Determining System Requirements Chapter 6 in Modern Systems Analysis and Design Book

Overview Characteristics for gathering requirements. Deliverables and outcomes. Traditional methods in requirements determination. Modern methods in requirements determination.

Characteristics for gathering requirements Impertinence: Question everything. Impartiality: Find the best organizational solution. Relaxation of constraints: Assume anything is possible. Attention to detail: Every fact must fit. Reframing: View the organization in new ways.

Deliverables and Outcomes Specific Deliverable Types of Deliverable Interview transcript. Meeting minutes. Notes from observations. Information collected from users Business mission. Policies. Sample forms. Flowcharts, Rules of data processing. Job descriptions. Key events. Existing documents and files Results from JAD sessions. Reports about existing systems. Reports from system prototype. Computer-based information

Requirement Elicitation Methods Traditional methods: Interviews with individuals. Questionnaires. Observation of workers/users. Studying business documents. Modern methods: JAD. Prototyping. Agile.

Traditional methods Interviews Interviewing and Listening: Gather facts, opinions and speculations. Observe body language and emotions. Guidelines: Plan (Appointment, Checklist). Be neutral. Listen. Seek a diverse view.

Traditional methods Interviews Interview Questions: Open-Ended: No pre-specified answers. Close-Ended: Choose from a set of specified answers. Additional Guidelines: Do not phrase questions in ways that imply a wrong or right answer. Listen very carefully to what is being said. Type up notes within 48 hours. Do not set expectations about the new system. Seeks a variety of perspectives about the new system.

Traditional methods Interviews - Typical interview guide

Traditional methods Interviews - Typical interview guide

Traditional methods Interviewing Groups Advantages: More effective use of time. Enables people to hear opinions of others and to agree or disagree. Disadvantages: Difficulty in scheduling.

Traditional methods Questionnaires More cost-effective than interviews. Choosing respondents: Should be representative of all users. Types of samples: Convenient to sample (willing to respond). Random sample (random group of users). Purposeful sample (long time users). Stratified sample (most important users).

Traditional methods Questionnaires Designing questionnaires: Paper or web based. Mostly closed-ended questions. Easy to understand (not ambiguous). Logical in sequence. Questionnaires vs. Interviews: Interviews cost more but yield more information. Questionnaires requires less time, less cost but limited information.

Traditional methods Observing Users Directly Observing Users: Serves as a good method to supplement interviews. Obtain measures of employee interactions with the system. People often work differently when being observed.

Traditional methods Business Documents Types of information to be discovered: 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.

Traditional methods Business Documents Four types of useful documents: Written work procedures: Describes how a job is performed. Includes data and information used and created in the process of performing the job or task. Business form: Explicitly indicate data flow in or out of a system. Report: Enables the analyst to work backwards from the report to the data that generated it. Description of current information system.

Modern Methods Joint Application Design (JAD) Brings together key users, managers and systems analysts. Purpose: collect system requirements simultaneously from key people.