part,
the project requirements are transformed into a detailed design.
According to [16], at the design stage, developers and
technical architects begin with a high level of software and

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 68
system design to meet each requirement. This phase includes
the software solution planning and problem-solving process,
including algorithm design, software architecture design,
logical diagram schema, and data structure definition [15].
The outcome of this phase is a description of how the system
should be designed and implement [17]. In the design phase,
all aspects of designing the system are considered on how the
system will be displayed. According to [18], one of the key
steps in building a design system is by creating a visual design
language. The visual design language is made up of four main
categories which are colour, typography, sizing and spacing,
and imagery. The role of each of these design elements should
be considered in every component on the screen. A good
system design defines the elements, interconnection, and
purpose of the system.
The implementation phase refers to understanding business
requirements and designing them into reliable executable
programs, databases, and websites through programming and
deployment [15]. This is where the actual code is written, and
the database and text files are created and compiled into a
ready-to-run application [15]. This system is developed in a
small program called a unit [19]. The programming language
used depends on the type of software developed. HTML, CSS,
PHP, and JavaScript are the programming language used
during this phase. Table 2 will explain more about these
languages. Developers also perform basic unit tests before
moving their code into the testing phase.
TABLE 2. LANGUAGE AND TOOLS USED IN SYSTEM
IMPLEMENTATION
Language/Tool
Description
HTML
Used to organize the content and layout of a
web page.
CSS
For styling the web content.
JavaScript
Adding browser-specific HTML content or
CSS style to improve the appearance of web
pages and user interfaces.
PHP
The PHP code will be translated by the web
server, which will produce HTML or other
visible output.
phpMyAdmin
The database of the system.
IntelliJ IDEA
A tool used to implement the coding.
System verification, also known as system testing, involves
the process of verifying that software expectations meet their
original performance and specifications and meet their
intended purpose [15]. Each component of the software is
individually tested to ensure error-free software and
component integration. Detected and system errors are fixed
and redefined accordingly [20]. This phase also includes a
validation process in which the software is evaluated during
and at the end of the development process to ensure that it
meets the specified requirements [15]. The tests are based on
real-world data, determine the performance of the system in a
real-world work environment, and document test reports. The
functional tests performed on this system are user acceptance
tests. Testing is important to provide high-quality products
before deploying the system to users.
The maintenance phase involves the process of modifying
software solutions after delivery and deployment to improve
output and improve performance and quality [15].
Maintenance allows developers to fix bugs that were not
detected in the previous phase. Activities in this phase include
collecting maintenance requests from end users, translating
those requests into changes, designing changes, and
implementing changes.
III. PROPOSED SYSTEM
A. Gaps founds in the existing student academic planner
The gap found in the existing student academic planner is
that GOALS is unable to offer to the user the reminder and
notification features were it able to help alert the user. The
existing reminder and notifications feature available on
GOALS are notifications sent through email that has been
registered in the USIM database. For students who keep on
receiving lots of emails, the reminder emails sent by the
GOAL system can be pushed down by other emails and cause
students to miss the notifications. Fig. 8 displays how the
notification is sent through email.
Fig. 8: Reminder and Notification sent through email.
On the other hand, in myHomework Student Planner, the
gap is that the planner has minimal options for reminder
features in the due time section. In this section, users need to
type the time they desired instead of clicking to choose the
time and the due time cannot be filled with the time range. For
example, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM as shown in Fig. 9.
The next gap is in Trello. For every complete checklist, the
user needs to manually click the button for the cards to move
from one list to the completed list, instead of automatically
moved if all the checklists are done. Fig. 10,11, and 12 show
the process of how the cards manually move from To Do list
to the Done list after the checklist is completed.
Fig. 10 shows that the user needs to click on the Done
button in the automation section for the cards to move to the
Done list. Users also can click on the move button on the
action sections to move the cards to other than the Done list. If
users forget to click on the done button or move button, the
cards on the list will be too crowded with pending tasks and
completed tasks.

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 69
Fig. 9: Due time section
Fig. 10: Trello - Cards
Fig. 11: Trello – Card Descriptions
Fig. 12: Trello – Completed Card
Lastly, in Todoist, the gap found in Fig. 13 is that the
calendar feature is shown in the list view. The task and other
information are indistinguishable which can make users
overlook the task. Other than that, this planner also doesn’t
offer a function where the user can update or review the task
from the previous day. The availability of this function is
important to ensure the task or event are kept up to date so
that user can refer to and review it in the future. Fig. 14
display the calendar where the user cannot click on the
previous date.
Fig. 13: Calendar showed in list view
Fig. 14: Cannot update and review task from the previous day
Based on the gaps found in the existing student academic
planner, suitable solutions are proposed and listed in Table 3
including the gaps found.

MJoSHT Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 70
TABLE 3. GAPS FOUND IN THE EXISTING PLANNER AND PROPOSED SOLUTION FOR UNIPLANNER
Existing Student Academic Planner
Gaps Found
Proposed Solution for UniPlanner
Global Open Access Learning System
(GOALS)
- Users are unable to plan or update the
plan’s progress.
- Notifications are sent through email
with no reminder features.
- Reminder feature will be using alarm
notification features on the user’s
phone.
- Alarm able to alert the user on the date
and time of the event or task.
- For example, the alarm that is
displayed on the screen of the phone
includes a countdown from the day
and time from the marked date.
Trello
For every complete checklist, the user
needs to manually click the button for the
cards to move from the To-Do list to the
Done list, instead of automatically moved if
all the checklists are done.
Automatically moved cards if all the
checklists were done.
Todoist
- Calendar is shown in list view.
- Cannot update and review tasks from
the previous date.
Add a function where the list can be viewed
in the monthly overview.
myHomework Student Planner
Minimal choices in the due time section.
Add more choices in the due time section.
B. Possible threats and ways to mitigate
As web application technology evolves, more secure
security measures must be implemented. Web application
security is important in building websites that are secure and
can detect and prevent cyber-attacks [21]. This includes a set
of security features built into web applications to protect them
from a growing variety of threats [21]. Possible threats to the
website need to be identified first for proper actions to be
taken. This paper will discuss a few possible threats to the
website and ways to mitigate the threats in Table 4.
C. Functions and features of UniPlanner
This section dedicates to showing the proposed user
interface (UI) design of UniPlanner: Student Academic
Planner. This section will highlight five user interfaces chosen
by the researcher, which are Log in the interface, Homepage
interface, New Task interface, Board interface, and Calendar
interface.
In this interface, as shown in Fig. 15, users need to log in to
their account as registered by inserting their username and
password to be able to use the planner. If a user forgets their
password, they can click on forget password button, where a
link will be sent to their email to update their new password.
First-time users, need to register first by clicking on the
register button. Once a user successfully logs in, the user will
be directed to the homepage.
Fig. 15: Log-in Interface
After the user successfully logs in, the homepage interface
will be displayed. In the homepage interface, a navigation
menu is displayed on the left part of the screen. The menu
consists of six buttons which are new task, homepage, board,
to-do list, calendar, and timetable. The main part of the screen
is displayed with the plan of the day, where the user can see
their plan from the next day, the previous day, and for the past
month or next month.

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TABLE 4. POSSIBLE THREATS AND WAYS TO MITIGATE
Possible Threats
Mitigation
Broken Authentication
- A broken authentication vulnerability allows a bad actor to
gain control over an account within a system or the entire
system [22]. This is possible if the adversary carries out a
brute force attack to disguise itself as a user, permitting
the users to use weak passwords that are either dictionary
words or common passwords [23].
Password Complexity
- The requirements for password selection are designed to
increase password complexity in the interest of better
security [24].
- The inclusion of a minimum number of lowercase and capital
letters, numbers, and special characters are guidelines that are
required to create passwords [24].
Brute Force Attacks
- A hacking method that uses trial and error to crack
passwords, login credentials, and encryption keys for
gaining unauthorized access [25].
Password Encryption using Bcrypt Hashing Algorithm
- Bcrypt can mitigate brute force attacks by combining the expensive key
setup phase of Blowfish with a variable number of iterations to
increase the workload and duration of hash calculation [26].
- Bcrypt is a slow hash compared to SHA-256, making it ideal for
passwords. The slower bcrypt is the better for passwords because
it’s more resistant to brute force attacks for the short amount of
data [27].
Two Factor Authentication
- Two factors authentication is essential because it neutralizes the risk
associated with passwords. If a password is hacked, a password
alone is useless without approval at the second factor [28].
- One Time Password (OTP) is one of the popular forms of two-factor
authentication that can secure users’ accounts.
- Time-based one-time passwords (TOTP) are codes that are generated
using the secret key and the current time that is changed frequently
which makes TOTP more secure compared to HMAC-based one-
time passwords (HOTP) [28].
Injection
- Injection or SQL injection is a type of security attack in
which the attacker inserts or injects a query via input data
from the client side to the server. If it is successful, the
attacker can read, add new, update, delete some data from
the database, issue administrator commands to carry out
privileged database tasks, or even issue commands to the
operating system [23].
Upload File Restriction
- The file types allowed to be uploaded should be restricted to only those
that are necessary [29].
- Perform filtering and content checking on any files which are uploaded
to the server according to the list of permitted extensions on the
web applications [29].
The plan of the day is presented task per task. If the user has
many tasks on one day, the user can click on the next button to
view the task as shown in Fig. 16. Title, labels, descriptions,
checklists, and time of the task are included in each task. The
user is also allowed to edit the task.
Fig. 16: Homepage Interface
Fig. 17 shows the new task interface where the user can
add a new task. In the new task, the user can include the title,
label, descriptions, checklist, time, and date of the task. The
user also needs to choose which file will the new task be
saved. For the label, users can choose any label they want, or
user can create a new label. The labels are used to distinguish
between the tasks. After the new task is saved, the task will be
moved to the board interface and into the file chosen.
Fig. 17: New Task Interface

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On the board interface, the task is displayed based on the file.
Users can create a new file and add new tasks to the chosen
file. If the user wants to edit the task, the user needs to click
on the task and edit it. All new tasks will be automatically
added to the To-do file and the chosen file. Once the task is
completed, the task will be moved to the completed file. If the
task is overdue, the task will be moved to a delayed file and
the time and date will turn red as shown in Fig. 18. The colour
of the file can be set as user preference.
Fig. 18: Board Interface
The calendar is used to display the overall task in a month
as shown in Fig. 19. The task is coloured based on preferences
and the details of each colour are included. To view the full
task, the user needs to click the list on the calendar.
Fig. 19: Calendar Interface
IV. CONCLUSIONS
This research aims to develop a web-based system
UniPlanner that aims to help students to solve their time
management problems while increasing the effectiveness of
their studies. The security features implemented in this system
are password encryption by using the Bcrypt hashing
algorithm, password complexity, uploaded file restriction, and
two-factor authentication. This system is expected to allow
users to record their daily routines and calculate CGPA scores.
It also allows users to set a reminder and display the important
task that must be done. Users also can update the information
that has been entered.
To develop the UniPlanner system, it is not easy to produce
the perfect system without a single limitation. The first
limitation during this research process is there is limited
research paper related to this topic and most research papers
are outdated. Other than that, to access this system, users must
have an Internet connection. If the user has a poor Internet
connection, they may encounter some obstacles while using
the system. UniPlanner also can be further developed to
improve better to increase usability and functionality of the
system. This system can be developed as a mobile application
because this platform is more convenient compared to a web-
based system.
In a nutshell, by developing a web-based system with the
implementation of security measures, the system is expected
to be able to answer the main purpose of this research which is
to help students to solve their time management problems
while increasing the effectiveness of their studies.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest
regarding the publication of this paper.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank everyone who provided insight and expertise
that greatly assisted the research, although they may not agree
with all the interpretations and conclusions of this paper.
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