3.3.1

Different approaches an analysis might use when investigating a system including: – Questionnaires – Interviews – Document gathering and analysis – Observation

After the project has been given the initial go- ahead (after the feasibility stage) a systems analyst will need to do a full analysis of the current problem. They will need to find out about: – The current system – The user requirements – The costs involved in producing the new system – How the system might be implemented and installed

There are various methods that a systems analyst can employ to gather information about the current system. – Questionnaires – Interviews – Document gathering – Observations

A successful analysis depends on choosing the right method of investigation. This will depend on: – What information you need – Who is involved – Where the information is to be gathered

Excellent at collecting quantitative data. Data has to be structured carefully so that you get relevant information. You can also reach a large number of people very quickly too.

Creating questionnaires is actually quite difficult because of the limited answer ranges. Sometimes people don’t return them! Having someone interview the users of the current system using the questionnaire might solve this problem.

Interviews are excellent at gathering information but can be quite time consuming. There are different types of interviews that could take place: – One to one interviews – Group interviews

A well planned interview can clarify any questions you have (as the system analyst) but also could raise further questions that you may not have thought about before. Running a successful interview involves: – Preparing questions – Making appointments – Providing the questions in advance – Carrying out the interview and recording it – Writing up the review and analysing results – Clarifying any points people aren’t 100% sure about – Summarising results

These types of interviews allow you to save time compared to interviews (also known as a meeting!) They allow you to generate group discussions and get the views of many people at once. You have to be sensitive to them though as a new system often leads to some redundancies as the system is expected to make workers more efficient thus meaning you need less workers to do the job!

A fantastic way of understanding how a system works is to look at what inputs go into the current system and what is outputted from the current system. From these you will have an idea of what data items are in the system and how data flows through the system.

The documents that are collected will help raise questions such as: – Where does the data initially come from? – How is the data constructed? – Are there any special names for data items? For example, the company may prefer automobile instead of car or they may use acronyms for some data items. – Are ranges applied to any data items? – Who uses the data? – Who adds/modifies/removes data on the system? – When is data added/modified/removed?

If you were asked to describe a process to someone chances are you’d explain it pretty well…well enough to give the other person a rough idea of what was going on. Problem is…sometimes when we explain how to do something we miss out little bits. If you watch someone do the process you see the bits that get missed out from the explanation. Sometimes things don’t get mention because they forget or they think its not necessary. In system design every little bit of information helps!

People do become quite aware that someone is observing them…and this could cause them to do things slightly differently to normal. Over time this can be overcome. One method of observation is also asking people to say out loud what they are doing and why they are doing it in that particular way.

Why are interviews often used to gather information? Do some research. How easy or difficult is it to write questions for a questionnaire? Clearly explain why. What can you learn by observing someone doing their job, rather than just interviewing them? Compare and contrast doing a group interview compared to interviewing each member of the group privately.