SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 DESIGNING AND LEARNING OBJECTIVE ADVANTAGES AND PITFALLS OF OBSERVING WOKERS AND ANALYSING BUSINESS DOCUMENTS HOW COMPUTING CAN PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION HELP PLAN A JOINT APPLICATION DESIGN SESSION PROTOPYPING DURING REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION CONTEMPORARY APPROCHES TO REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION TECHNIQUES APPLY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE APPLICATIONS ANALYSIS is the second phase of system development life circle (SDLC) phase where you understand the need for system changes. The purpose of analysis is to determine what information processing services are needed to support objective and functions of an organisation. It has two subphases requirements determination and requirements structuring System analysis is the part of SDLC in which you get to determine how the current information system and assess what users would like to see in a new system. Gathering this information is called requirements determination. planing Maintenance Implimention Analysis Design SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE WITH ANALYSIS PHASES HIGHLIGHTED THE PROCESS OF DETERMINIG REQUIRMENTS The moment manager grants permission to pursue development of a new system and the project is initiated and planned you get to determine what the new system should do. In the requirements determination, analysis gather information on what the system should do as many sources as possible from current system users, observing users, reports, forms and procedures. All system requirements are carefully documented and prepared for structuring, gathering system requirements is similar to conducting an investigation. From the information, we can detect some similar characteristics of a good system analyst through the determination subphase. some of the characteristics include: characteristics constraints, Attention to details and Reframing IMPERTINENCE: You need to question every step such as, might we someday want to allow employees work more than one department? Can anyone be charging more than the standard price that is being charged? IMPARTIALITY: Finding the best solution to the business problem and opportunity for Example: to look for a way to justify the new hardware being purchased. You should consider issues being raised by all parties and try finding the best organisational solutions to the system. RELAX CONSTRAINTS: Anything is possible and eliminate the infeasible Example is as “we’ve always done it that way, so we have to continue the same process” Traditions are different from policies and rules, they end up turning in to habits rather than sensible procedures. ATTENTION TO DETAILS: facts must fit with each other, A missed element means that even the best system can fail at some point. Example imprecise definition of who a customer may mean that you purge customer details even when they have no active orders, yet those customers can be vital contracts for future sales. REFRAMING: Analyst is part of the creating system. One must challenge oneself to look at organisations in new ways. One should consider each user views requirements, must be careful not to jump to conclusions such as “I worked on a similar system once, the new system should work the same as the one I once built” DELIVERABLES AND OUTCOMES The primary deliverables from the required determination are the various forms information are gathered in the determination process, notes from observation and analysis of documents and computer-generated outputs like the prototypes, anything that the analysis collect as part of system determinant requirements is added to the deliverables from the subphase of the SDLC. Some deliverables have the information one need for system analysis in the scope of system you are developing, one need to have a knowledge of the organization components. Some of the components of an organisation are: The business that drives what and how work is done The information needed to do the job The data in the organisation to support the job When, whom and what the data is transferred, transformed and stored Large amount of information should be organised to be useful, is the next subphase which is required structuring, one have to probably realise the amount of information collected can be huge especially when the scope of the system under development is broad. Time required to collect structure a good idea of information can be expensive; it involves human effort and quite expensive. Analyst is not productive; term analysis paralysis has been described system development project that become bugged in abondance of analysis work. You will learn techniques in JAD and prototyping in the later chapter, which were developed to keep the analysis effort at a minimum yet still keep it effective. New techniques have also been developed to keep required determination fast and flexible, continual user involvement, usage centre design and planning game for extreme programming. TRADITIONAL METHODS FOR DETERMINING REQUIREMENTS At the system analysis core is the collection of information, collect information systems that are being used and how users like to improve organizational systems and operations with replaced information systems. The best way to get information is to communicate with people who are directly or indirectly involves in different part of the organizations affected by possible changes such as the users, managers, founders etc. Gathering copies of documents relevant to current system and business processes is another way of finding out about the current system. One will learn about collecting documents of the current system and organizations operations in the form of written procedures, forms and other hard copy. INTERVIEWING AND LISTENING Interviewing is a primary way analysis gather information about systems projects, analyst can spend a lot of time interviewing people about work, information used and information processing that supplement their work. Stakeholders are interviewed to Stakeholders know organisational direction, policies and expectations that managers have on unit that they supervise. In the process of interviewing, one gathers facts, opinions, speculation and to observe body language, and other signs of people’s ones and who they assess current systems. There is way to effectively interview a person, and each method is necessary and not better than another. Some guidelines one keeps in mind when interviewing is: One should be thoroughly prepared before an interview, set a time and duration convenient to the interviewee. The nature of the interview should be explained to the interviewee in advance, you can ask the interviewee to think of specific questions, issues or review certain documents to prepare in advance to the interview. Never assume you can anticipate all the possible questions, let it be natural. One need to prepare the interview checklist to know in which sequence one need to take questions from and duration to spend on each area of the interview. The checklist can include questions to use as follow-up to receive certain anticipated responses. You can integrate your interview with the notes you take during the interview as a depicted in a sample guide, this can serve as outline for summary of what is discovered during the interview. The interview guide contains general outline of the interview, basic information of who is interview, when and your major objective of the interview. These objectives typically cover most important information you need to collect, list of issues on what you need to seek agreements of, which areas you need to explore and not necessarily with specific questions. You include reminder notes to yourself on key information about the interviewee, which helps you to be personal and for the interviewee to be considered important and can assist you in interpreting certain answers. One may not follow time limits; the schedule helps one cover all areas during the time the interviewee of the interview. Space is allotted for general observations that do not fit under specific questions and notes taken during interview about issues raised that could not be resolved. Choosing questions for interview Choosing Interview Questions, one need to decide what open-ended and closed-ended questions to use Open-ended questions are usually used to for information which one cannot expect possible responses. The interviewee is encouraged to talk about whatever interests him or her within the general bounds of the question-and-answer session. Advantage of open-ended questions is that unknown information can surface, one can then explore along unexpected lines of inquiry to reveal even more new information, disadvantage of it is the length of time it can take for the questions to be answered in conclusion open-ended questions is difficult to summarize. Closed-ended questions work fine once the major answers to questions are familiar, plus interviews based on closed-ended questions do not need a large time potential-more issues can be covered. One can see motion and hear voice tone, which can help in taking the interviewees responses. Questions are easy ways to begin a discussion and to regulate which line of open-ended enquiries to follow. One can include another option to encourage the interviewee to add unanticipated responses. A major disadvantage of closed-ended questions is that useful information that does not quite fit into the defined answers may be ignored as the defendant tries to make a choice as an alternative of providing his or her best answer, they provide range of responses. Interview Guidelines open-or closed-ended questions, do not phrase a question in a way that a right or wrong answer. The respondent should feel that he or she can state their true opinion and perspective and that their idea will be considered equally with those of others. The additional guide to recall about discussions is to listen very carefully to what is being said, take careful notes, if possible, record the interview if permitted. The responses may contain important information for the project, this can be the only chance you have to get information from this particular person. Schedule a follow-up interview if one runs out of time and need more information. Once the interview is over, go back to your workplace and type up your notes within 48 hours. If you recorded the interview, use the recording to verify the material in the notes. INTERVIEWING GROUP One disadvantage of using interviews is to collect schemes required for analyst to reconcile apparent contradictions in the information collected. Series of interview may turn up inconsistent info about the current system and its replacement. One must work through all of these inconsistencies to figure out what might be the most accurate illustration of current and future systems. This process requires several follow-up phones calls and additional interviews, gathering information about an information system through a series of individual interviews and follow-up calls is not an efficient process. the case of multiple interviewers, one analyst may ask questions while another takes notes, or different analysts might concentrate on different kinds of information. For example, one analyst may listen for data requirements while another notes the timing and triggering of key events. The number of interviewees involved in the process may range from two to however many you believe can be comfortably accommodated. A group interview has a few advantages. One, it is a much more effective use of time than a series of interviews with individuals. Interviewing numerous people together allows them to hear the opinions of other key people and gives them the chance to agree or disagree with their peers. Nominal Group Technique Several methods have been developed over the years to for the process of working with groups. Techniques for making ideas among group members is called Nominal Group Technique (NGT), NGT is exactly what the name specifies the individuals working together to solve a problem are a group in name only, or nominally. Group members may be gathered in the same room for NGT, but they all work alone for a period of time. Typically, group members make a written list of their ideas. At the end of the idea-generation time, group members pool their individual ideas under the guidance of a trained facilitator. Pooling usually involves having the facilitator ask each person in turn for an idea that has not been presented before. As the person reads the idea aloud, someone else writes down the idea on a blackboard or flip chart. After all of the ideas have been introduced, the facilitator will then ask for the group to openly discuss each idea, primarily for explanation. Directly Observing Users Methods of collecting information involve getting people to recall and convey information they have about a structural area and the information systems that support these processes. People are not always very reliable informants, even when they try to be reliable and tell what they think is the truth. As it may sound, people often do not have a totally accurate appreciation of what they do or how they do it. Especially concerning infrequent events, or issues for which people have considerable passion. Because people cannot always be trusted to reliably interpret and report their own actions, you can supplement and corroborate what people tell you by watching what they do or by obtaining relatively objective measures of how people behave in work situations Analysing Procedures and Other Documents Asking questions to people who use a system every day and have an attention in a system is an effective way to gather information about current and future systems. System users Is a more direct way of seeing how a current system operates, but even this method provides limited exposure to all. These methods of determining system requirements can be enhanced by examining system and organizational documentation to discover more details about current systems and the organization these systems support. Although we discuss here several important types of documents that are useful in understanding possible future system requirements, our discussion does not exhaust all possibilities. You should attempt to find all written documents about the organizational area. CONTEMPORARY METHODS FOR DETERMINING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Even though we called interviews, observation and document analysis traditional methods for determining a much-used hv analysts to collect Dis, all of these methods are information. Today there are additional techniques to collect information about the current system, the Ryan tonal area requesting the new system, and what the new system should be like. Joint Application Design Joint Application Design (JAD) started in the late 1970s at IBM, and since then numerous general approaches to JAD have been recognised and popularized. The main idea behind JAD is to bring together the users, managers, and systems analysts involved in the analysis of a current system. JAD is similar to a group interview however, a particular structure of roles and agenda that is quite different from a group interview during which analysts control the sequence of enquiries answered by users. The primary purpose of using JAD in the analysis phase is to collect systems requirements simultaneously from main people involved with the system. The result is an intense and structured, but highly effective process. The typical participants in a JAD are listed below JAD leaders organize and run the JAD, person is trained in group management and facilitation as well as in systems analysis. JAD leader sets the agenda and sees that it is met they remain neutral on issues and does not contribute ideas or opinions, but rather concentrates on keeping the group on the agenda, resolving conflicts and disagreements, and soliciting all ideas. Users-The main users of the system under consideration are vital members in Matthey have a clear understanding of what it means to use the system on a daily basis. Managers- Directors of the work groups who use the system provide insight into new organizational directions, motivations for and organizational impacts of systems, and support for requirements determined during the JAD. Sponsor- As a major undertaking due to its expense, a JAD must be sponsored by someone at a relatively high level in the company. If the sponsor attends any sessions, it is usually only at the very beginning or the end. Systems analysts. Members of the systems analysis team attend the JAD, although their actual participation may be limited. Analysts are there to learn from users and managers, not to run or dominate the process. Scribe. The scribe takes notes during the JAD sessions. This is usually done on a laptop; Notes may be taken using a word processor. IS staff- Besides systems analysts, other information systems such as programmers, database analysts, IS planners, and data centre personnel, may attend to learn from the discussion and possibly contribute their ideas on the technical feasibility of proposed ideas or the technical limitations of current systems. JAD sessions are held in special rooms where participants sit around tables, these rooms are typically equipped with whiteboards. Audio visual tools may be used, such as magnetic symbols that can be easily rearranged on a whiteboard, and computer-generated display CASE Tools During JAD For requirements determination and structuring, the most useful CASE tools are for diagramming and form and report generation. The more interaction analysts have with users during this phase, the more useful this set of tools is. The analyst can use diagramming and prototyping tools to give graphic form to system requirements, show the tools to users, and make changes based on the users' reactions. The same tools are very valuable for requirements structuring as well. Using common CASE tools during requirements determination and structuring makes the transition between these two subphases easier and reduces the total time spent. In structuring, CASE tools that analyse requirements information for correctness, completeness, and consistency are also useful. Using Prototyping During Requirements Determination- Prototyping is a process involving analysts and users whereby an information system is built and rebuilt according to user response, Prototyping can replace the systems development life cycle. What interests us here is how prototyping can enhance the requirements determination process. In order to gather an initial basic set of requirements, you will still have to interview users and collect documentation. Prototyping, however, will enable you to quickly convert basic requirements into a working, though limited, version of the desired in formation system. The prototype will then be viewed and tested by the user. INITIAL CONCEPT DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT INITIAL PROTOTYPE REFINE PROTOTYPE UNTIL ACCEPTABLE COMPLETE AND RELESE PROTOPYPE Evolutionary Prototyping- One begin by modelling parts of the target system and, if the prototyping process is successful, you evolve the rest of the system from those parts. A life cycle model of evolutionary prototyping illustrates the iterative nature of the process and the tendency to refine the prototype until it is ready to release. The main aspect of this method is the prototype becomes the actual production system. Because of this one often starts with parts of the system that are most difficult and uncertain. McCONNELLS EVOLUTIONERY PROTOPYPING MODEL Throwaway Prototyping Unlike evolutionary prototyping, throwaway prototyping does not reserve the prototype that has been developed. Throwaway prototyping, is never any intention to convert the prototype into a working system. Prototype is developed quickly to prove some aspect of a system design that is uncertain for users choose among different features or interface characteristics. Once the uncertainty the prototype was created to address has been reduced, the prototype can be discarded, and the principles learned from its creation and testing can then become part of the requirements determination. RADICAL METHODS FOR DETERMINING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Whether traditional or contemporary, the methods for determining system requirements that you have read about in this chapter apply to any requirements determination effort, regardless the motivation. But most of what you have learned has traditionally been applied to systems development projects that involve automating existing processes. IDENTIFYING PROCESSES TO REENGINEER- One must first understand which processes represent the main business procedures for the organization. Main business procedures are the structure set of measurable activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. The main procedures are focused on organizational outcome, like the creation of a product or the delivery of a service. Main business procedures are customer focused, business would include all activities used to design, build, deliver, and service products for customs. Disruptive Technologies Once main business procedures and activities have been recognised, information technologies should be applied to improve business procedures. Initiation is the process which managers learn the power of new technologies and think of innovative ways to alter the way work is done. This is contrary to deductive thinking, where problems are first identified and solutions are then formulated. Hammer and Champ suggest that managers especially consider disruptive technologies when applying deductive thinking. REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION USING AGILE METHODOLOGIES You've already learned about different ways to control the necessities for a system. New approaches and methods are constantly being established. Three more requirements determination techniques are presented in this section. The first is continual user involvement in the development process, a technique that works especially well with small and dedicated advance teams. The next approach is a JAD-like process called Agile Usage-Cantered Design. The third approach is the Planning Game, which was developed as part of extreme Programming. Continual User Involvement One of those disapprovals was that the waterfall SDLC allowed users to be involved in the development process only in the early stages of analysis. Once requirements had been gathered from them, the users were not involved again in the process until the system was being installed and they were asked to sign off on it. Typically, by the time the users saw the system again, it was nothing like what they had imagined. ANALYSE TEST DESIGN CODE THE ITERATIVE ANALYSIS, DESIGN, CODE, TEST CIRCLE Agile Usage-Centered Design Frequent user contribution in systems development is a brilliant way to ensure that requirements are captured precisely implemented in system design. However, such constant interaction works best when the development team is small. It IS not possible to have continual access to users for the period of a development project. Agile developers have come up with means for effectively involving users in the requirements determination process. All of the experts are gathered and work with the help of the facilitator, Agile Usage-Centered Design is the process that supports it, which focuses on user roles, user goals, and the tasks necessary to achieve those goals. The Planning Game from eXtreme Programming One of the main emphases of eXtreme Programming is its use of two-person programming teams and have a customer on-site during the development process. Relevant parts of eXtreme Programming that relate to requirements determination is how planning, analysis, design, and construction are all fused together into a single phase of activity and its unique way of capturing and presenting system requirements and design specifications. All phases of the life cycle meet into a series of activities based on the basic processes of coding, testing, listening, and designing. EXPLORATION Business writes a story card. Depelopment provides an estimate. COMMITMENT STEERING EXTERME PROGRAMMINGS PLANNING GAME ELECTRONIC COMMERCE APPLICATIONS: DETERMINING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Internet based electronic commerce application is no different than the process followed for other applications. Management began the Webstore project to sell furniture products over the Internet. System Layout and Navigation Characteristics As part of the procedure of fixing for the JAD session, all participants were asked to visit several established retail websites, including www.landsend.com and more. At the JAD session, participants were asked to identify characteristics of these sites that they found appealing and those characteristics that they found cumbersome. This allowed participants to identify and discuss those features that they wanted the Webstore to possess. Webstore and Site Management System Capabilities After agreeing to the general design and directional characteristics of the Webstore it then turned its focus to the basic system capabilities. To assist in this process, systems analysts from the Information Systems Department developed a draft skeleton of the Webstore. This skeleton is based on the types of screens common to and capabilities of popular retail websites. Eg feature that allows customers to accumulate multiple items before checking out rather than buying a single item at a time. Customer and Inventory Information the Webstore will be designed to support the furniture purchases of three distinct types of customers: Corporate customers, home office customers, Student customers. System Prototype Evolution As a concluding activity the JAD participants benefiting from extensive input from the Information Systems staff, discussed how the system implementation should evolve. After completing analysis and design activities, it was agreed that the system implementation should progress in three main stages so that changes to the requirements could be more easily identified and implemented.
