Determining system requirements Flashcards
Subsets of Analysis
requirements determination
requirements structuring.
characteristics for a good systems analyst
Impertinence. You should question everything.
Impartiality. consider issues raised by all parties and try to find the best organizational solution.
Relax constraints. Assume that anything is possible and eliminate the infeasible.
Attention to details. Every fact must fit with every other fact.
Reframing. You must challenge yourself to look at the organization in new ways. You must consider how each user views his or her requirements.
deliverables from requirements determination
are the various forms of information gathered during the determination process: transcripts of interviews; notes from observation and analysis of documents
computer-generated output such as system prototypes.
analysis paralysis
describe a systems development project that has become bogged down in an abundance of analysis work
traditional methods for Determining requirements
interviews, group interviews, the Nominal Group Technique, and
direct observation.
collecting documentation on the current system and organizational operation in the form of written procedures, forms, reports, and other hard copy.
interview guide
is a document for developing, planning and conducting an interview.
Guidelines for Effective Interviewing
Plan the interview.
Prepare interviewee: appointment, priming questions.
Prepare agenda, checklist, questions.
Listen carefully and take notes (tape record if permitted).
Review notes within 48 hours.
Be neutral.
Seek diverse views
Open-ended questions
questions that have no prespecified answers
Closed-ended questions .
provide a range of answers from which the interviewee
may choose
Drawbacks to individual interviews
Contradictions and inconsistencies between interviewees
Follow-up discussions are time consuming
New interviews may reveal new questions that require additional interviews with those interviewed earlier
Advantages of Group interviews
More effective use of time
Can hear agreements and disagreements at once
Opportunity for synergies
Disadvantages of group interviews
More difficult to schedule than individual interviews
Nominal group Technique (NGT)
A facilitated process that supports idea generation by groups. At the beginning of the process, group members work alone to
generate ideas. The ideas are then pooled under the guidance of a trained facilitator.
Advantages of observation
Used to obtain more firsthand and objective measures of employee interaction with information systems
disadvantages of observation
Can cause people to change their normal operating behavior
Time-consuming and limited time to observe
Document Analysis
Review of existing business documents. Can give a historical and “formal” view of system requirements
Types of information to be discovered in document analysis
Problems with existing system Opportunity to meet new need Organizational direction Names of key individuals Values of organization Special information processing circumstances Reasons for current system design Rules for processing data
Useful document for document analysis
1- Written work procedure
2- business form
3- report generated by current systems.
4- describe the current information systems
Potential Problems with Procedure Documents
May involve duplication of effort
May have missing procedures
May be out of date
May contradict information obtained through interviews
Differences between formal and informal system
Formal system : The official way a system works as described in organizational documentation.
informal system : The way a system actually works
Contemporary Methods for Determining System Requirements
1- Joint Application Design (JAD)
2- CASE tools
3- System prototypes
Joint Application Design (JAD)
A structured process in which users, managers, and analysts work together for several days in a series of intensive meetings to specify or review system requirements.
JAD Participants
1- Session Leader: The trained individual who plans and leads Joint Application Design sessions.
2- Users : The key users of the system under consideration
3- Managers :Managers of the work groups who use the system in question provide insight into new organizational directions
4- sponsors: JAD must be sponsored
by someone at a relatively high level in the company. If the sponsor attends any sessions, it is usually only at the very beginning or the end.
5- system analyst: their actual participation may be limited. Analysts are there to learn from users and managers
6- scribe: The person who makes detailed notes of the happenings at a Joint Application Design session.
7- IS staff: programmers, database analysts, IS planners, and data center personnel, may attend to learn from the discussion and possibly contribute their ideas on the technical feasibility of proposed ideas or the technical limitations of current systems.
Prototyping
An iterative process of systems development in which requirements are converted to a working system that is continually revised through close collaboration between an analyst and users.
evolutionary prototyping
The prototype serve as the basis for the production system
throwaway prototyping
the prototype is discarded after it has been used
Prototyping is most useful for requirements determination when
- User requests are not clear.
- Few users are involved in the system.
- Designs are complex and require concrete form.
- There is a history of communication problems between analysts and users.
- Tools are readily available to build prototype
Prototyping also has some drawbacks as a tool for requirements determination
- Tendency to avoid formal documentation
- Difficult to adapt to more general user audience
- Sharing data with other systems is often not considered
- Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) checks are often bypassed
Business process reengineering (BPR)
The search for, and implementation of, radical change in business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in products and services.
Key business processes
The structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market.
Goals of BPR
Reorganize complete flow of data in major sections of an organization.
Eliminate unnecessary steps.
Combine steps.
Become more responsive to future change
Disruptive technologies
Technologies that enable breaking long held business rules that inhibit organizations from making radical business changes.
Requirements Determination using Agile Methodologies
- Continual user involvement : Replace traditional SDLC waterfall with iterative analyze–design–code–test cycle
- Agile usage-centered design : Focuses on user goals, roles, and tasks
- The Planning Game : Based on extreme programming
Exploration, steering, commitment
