Chapter 5 - Investigation Techniques Flashcards
What prior research should an analyst do when engaging with a client?
Study website for values and branding
Study Companies House reports
Study procedure manuals and docs
Study organisation chart
What objectives can be achieved in an Interview?
Initial contact with stakeholders
Build rapport
Acquire information about the business situation
Discover different stakeholder perspectives and priorities
What three areas are considered during requirements interviews?
Current functions that need to be fulfilled in new system
Problems that need to be addressed
Additional features required
What are advantage of Interviews?
Build rapport
Gather important info
Understand different viewpoints
Opportunity to investigate areas not previously mentioned
Appreciation of political factors
What are disadvantages of Interviews?
Take time
Info may just be opinion
What framework can be used to prepare for Interviews?
Who? Why? What? When? Where?
What is the structure of an Interview?
Introduction and Scene setting
Questions and Answers
Summarise next steps
What are advantages of observation?
Better understanding of problems faced by business user
Help prepare for more in-depth interview
Help devise workable solutions
What is the danger of formal observation?
Shown standard practice without everyday variances
What is protocol analysis?
User carries out a task and describes each step they perform
What is shadowing?
Following a user for a period to find out what a particular job entails
What is Ethnographic studies?
Spending an extended period of time in the target environment.
What is the main value gained from ethnography?
Appreciation of intangible aspects such as culture and power influences.
What are the advantages of Workshops?
Broad view
Less time consuming
Obtain buy-in and acceptance for project
Gain consensus view
What are disadvantages of Workshops?
Difficult to organise
Forceful participant may dominate discussion.
Difficult to endure participants have required level of authority
What areas should be planned ahead of a Workshop?
Objective
People invited
Structure and techniques
Suitable venue
What discovery techniques can be used in a Workshop?
Round robin
Brainstorming
Brainwriting
Post-it Exercise
Stepwise refinement
Break-out Groups
What visualisation techniques can be used in a Workshop?
Process models
Rich pictures
Mind maps
Context diagrams
Use case diagrams
Task scenarios
User Stories
What is brainstorming?
Participants call out ideas
What is round robin?
Participants asked for their ideas in turn
What is brainwriting?
Participants write their ideas down
What is Post-it Exercise?
Participants write suggestion on sticky note and sticks on board.
What is step-wise refinement?
Asking Why to every answer of a statement until you get to heart of the problem
What are Break-out Groups?
Specific aspects considered in small groups and then reported back to the larger group
What is a hothouse Workshop?
Business and development teams come together to solve business problems.
Can take place over two to three days.
Used primarily for innovation projects
How does a Focus Group differ from a Workshop?
Focus group aims to understand people’s attitudes and is more concerned with business and market research
What is scenario analysis?
Telling the story of a task or transaction by working through the steps required.
What is a benefit of scenario analysis?
Provides framework for discovering exceptions that require alternative paths
What are advantages of Scenario Analysis?
Require user to include each step
Addresses tacit knowledge
Basis for developing prototypes
Tool for preparing test scripts
What are disadvantages of Scenario Analysis?
Time-consuming
Can become complex
What is the overview approach to developing scenarios?
Identify task
Identify steps
Define control conditions
Identify alternative paths
What is a ‘happy day’ scenario?
Default scenario path that assumes no complications
What is User Analysis?
Understanding who the actual users of proposed system are likely to be
What is prototyping?
Building simulations of process or system to review them with users and increase understand about requirements
What are examples of prototyping?
Demo systems
Screenshots
Sticky notes and flip chart
What are advantages of prototyping?
Clarify uncertainty
Help user identify new requirements
Demonstrate look and feel of proposed system
Validate system requirements
What are disadvantages of prototyping?
Endless iterations
Users may think system is ready once they are happy with mock-up
User expectations can be raised unnecessarily
Give examples of quantitative approaches to defining requirements
Surveys
Special purpose records
Activity sampling
What approach should be taken when designing surveys?
MECE
Mutually exclusive, completely exhaustive
What does MECE involve?
Checking each set of defined responses to make sure only one would apply to each respondent and cover every situation
What is a frequent error with surveys?
Ambiguous questions
What is the key drawback with surveys?
People don’t find time to complete them unless is a topic that interests them
What are special purpose records?
Data-gathering forms such as tally sheets
What two criteria must be satisfied for special purpose records to be successful?
People must buy in to the exercise
Must be realistic in what people are expected to record
What is Activity Sampling?
Means of finding out how people divide their time among range of activities
How is Activity Sampling carried out?
Identify activities
Decide on how often you will record the activities being undertaken
Visit the group at timed decided and record what each member is doing
Record results
After set period, analyse results
What is document analysis?
Reviewing samples of source documents to uncover information about process or system
What diagrams can be used to document the current business situation?
Rich pictures
Mind maps
Business process models
Spaghetti maps
Fishbone diagrams
What are benefits of Rich Pictures?
Overview of entire business situation
Can reflect intangible areas such as human and cultural aspects
Example: frustration, dissatisfaction
What are benefits of mind maps?
Summarise connections between ideas in a visual form.
What are benefits of business process models?
Shows tasks in a process and actors responsible.
Diagnostics on delays and bottlenecks
What are benefits of spaghetti maps?
Shows the movement and interactions of stakeholders in an environment when performing tasks.
What are benefits of Fishbone diagrams?
Problem analysis to help understand root causes of a problem.
