1. The Analysis Phase Objective:
To study the current system, organization, and problems to determine what changes need to be made in order to achieve the organization’s goals.
Thus, the focus of the analysis phase is the CURRENT situation, not the new system that will be implemented.

2. Steps in Analysis Requirements gathering Requirements structuring
using interviews, observations, documents, etc. to learn about the customer’s business, their current systems, and its problems
Requirements structuring
using DFDs, ERDs, logic models, etc., to represent and organize the information gathered
Generation of alternatives
based on the requirements, investigate possible changes that would achieve the customer’s objectives

3. Inputs to Analysis Customer information Technical information
from interviews, observations, documents, etc.
information about goals, objectives, problems, work processes, current systems, constraints, etc.
Technical information
from previous experience, web searches, vendor literature, previous education
information about what technology is available, what it can do, how it works, and how much it costs

4. Output of Analysis The Systems Proposal
summarizes all the information gathered and structured during analysis
presents alternative solutions
compares solutions in terms of costs, benefits, feasibility, ability to solve problems, etc.
provides all the information the customer needs to make a decision
recommends one solution

5. Steps in Analysis 3 steps: gather requirements structure requirements
generate alternatives

6. Gathering requirements
When starting to gather information, you have to decide:
what information sources to consult
what information gathering methods to use

7. Choosing information sources
Problem: too many information sources for the time and resources available
Solution: sampling
Convenience - whoever shows up or responds
Purposive - each information source individually selected
Random - left completely to chance
Stratified - randomly picked from specific categories

8. Sample size Heuristics: make sure all functions are covered
make sure both ends of system are covered
try to get two sources for each piece of information – triangulation

9. Information gathering methods
Interviewing
Questionnaires
Observation
Documents

10. Interviewing Focus on getting not facts opinions feelings goals
procedures (both formal and informal)
not facts

11. Steps in interview preparation
Read background material
Establish objectives
Decide who to interview
Schedule
Design interview guide

12. Interview Guide
Logistical info: record name, office#, date, time
Organization:
How long have you worked on [project]? At [company]?
Have you worked with any of the [project] members before on other projects?
Who on the [project] team do you interact with most?
To whom do you report?
To whom are you responsible for your progress on [project]?
Inspection process:
Who chose the inspectors?
How long did it take?
Why were those ones chosen in particular?
Which inspectors inspected what?
Who took care of scheduling?
Was it done via or face-to-face?
How much time did it take?
What steps were involved in putting together the inspection package?
How much time did that take?
How are [project] inspections different from inspections in other [company] projects you’ve been on?
How was this inspection different from other [project] inspections you’ve been involved with?

13. Interview questions Open vs. closed Probes Pitfalls: leading questions
double-barreled questions
judgmental questions

14. Recording of interviews
Audiorecording
Notetaking
Scribing

15. Interviewing pointers
give clues about the level of detail you want
no more than minutes
end with “anything else I should know?”
dispel any notion of the “right” answer
feign ignorance
let interviewee know next steps
say Thank you!

16. Writing up the interview
ASAP!!!!

17. Questionnaires
Most useful when you want an overall opinion from a wide variety of dispersed people
Use to get the majority opinion
Can be combined with interviews

18. Questionnaire questions
Open (qualitative)
richer data
must be fairly specific to get comparable answers
not useful with a very large number of respondents
Closed (quantitative)
easier to analyze
use when all possible responses can be anticipated and are mutually exclusive
Appropriate terminology
Pilot use

19. Administering the questionnaire
balance between your convenience and that of your subjects
paper-based vs. electronic
general availability vs. mail vs. personal delivery
mandated vs. voluntary

20. Accuracy
Triangulation => sometimes you’ll get different answers to the same question
different perspectives
actual practice different from policy
sometimes one source clearly more reliable
Reconciling answers must be done sensitively
ask a third person
interview a group
observation

21. Observation When you need to learn: Time sampling vs. event sampling
what is actually done, as opposed to what is described
what interactions are going on
what goes into decision-making
Time sampling vs. event sampling
Need both typical and atypical situations
Very expensive

22. Observation methods Shadowing Participant observation
Think-aloud protocols
Prior ethnography

23. Documents Artifacts of paper-based system Procedure descriptions
data collection forms - blank and used
reports
Procedure descriptions
System documentation
Policy handbooks
Archival documents

24. Joint Application Design (JAD)
Method for doing requirements and UI design with users
Requires a 2-3 day meeting with users, analysts, senior people, technical consultants, etc.
Useful when innovation is important and it’s feasible to get everyone together
Benefits:
gets requirements over quickly
user ownership
creativity
Drawbacks:
takes a big commitment
dependent on administrative effectiveness
can be political

25. Prototyping used iteratively to: pitfalls:
clarify what a user has said they wanted
show a user what they’ve suggested
to compare different ways of implementing a user’s suggestion
pitfalls:
design can become too tied to one user’s wishes
user may be unwilling to give up the prototype
later concerns may impact interface design
prototyping may never end

26. Evolutionary vs. Revolutionary System Change
SA&D is an evolutionary process
processes are changed in small ways
changes are based on current practice
analysis is of current processes
revolutionary approach
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
making radical changes without being inhibited by current practice
motivated by:
drastic changes in the environment
need to increase profits dramatically
innovative and creative managers