1. Chapter 6 Determining System Requirements
Modern Systems Analysis and Design Third Edition Jeffrey A. Hoffer Joey F. George Joseph S. Valacich
Chapter 6
Determining System Requirements

2. Software Engineering Process
A process used to create an information system System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Series of steps used (Standard process followed in an organization) to manage the phases of development for an information system
Consists of six phases:
Project Identification and Selection
Project Initiation and Planning
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Maintenance

3. Project identification and selection Project Initiation and planning
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Maintenance
Waterfall Model

4. Key Ideas
The goal of the analysis phase is to truly understand the requirements of the new system and develop a system that addresses them.
The first challenge is finding the right people to participate.
The second challenge is collecting and integrating the information

5. Requirements Determination
Gather information on what system should do from many sources
Users
Reports
Forms
Procedures

6. Traditional Methods for Determining Requirements
1. Interviewing and Listening 2. Administering Questionnaires 3. Interviewing Groups 4. Directly Observing Users 5. Analyzing Procedures and Other Documents 6. Joint Application Design (JAD) 7. Prototyping

7. 1. Interviewing and Listening

8. 1. Interviewing and Listening
Gather facts, opinions,…
Observe body language and emotions (feeling)
Guidelines
Plan
Checklist
Appointment
Be neutral
Listen

9. Interviewing (con’t) Interview Questions Additional Guidelines
Open-Ended
No pre-specified answers
Close-Ended
Respondent is asked to choose from a set of specified responses
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

10. Interviews -- Five Basic Steps
Selecting interviewees
Designing interview questions
Preparing for the interview
Conducting the interview
Post-interview follow-up

11. Selecting Interviewees
Based on information needed
Often good to get different perspectives
Managers
Users
Ideally, all key stakeholders

12. Types of Questions Types of Questions Examples Closed-Ended Questions
* How many telephone
orders are received per day?
* How do customers place orders?
* What additional information
would you like the new system
to provide?
Open-Ended Questions
* What do you think about the
current system?
* What are some of the problems
you face on a daily basis?
* How do you decide what types of
marketing campaign to run?
Probing Questions
* Why?
* Can you give me an example?
* Can you explain that in a bit
more detail?
For CSU’s IST321 students only
Adapted from PowerPoint Presentation for Dennis, Wixom & Tegardem, Systems Analysis and Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

13. Designing Interview Questions
Unstructured interview
Broad, roughly defined information
Structured interview
More specific information

14. Interview Preparation Steps
Prepare general interview plan
List of question
Anticipated answers and follow-ups
Confirm areas of knowledge
Set priorities in case of time shortage
Prepare the interviewee
Schedule
Inform of reason for interview
Inform of areas of discussion

15. Conducting the Interview
Appear professional and unbiased
Record all information
Check on organizational policy regarding tape recording
Be sure you understand all issues and terms
Separate facts from opinions
Give interviewee time to ask questions
Be sure to thank the interviewee
End on time

16. Conducting the Interview Practical Tips
Don’t worry, be happy
Pay attention
Summarize key points
Be succinct
Be honest
Watch body language

17. Post-Interview Follow-Up
Prepare interview notes
Prepare interview report
Look for gaps and new questions

18. Interview Report INTERVIEW REPORT
Interview notes approved by: ____________
Person interviewed ______________
Interviewer _______________
Date _______________
Primary Purpose:
Summary of Interview:
Open Items:
Detailed Notes:

19. Your Turn
You are interviewing the director of the PC lab at your school regarding a new program to support keeping track of students’ borrowing software
With a partner, write 5 questions you would ask the PC lab director
Take turns having one pair of students posing the questions to another pair of students
Be sure to take notes and write up the results when you have finished.

20. 2. Administering Questionnaires

21. 2. Administering Questionnaires
More cost-effective than interviews
Choosing respondents
Should be representative of all users

22. Questionnaires (con’t)
Design
Mostly closed-ended questions
Can be administered over the phone or in person
Vs. Interviews
Interviews cost more but yield more information
Questionnaires are more cost-effective

23. Questionnaire Steps Selecting participants
Using samples of the population
Designing the questionnaire
Careful question selection
Administering the questionnaire
Working to get good response rate
Questionnaire follow-up
Send results to participants

24. Good Questionnaire Design
Begin with non-threatening and interesting questions
Group items into logically coherent sections
Do not put important items at the very end of the questionnaire
Do not crowd a page with too many items
Avoid abbreviations
Avoid biased or suggestive items or terms
Number questions to avoid confusion
Pretest the questionnaire to identify confusing questions
Provide anonymity to respondents
For CSU’s IST321 students only
Adapted from PowerPoint Presentation for Dennis, Wixom & Tegardem, Systems Analysis and Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

25. 3.Interviewing Groups

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

27. 4. Directly Observing Users

28. 4. Directly Observing Users
Serves as a good method to supplement interviews
Often difficult to obtain unbiased data
People often work differently when being observed

29. Observation Users/managers often don’t remember everything they do
Checks validity of information gathered other ways
Behaviors change when people are watched
Careful not to ignore periodic activities
Weekly … Monthly … Annual

30. 5. Analyzing Procedures and Other Documents

31. 5. Analyzing Procedures and Other 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

32. Document Analysis Provides clues about existing “as-is” system
Typical documents
Forms
Reports
Policy manuals
Look for user additions to forms
Look for unused form elements

33. Analyzing Procedures and Other Documents (con’t)
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

34. 6. JOINT APPLICATION DESIGN (JAD)

35. 6. Joint Application Design (JAD)
Brings together key users, managers and systems analysts
Purpose: collect system requirements simultaneously from key people
End Result of JAD
Documentation detailing existing system
Features of proposed system

36. JAD Key Ideas
Allows project managers, users, and developers to work together
May reduce scope creep by 50%
Avoids requirements being too specific or too vague

37. Joint Application Design (JAD) Important Roles
Facilitator
Scribe

38. Joint Application Design (JAD) Setting
U-Shaped seating
Away from distractions
Whiteboard/flip chart
Prototyping tools
e-JAD

39. JAD Meeting Room
JPEG Figure 5-5 Goes Here

40. The JAD Session Tend to last 5 to 10 days over a three week period
Prepare questions as with interviews
Formal agenda and groundrules
Facilitator activities
Keep session on track
Help with technical terms and jargon
Record group input
Help resolve issues
Post-session follow-up

41. Managing Problems in JAD Sessions
Reducing domination
Encouraging non-contributors
Side discussions
Agenda merry-go-round
Violent agreement
Unresolved conflict
True conflict
Use humor

42. 7. Prototyping

43. 7. Prototyping Prototyping Repetitive process
version of system is built
Replaces or augments SDLC
Goal: to develop concrete specifications for ultimate system
Quickly converts requirements to working version of system
Once the user sees requirements converted to system, will ask for modifications or will generate additional requests
Most useful when:
User requests are not clear
Few users are involved in the system
Designs are complex and require concrete form
History of communication problems between analysts and users
Tools are readily available to build prototype

44. Prototyping (con’t) Drawbacks Tendency to avoid formal documentation
Difficult to adapt to more general user audience
Sharing data with other systems is often not considered

45. Selecting the Appropriate Techniques
Interviews JAD Questionnaires Document Observation
Analysis
Type of As-Is As-Is As-Is As-Is As-Is
Information Improve Improve. Improve.
To-Be To-Be
Depth of High High Medium Low Low
Information
Breadth of Low Medium High High Low
Integration Low High Low Low Low
of Info.
User Medium High Low Low Low
Involvement
Cost Medium Low Low Low Low-
Medium Medium
For CSU’s IST321 students only
Adapted from PowerPoint Presentation for Dennis, Wixom & Tegardem, Systems Analysis and Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

46. Summary
There are seven major information gathering techniques that all systems analysts must be able to use: Interviews, JAD, Questionnaires, Document Analysis, and Observation.
Systems analysts must also know how and when to use each as well as how to combine methods.

47. Expanding the Domain
Additional resources regarding Joint Application Development can be found at: