1. PRJ566 Project Planning and Management
Scope

2. Managing Client Expectations
Need to recognize a ‘want’ vs a ‘need’
Start gathering the requirements of the system
Identify the functionality of the system
Translate the functionality into use cases

3. Requirements Gathering
Need to find out:
Functionality
What are the activities the system needs to perform?
How is the user to interact with the system?
Are other systems to interact with the system?
Data needs
What information is needed?

4. Requirements Gathering
What is the analyst determining?
Scope of the System
Who is going to use the system?
What is the new system going to do?
What information does the system need to have available?
How large is this system going to be?
How small is the system going to be ?

5. Requirements Gathering
Scope of the System
Functional Technical Data
Requirements Requirements Requirements

6. Requirements Gathering
Functional Requirements
Describes what a system does or is expected to do
Includes:
Descriptions of the processing which the system will be required to carry out
Details of the inputs into the system from paper forms and documents or the interactions between people and the system or transfers from other systems
Details of the outputs that are expected from the system in the form of printed documents and reports, screen displays and transfers to other systems

7. Requirements Gathering
Technical Requirements
Describes the aspects of the system that are concerned with how well it provides the functional requirements.
Includes:
Performance criteria
Anticipated volumes of data
Security requirements

8. Requirements Gathering
Data Requirements
Describes what information the system is going to need or produce – really a part of Functional and Technical Requirements
Includes
Details of the data that must be held in the system

9. Requirements Gathering
Techniques for Gathering Requirements
Interviews
Prototypes
Questionnaires
Observation
Reviewing existing documentation
Review Strategic and Tactical Plans
Other Methods

10. Interviews
Primary technique for fact finding and information gathering
Most effective way to understand business functions and business rules
Usually requires multiple sessions
Usually conducted with customers/clients/users
Clients are not always able to express their requirements clearly  it is up to the analyst to ask the right questions to help the client express their requirements

11. Interviews Questioning Strategies Top Down How can order processing
be improved?
How can we
reduce the number
of times that customers
return items they’ve ordered?
How can we eliminate
shipping the wrong products?
High-level: very general
Medium-level: moderately
specific
Bottom UP
Low-level: very specific

12. Interviews Questions Open ended questions
Encourages unstructured responses and generates discussion
Useful when you need to understand a larger process or to draw out opinions or suggestions from the person being interviewed

13. Interviews Questions Closed ended questions
Limited or restricted response – a simple definitive answer
Used to get information that is more specific or when you need to verify facts

14. Interviews Sample interview questions Open-ended Closed-ended
What do you think about the current system?
How do you decide what type of marketing campaigns to run?
Closed-ended
How do customers place orders?
How many orders to you receive a day?

15. Observation
An effective way to gather requirements if obtaining complete information was not effective through other fact finding techniques (I.e. interviews and questionnaires) Or
An effective way to verify information gathered from other fact finding sources (such as interviews)

16. Observation
Observation can be done by having the analyst observe the client from a distance (without actually interrupting the client) or by actually doing the work of the client
Should be carried out for a period of time and at different time intervals, not just once so that analyst can observe different workloads and to ensure that what client does is consistent over different periods of time

17. Observation
Allows the analyst to follow an entire process from start to finish
Can upset the client if they feel threatened by new activity going on around them – the client may behave differently from what they normally do

18. Reviewing existing documentation
Most beneficial to new employees or consultants hired to work on a project
Types of documentation that is reviewed:
Company reports
Organization charts
Policy and Procedures manuals
Job Descriptions
Documentation of existing systems

19. Reviewing existing documentation
Allows the analyst to get an understanding of the organization prior to meeting with employees
Allows the analyst to prepare questions for either interviews or questionnaires (other fact finding techniques)