GATHER DATA TO IDENTIFY
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
ICAA5151B
INTRO
Ever been stopped on the street by a market
researcher?
Firstly there’s a screening question to make sure you
fit the target profile and then come the questions.
Businesses do much the same with their employees:Extract information with a view to improving
organisational performance.
THIS UNIT
Provides information and activities to enable you to
gain the skills required to identify the needs of a
business or a business process and quantify those
needs into technical requirements that will enable
the business or process to meet expectations.
THE 4 TOPICS COVERED ARE ….
• Identify key information sources
• Gather data through formal processes
• Ensure analysis is accurate and complete
• Submit analysis and gain agreement
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
1. identify information repositories across the business
2. review current organisational documentation
3. develop critical questions to elicit information from
key stakeholders using a mixture of open and
closed questions
4. ensure information gathering techniques use a
quality assurance methodology and meet
budgetary constraints
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
What is the relationship between
• Data
• Information
• Knowledge
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Searching for information and data
When gathering data to identify business
requirements, you will find a wide variety of sources.
Name some?
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
CATEGORIES OF DATA
Quantitative vs Qualitative Data
Quantitative can be measured:
Performance reports, data capture forms, numeric
results from surveys and statistical research.
It can be analysed mathematically.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
CATEGORIES OF DATA
Quantitative vs Qualitative Data
Qualitative is a record of thoughts, observations,
opinions or words:
It comes from asking open-ended questions to which
answers are not limited by a set of choices or scale.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Information sources may come from internal or
external sources.
Internal examples: employees, annual reports, sales
figures
External examples: statistical information (Australian
Bureau of Statistics), standards, or research from
outside an organisation
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Documents vs People
There are often a lot of documents available, which
means that an analyst must read extensively to gain
limited information.
On the other hand, people are also a source of
information. An individual is a wonderful source of
information that can respond dynamically to
questions and stimuli.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Question 1:
How would you categorise an interview with the project sponsor?
1.
Quantitative; internal; people
2.
Qualitative; internal; people
3.
Qualitative; external; people
4.
Quantitative; internal; document
5.
Qualitative; internal; document
Question 2:
How would you categorize: A memo to the IT department?
1.
Quantitative; internal; people
2.
Qualitative; internal; people
3.
Qualitative; external; people
4.
Quantitative; internal; document
5.
Qualitative; internal; document
Question 3:
How would you categorize: A report on the number of errors logged at the helpdesk?
1.
Quantitative; internal; people
2.
Qualitative; internal; people
3.
Qualitative; external; people
4.
Quantitative; internal; document
5.
Qualitative; internal; document
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
RESEARCH TASK
Download Times
This activity is intended to help you qualify the quality
of information sources.
Answer the following questions.
1. How long will users wait for web pages to
download?
2. What is the URL for the source you quoted?
3. Can you trust the source you quoted? Why/Why
not?
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
The Australian Bureau of Statistics
• The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is a source
of information. It also provides reference material
on research and survey methodologies.
• There is a lot of information available at
the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website.
(http://www.abs.gov.au/)
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
SAMPLING
When determining requirements, it is likely that you will
have to collect information from a number of people. If
the organisation is small, you may choose to collect
information from all people - this is called a census.
Alternatively, you may choose to collect information from
only nominated specialists. This is known as judgement
sampling or convenience sampling. Not all organisations
are small and localised: consider determining
requirements for an organisation with over 2000 computer
users spread across 4 continents. In this situation, it is
prudent to survey a sample of users.
Two commonly used sampling techniques
are randomisation and systematic sampling.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Randomisation is a sampling technique characterised
as having no predetermined pattern or plan for
selecting sample data.
http://www.randomizer.org/form.htm
Systematic sampling is a technique that attempts to
reduce the variance of the estimates by spreading
out the sampling. One example would be choosing
documents or records by formula which avoids very
high or low estimates.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
SAMPLING BLUNDERS
See doc on network
RANDOM SAMPLING
See doc on network
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
See doc on network
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
The Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is a source of
information. It also provides reference material on
research and survey methodologies. You can visit
ABS at http://www.abs.gov.au/.
This activity is intended to help you classify and
understand terms.
Read pages 1-9 of Statistics - A powerful edge from
the ABS and find the definition of data, information
and statistics.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys
Read paper page 16 of of Statistics - A powerful
edge! from the ABS website and answer the
following:
1. One advantage of a ___________ is accuracy.
2. _______________ is a disadvantage of a census.
3. Speed is an advantage of a sample ________ .
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
ASSESS METHODS
• Data Gathering Methods & Budget Constraints
• Each method has its pros and cons
• The project in which you are involved - as well as the
project budget - will influence the blend of data gathering
methods that you use.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
The METHODS for information gathering are
•
•
•
•
•
Research
Questionnaires (good for large groups, low cost)
Interviews (most common)
Workshops
Observation
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
RESEARCH
Reviewing documents
Reviewing documents is the process of searching,
finding and extracting information from documents
If you are developing a website with e-commerce
facilities, it may be worthwhile reviewing customer
order forms and documents identifying sales
processes and procedures. If you are interested in
identifying the number of items per order or the
number of incorrect orders received from customers,
you may need to sample records kept by the
organisation.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Management
To establish objectives, boundaries, constraints, policies,
information requirements, involvement in the project, potential
problems
Clerical/operational staff
To establish actual procedures carried out, documents used,
volume of work, job satisfaction, morale.
Statements of company
policy including mission
statements
Gather information on overall objectives and likely changes
Administrative procedure
manuals
QA documents, instruction and procedure manuals which provide
a statement of the way in which tasks are supposed to be
performed.
Document blanks or data
entry forms
These are forms that are filled in and passed between
departments or stored for reference. This gives the analyst an
indication of the formal data flows and data stores.
Completed documents or
data entry forms
These are forms that have been filled in and passed between
departments or stored for reference. These give the analyst an
indication of the 'actual' data that is currently required.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Training manuals
To identify processes and procedures.
Sales and promotional
literature
To identify products; company image; marketing style; target
market.
Job descriptions and
specifications
These should define the responsibilities of personnel.
Reports for decision
making
Reports may include: sales; inventory; production; costing.
Performance reports
Identify gaps between actual performance and intended
performance
Intranet and website
Examine for metaphors, design features (such as colour). The
intranet will be a valuable resource that can be searched for
electronic copies of documents
Memos and letters
May provide background for your problem statement and ultimate
solution.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
RESEARCH
Sampling Documents
Sampling documents is the process of collecting
representative samples of forms, records and other
documents in order to ascertain an implied
consistency for the total population. Two commonly
used sampling techniques are randomisation and
stratification.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
RESEARCH
• Randomisation is a sampling technique
characterised as having no predetermined pattern
or plan for selecting sample documents.
• Stratification is a systematic sampling technique
that attempts to reduce the variance of estimates
by equally dispersing the sample selection within a
given population - that is, choosing documents or
records by formula.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Student population = 3000
sample size 5% = 150 student enrolments
Course
Student enrolments
Sample size
Law and Justice
200
10
Management Studies
800
40
IT Studies
1500
75
Engineering
500
25
Totals
3000
150
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
INTERVIEWS
• An interview is a planned meeting during which you
obtain information from another person. The
personal interview is often the preferred information
gathering technique when developing business and
user requirements.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
INTERVIEWS
1. Determining the people to interview
2. Establishing objectives for the interview
3. Developing the interview questions
4. Preparing for the interview
5. Conducting the interview
6. Documenting the interview
7. Evaluating the interview
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
OBSERVATION
Observation is a technique that enables the analyst to view
how processes and activities are being done in the context
of the business. This additional perspective can give a
better understanding of system procedures. It is sometimes
worthwhile to read procedure manuals to find out how
things should be done. Then interview people to find out
how they believe it IS being done. Finally, observe processes
to find out how it is actually being done.
A note of caution: observation may induce a phenomenon
known as the Hawthorne Effect – an increase in productivity
when workers knew they were being observed.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
WORKSHOPS
There are two main types of workshops that we are
interested in as information gatherers:
1. Joint Application Design (JAD) - or Joint
Requirements Planning (JRP)
2. Brainstorming
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Joint Application Design (JAD) was developed by
IBM in the late 1970s. It is a requirements
determination method that brings together business
and IT professionals in a structured workshop to
determine and discuss system requirements. JAD is
discussed further on the IBM website and in many
other websites and textbooks.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a workshop or meeting where ideas are
expressed and captured for later consideration. The three
common rules of brainstorming are:
• Be spontaneous. Call out ideas as they occur.
• No criticism, analysis, or evaluation is permitted while the
ideas are being generated. Any idea may be useful, if
only to generate another idea.
• Focus on the quantity of ideas, rather than the quality of
the ideas.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
QUESTIONNAIRES
Questionnaires are sometimes called surveys. A questionnaire
involves questions written onto a form. The respondent provides
their response in the form.
Two common formats for questionnaires are free-format and
fixed-format. A single questionnaire often includes both formats.
• Free-format questionnaires offer the respondent greater
latitude in their answer. A question is asked, and the
respondent records the answer in the space provided after
the question. AKA?
• Fixed-format questionnaires contain questions that require the
selection of predefined responses from individuals.
1. IDENTIFY KEY INFORMATION
SOURCES
Topic 1 Summary
you have identified the difference between data,
information and knowledge. You are aware that
there are different sources of information. These
include internal or external, documents or people
and the data you collect may be qualitative or
quantitative data. When selecting samples, you may
choose a census, a judgment sample/convenience
sample, randomised sample or a systematic sample.
From each of the nominated information sources you
can expect to get a variety of information.
COLLECTING & DEALING WITH DATA
SAMPLING
Generally, for sampling, a good number to sample is
the square root of the total number.
n = √N where N is the total
So if there are a 100 people to sample the √N = 10
COLLECTING & DEALING WITH DATA
GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS
with a spreadsheet
1. In cell A1 enter the formula =INT(RAND()*100+1)
2. Use the Fill Down function to copy this down to
A50
This formula generates a random decimal number
between 0 and 1, multiplies the result by 100 and
adds 1. Only the whole number part is considered.
STATISTICES
Paste the values of the result of your randomiser and
use the spreadsheet statistical functions to calculate
the
Average
Count
Mode
COLLECTING & DEALING WITH DATA
STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING
This type of sampling splits the population into
categories called strata.
Opinions expressed by people from the same stratum
may be similar to each other but may differ from
opinions from other strata.
The sample size from each strata should be
proportional to the stratum size as compared to the
population size.
STRATA
Student population = 3000
sample size 10% = 300 student enrolments
Course
Student enrolments
Law and Justice
200
Management Studies
800
IT Studies
1500
Engineering
500
Totals
3000
Sample size
300
CHARTING OR GRAPHING
CHARTING OR GRAPHING
A MULTIPLE OR CLUSTERED COLUMN
GRAPH
PIE CHART
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
PROCESSES
Now that you know about identifying key information
sources, you gather data through formal processes within
an information technology environment.
In this topic you will learn how to:
• conduct information gathering workshops and interviews
to gather data
• review reports and other data sources for relevant
business information
• confirm business-critical factors relating to current and
future directions of the organisation with stakeholders
• analyse group and individual responses to clearly define
business priorities
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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PROBLEM / OPPORTUNITY
STATEMENTS
In order to implement data–
gathering techniques, you will
need to identify one of the
following:
• the problem that has to be
solved
• the opportunity that has to
be realised.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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Once the problem or opportunity has been
identified, it should be documented. This can then be
included in a Business Requirements Report under the
heading ‘Problem Statement’ or ‘Opportunity
Statement’.
• Problem Statements may use key words like cannot,
will not and unable to.
• Opportunity Statements may use key words
like would like to, leverage and evolve toward.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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The following is an example of a Problem Statement:
• The XXX Company cannot efficiently update records to
their database.
The following is an Opportunity Statement:
• The XXX Company would like to increase sales through
an e–commerce website.
The problem or opportunity statement is usually
ascertained from business owners or project sponsors. It is
a high–level statement that concisely captures the
problem or opportunity.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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Details associated with the problem or opportunity
are documented in the functional requirements.
These are sometimes called the business
requirements.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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EXERCISE – Develop a Problem Statement from this:
Interview Transcript with a Finance Officer of a Training Institute
We have been given some information; however, we need to clarify some issues in
order to develop a Business Requirements Report.
Q. To clarify the issue, what do you see as the main problem that you need to
resolve?
I can't record the purchase price of PCs and where they are presently located.
Q. Can we explore this further? Is it the current value of the system or the purchase
price that you want to retain?
We want a system so we can record PCs at their original purchase price and the date
of the asset purchase. A method of depreciation and the current depreciated price
might be good to keep, but let’s look at this in an enhancement to the system.
Q. How do you want us to identify the location of the PC?
The system must identify PC locations by room number and campus.
Q. Where do you get PC values from, and how do you know that they are correct?
The PC values are recorded on supplier orders and supplier invoices. The new system
must source PC prices from supplier invoices. It would be nice if the new system could
reconcile differences in pricing between orders and invoices.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
Benjamin Bloom, an American educational
psychologist, developed a system for organising and
categorising thinking skills in a hierarchical order from
lower to higher level, with the higher levels including
all of the cognitive skills from the lower levels.
The categorisation is often referred to as ‘Bloom’s
Taxonomy’.
Increasing
difficulty
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
MGMT PYRAMID
MANAGEMENT LEVELS IN AN
ORGANISATION
Strategic
decisions
senior
management
tactical
decisions
middle
management
operationa
l decisions
operational management
On-thejob
decisions
production, clerical and nonmanagement employees
TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Office systems
Applications for administrative tasks that occur. Aka
productivity software – word processing, desktop
publishing, spreadsheet, database presentation
graphics, web browsers, e-mail.
Transaction Processing Systems
TPS process data generated by the day-to-day
transactions of an organisation. Billing systems,
inventory control systems, accounts payables and
order entry systems
TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Management Information Systems
These evolved as managers realised that computer
processing could be used for more than just day-today transaction processing and that the power of
rapid calculations and data comparisons could be
used to produce meaningful information for
management. MIS are integrated with the TPS and
the focus is on information that management needs
to see fast or slow-selling products, customers with
past-due account balances, inventory that needs reordering. Etc.
TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Decision Support Systems
These summarise or compare data from internal and
external sources or both.
Internal = sales, manufacturing, financial data.
External = interest rates, population trends, new
housing construction, raw material pricing
A DSS can manipulate data to help with decision
making. Like “what-if” querying.
TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Expert Systems
Also known as knowledge system, these simulate human
experts’ reasoning and decision-making processes.
For example the Ford Motor company has implemented a
system to help its dealers diagnose engine repair
problems. Previously, when they encountered a problem
they could not sole, they would call Michigan to talk to
experts. Now they access a nationwide computer system
that duplicates the experts’ reasoning to troubleshoot a
problem….. Expert systems are associated with AI –
Artificial Intelligence.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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1. Knowledge – Gathering Information
2. Comprehension – Confirming or
understanding
3. Application – Making use of knowledge
4. Analysis – Taking apart
5. Synthesis – Putting together
6. Evaluation – Judging the outcome
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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Knowledge
Exhibit memory of previously-learned materials by
recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers.
Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with
specifics.
Questions like: What are the health benefits of eating
apples?
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Understanding or Comprehension
Demonstrative understanding of facts and ideas by
organizing, comparing, giving descriptions, and
stating main ideas
Questions like: Compare the health benefits of eating
apples vs. oranges.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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Application
Using new knowledge. Solve problems
to new situations by applying acquired
knowledge, facts, techniques and rules
in a different way
Questions like: Which kinds of apples
are best for baking a pie, and why?
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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ANALYSIS
Examine and break information into parts by
identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and
find evidence to support generalizations.
• Analyse relationships
Questions like: List four ways of serving foods made
with apples and explain which ones have the highest
health benefits. Provide references to support your
statements.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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SYNTHESIS
Compile information together in a different way by
combining elements in a new pattern or proposing
alternative solutions.
Production of a plan, or proposed set of operations.
Questions like: Convert an "unhealthy" recipe for apple
pie to a "healthy" recipe by replacing your choice of
ingredients. Explain the health benefits of using the
ingredients you chose vs. the original ones.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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EVALUATION
Present and defend opinions by making
judgments about information, validity of ideas
or quality of work based on a set of criteria.
Judgments in terms of internal evidence.
Judgments in terms of external criteria.
Questions like: Do you feel that serving apple
pie for an after school snack for children is
healthy? Why or why not?
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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OPEN AND CLOSED QUESTIONS
Question 1:
What size is your PC monitor?
Question 2:
Are you well today?
Question 3:
Why do you use this form?
Question 4:
What would you do with the new information you collect?
Question 5:
Why?
Question 6:
How do you rate your satisfaction with the system?
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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The ultimate open-ended questions
“Now, have we missed anything?”
or
“Is there anything else you would like to say?”
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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OPEN QUESTIONS
There are some disadvantages to open questions, which
could include the following:
1. trying to summarise the data into a concise form may
be difficult
2. it takes a lot longer to collect information
3. ambiguities need to be recognised and expanded
upon
4. open questions require more psychological effort on
behalf of the respondent, and the respondent may
answer in a haphazard manner.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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BIAS, SENSITIVITY AND PLASTICITY
Bias elicits a desired result.
Sensitivity stirs emotion.
Plasticity is the wording and arrangement of
questions in order to mould a desired answer.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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EXAMPLES of BIAS
Are you in favour of educational institutions requiring that
all lecturers join a union, thus raising educational costs?
Is your life worth insuring?
You don’t like this pair of jeans, do you?
Don’t you agree that the new rule is a problem?
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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SENSITIVITY
Do you think the US was right or wrong in sending American
troops to stop the Communist Invasion of South Korea ?
Do you think the US made a mistake in deciding to defend
Korea, or not?
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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PLASTICITY
Order
A
B
Question
Do you think a Communist country
like Russia should let American
newspaper reporters come in and
send back to America the news as
they see it?
Result 1
82% Yes
Result 2
64% Yes
Do you think the United States
75% Yes
should let Communist newspaper
reporters from other countries come
in and send back to their papers the
news as they see it?
55% Yes
When the above questions were ordered A–B, Result 1 was obtained.
However, when the question order was B–A, Result 2 was obtained.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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2 SIMILAR SURVEYS - 2 DIFFERENT RESPONSES
"Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the rise in crime among teenagers?"
"Yes"
"Do you think there is lack of discipline and vigorous training in our
Comprehensive Schools?"
"Yes"
"Do you think young people welcome some structure and leadership in
their lives?"
"Yes"
"Do they respond to a challenge?"
"Yes"
"Might you be in favour of reintroducing National Service?"
"Yes"
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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SURVEY 2
"Mr. Woolley are you worried about the danger of war?"
"Yes"
"Are you unhappy about the growth of armaments?"
"Yes"
"Do you think there's a danger in giving young people guns and teaching
them how to kill?"
"Yes"
"Do you think it’s wrong to force people to take up arms against their will?"
"Yes"
"Would you oppose the reintroduction of National Service?"
"Yes"
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Once the problem has been identified, the next step
is to do the following:
• Understand the problem, including the cause and
effect
• Understand any constraints that may limit the
solution.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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What are functional requirements?
“A functional requirement is a function or feature that
must be included in an information system in order to
satisfy the business need and be acceptable to the
users
Functional Requirements are actions, therefore a
verb(s) should be included in the statement. .”
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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• The system must associate non–stock purchases of
raw materials to a specified customer order.
• The system must associate design work as well as
production work to customer special orders.
• The system may track the completion status of
customer special orders.
• The system must provide a users’ guide for products.
• The system must capture customer details online.
• The system may have password protection for a
members’ only section.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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NON–FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
“A non–functional requirement is a description of the
features, characteristics, and attributes of the system as
well as any constraints that may limit the boundaries of the
proposed solution”
Some authors use the term “constraints” to identify non–
functional requirements.
Note: Non–functional requirements are less important to
the Business Requirements report – but highly important to
the Technical Requirements report. It is important to
understand the difference between functional and non–
functional requirements.
NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Requirement
type
Explanation
Performance
Performance requirements represent the performance the system is required to exhibit to meet the needs of users.
What is the maximum download time for web pages?
What is the acceptable throughput rate?
What is the required response time?
Information
Information requirements represent the information that is pertinent to the users in terms of content, timeliness, accuracy and
format.
What are the necessary inputs and outputs? When must they happen?
Where is the required data to be stored?
How current must the information be?
What are the interfaces to the external systems?
Economy
Economy requirements represent the need for the system to reduce costs or increase profits.
What are the areas of the system where costs may be reduced?
How much cost should be reduced or profits should be increased?
What are the budgetary limits?
What is the timetable for development?
Control (and Security)
Control requirements represent the environment in which the system must operate, as well as the type and degree of security
that must be provided.
Must access to the system or information be controlled?
What are the privacy requirements?
Does the criticality of the data necessitate the need for special handling (backups, off–site storage, etc) of the data?
Efficiency
Efficiency requirements represent the system’s ability to produce outputs with minimal waste.
Are there duplicate steps in the process that must be eliminated?
Are there ways to reduce waste in the way the system uses its resources?
Service
Service requirements represent needs in order for the system to be reliable, flexible and expandable.
Who will use the system and where are they located?
Will there be different types of users?
What are the appropriate human factors?
What training devices and training materials are to be included in the system?
What training devices and training materials are to be developed and maintained separately from the system, such as stand–
alone computer–based training (CBT) programs or databases?
What are the reliability/availability requirements?
How should the system be packaged and distributed?
What documentation is required?
Source: Whitten, J., Bentley, L., Dittman, K. (2001). System Analysis and Design Methods, Sydney, McGraw–Hill Irwin. Page 216
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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Non–functional requirements are often associated
with the technical requirements of a system –
therefore the non–functional requirements may be
part of the Technical Requirements Report rather
than the Business Requirements Report.
Your organisation or client will often specify the
format and content of the required report.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
PROCESSES
In this section, you have looked at functional
requirements which should appear in the Business
Requirements Report.
Functional requirements are sometimes known as
business requirements, and non–functional
requirements are sometimes known as constraints.
Constraints may limit the project or solution.
GATHER DATA THROUGH FORMAL
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Summary
In this 2nd topic you have identified that a problem
statement or opportunity statement needs to be
defined at the beginning of the project. You then use
data–gathering techniques to understand the
problem, including the cause and effects, as well as
identifying constraints that may limit the project or
solution. Problem/opportunity statements and
functional requirements should all appear in the
Business Requirements Report.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
In this topic you will learn how to:
• analyse and evaluate information gathered for
accuracy and consistency
• document conflicts in information gathered
• resolve conflicts in information or points of view with
stakeholders.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
Broadly speaking you analyse data as you collect it
or when it has been collected.
The 28000 surveyed and what they said.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
ORGANISING AND SUMMARISING
Once you have classified data into meaningful
categories, it should be documented in tables and
summarised in a paragraph. Often data in tables can
be visually represented through the use of charts. You
need to carefully select the type of chart to match
your data.
Read pages 103 - 127 of the Australian Bureau of
Statistic’s Statistics – A Powerful Edge! to get a better
understanding of graph types.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO:You have been asked by your manager to collect data from a survey
about your company’s intranet. You and your manager feel that the site
needs an upgrade, but you need evidence to support this view.
Your task is to analyse the data and present the findings in a clear format to
support your view.
Select a method that shows the results of the survey, which are listed below:
• 78% use the site regularly.
• 65% find it easy to navigate.
• 36% believe it should be upgraded.
• 40% believe it needs more multimedia.
• 55% have had technically problems with the site over the last 12 months.
• 74% stated that the intranet is crucial to their daily business.
• 31% stated that the colours used in the site were poor.
• 15% stated that they still use paper manuals and avoid the site.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
What data would you highlight?
What data would you possibly omit?
How would you present the data in your report
and/or your presentation?
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
PRIORITISING REQUIREMENTS
Categorising your data is the first stage of analysing it.
Our particular interest is in business requirements so
therefore we will rank them (aka functional
requirements).
Consider a website. Are each of the listed
requirements A(pto) of equal importance?
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
System requirements
• conduct transactions over the Internet
• display products on screen
• provide an animation of the production process
• display a privacy policy
• link Internet sales to the inventory system
• display a returns policy
• enable a "contact us" facility
• enable customers to check delivery and production status
• provide "about us" information
• display customer satisfaction testimonies
• provide a user's guide for products
• capture customer details online
• have password protection for a "members only" section
• display correct pricing - especially for customers with discounts
• describe products
• accept multiple payment methods.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
A little caution needs to be taken when collating and
analysing the results of a ranked list. You need to
consider who responded to the request and their
importance within the organisation. For example, if
the distribution list included five from sales and
marketing yet only one from finance, the results may
skew toward sales.
As another example, the business owner may want
their response to be weighted three times the
strength of their management team.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
Absolute ranking is important, but relative ranking is
also important. To use the example above, where
there are 16 items listed, it should not be inferred that
the item on the top of the list is 16 times more
important than the item on the bottom of the list.
Perhaps the item on the bottom of the list is only 50%
less important. For this reason, a relative
importance should be allocated to the requirement.
A scale of 5-10 is frequently used when allocating the
relevant importance of a business requirement.
The reason for a relative scale becomes apparent
next: "Capability Analysis".
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
The table below provides an example of relative and absolute rating,
where the higher the number the more important the requirement is.
Business Requirement
(Functional Requirement)
The system must display
products on screen.
Importance Rating
Absolute (1-16) Relative (5-10)
16
Requirements 15 - 2
The system must enable
customers to check delivery
and production status.
10
n
1
5
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
CONSIDERING AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Once you have ranked and rated the requirements by
importance, you have completed the second analysis
stage. By now you should have a list of business
requirements (functional requirements), and you should
know how important they are to the organisation.
Question:
Should we implement all of them?
Answer:
"All things are possible given enough time and money."
The answer to these questions requires the application of
the third stage of analysis: CAPABILITY ANALYSIS
CAPABILITY ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
CAPABILITY ANALYSIS
In order to estimate the ease of realisation,
you need to know the following:
• your capability
• the capability of your client
• the capability of your organisation
• the capability of any other organisations
that you may incorporate into the project
• the capability of the tools that will be used
to develop the solution for the client.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
Often a specialist or project manager who has
experience in the field will rate the ease of realisation
for a given business requirement.
A simple method of applying capability to business
requirements is to simply rate the ease of realisation
between 5 and 10, where 10 is the easiest and 5 is
the hardest. Once you have the ease of
implementation, multiply it by the relative importance
of the requirement.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
Business
Requirement
(Functional
Requirement)
The system must
display products on
screen
Importance Rating
Final
Rating
Absolute
1-16
Relative
5-10
Relative
5-10
16
10
8
80
n
n
nxn
5
5.5
27.5
Requirements 15 - 2
The system must
enable customers
to check delivery
and production
status
Ease of
Realisation
1
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
There are various methods and software that can be
used to assist in the identification of capability.
When the solution is to be developed by a consulting
firm, the capability resides with the consultant. A tool
that can be used in the negotiation phases of the
contract as well as the requirements determination
phase is EasyWinWin.
This software package has been designed for online
workshop participants; when using the software, the
team will be collecting and analysing data at the
same time.
http://csse.usc.edu/csse/research/easy_win_win
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
Frequent Software Development Win-Lose Patterns
(That Usually Turn into Lose-Lose Situations)
Proposed solution
Winner
Loser
Quickly build a cheap, sloppy
product
Developer and
customer
User
Add lots of "bells and whistles"
Developer and user
Customer
Drive too hard a bargain
Customer and user
Developer
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
By now, you should have a list of requirements that
has been ordered by importance and ease of
realisation.
The final stage is to estimate how many of the
requirements can be implemented given the
available time and money. Again, there are various
techniques to establish the boundaries, but put
simply, you need to draw a line through the
requirements list and identify what you can achieve
and what you cannot achieve.
ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE
The requirements that you can achieve become
mandatory functional requirements and retain the
verb "MUST". The requirements that you cannot
achieve become optional or desirable functional
requirements and the verb "must" changes to "MAY".
For example:
• The system must display products on screen.
• The system may enable customers to check delivery
and production status.
BAZAAR CERAMICS
PRIORITISING REQUIREMENTS EXERCISE
A workshop was held with Bazaar Ceramics in order to
determine the requirements for the proposed website. The
workshop was conducted to compile a comprehensive list of
website feature and functions which were ranked by
participants in order of importance.
The 9 elements identified for Bazaar Ceramics are:
• Images and descriptions of products
• Production techniques and tours
• e-commerce and ordering online
• Automated functions
• Policies and Procedures
• Awards and testimonies
• Product delivery and care
• Miscellaneous
BAZAAR CERAMICS
Each of the elements were discussed in detail. New
features and functions were added to each element
until a comprehensive list was developed.
See the document on the network.
Comprehensive requirements for Bazaar
Ceramics.doc
BAZAAR CERAMICS
Each participant ranked the features and functions
by their perceived order of importance. It is your job
to aggregate the participant’s ranked value into one
value that represents the priority of Bazaar Ceramics
as a whole. When aggregating all participants’
values into one value, you need to consider the
importance of each person’s opinion.
A Production worker’s opinion is valued at ¼ of a
Manager’s opinion.
The Business Owner’s opinion is valued at double the
value of a Manager’s opinion.
BAZAAR CERAMICS
Open the spreadsheet called
Bazaar ceramics workshop data and calculate the
features’ ranking.
Which is seen as the most important?
Which is the least important?
CONCLUSION OF TOPIC 3
1. True or False: A workshop typically involves data collation and analysis
after the workshop has been completed.
2. What is the output from the first stage of analysis?
a list of business requirements
a list of key stakeholders
an opportunity or problem statement
a list of technical requirements
3. True or False: Absolute rankings can give a false indication on the actual
importance of a business requirement.
4. The business requirements that you CAN achieve and which are
described using the word “must” are called:
optional functional requirements
desirable functional requirements
mandatory functional requirements
all of the above
GAIN APPROVAL
Now that you know about
• identifying key information sources,
• gathering data through formal processes,
• and ensuring that the analysis is accurate and
complete.
We submit an analysis and gain agreement within an
information technology environment.
GAIN APPROVAL
In this final topic you will learn how to:
• prepare detailed documents according to
documentation standards and organisational
templates
• write documents in a style that is succinct and
appropriate to the audience
• communicate data gathered to the client to gain
consensus and agreement on business
requirements
GAIN APPROVAL
REPORT FINDINGS
• The contents and degree of detail for
a Requirements Report will vary depending on the
size and scope of a project, but a Requirements
Report is generally an informal document that can
be easily understood by the customer. The report
may contain only business requirements, or it may
extend to technical requirements and a feasibility
study. Your organisation will often provide a
template for requirements documentation.
GAIN APPROVAL
PURPOSE OF A REQUIREMENTS REPORT
to communicate and confirm the requirements. The
next section describes the different sections of the
report.
GAIN APPROVAL
There are many templates available for
writing a Requirements Report. This
section looks at one possible report
layout.
There are some examples of alternative
report layouts on the network in the
folder Week 7 – Gather Data
GAIN APPROVAL
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
System description
Functional requirements
Non-functional requirements
Information domain
Project costs
Benefits
Other project specific topic
GAIN APPROVAL
Requirements definition report elements
Introduction
Purpose
Scope
Definitions
Overview of document
Systems description
Overall system
Sub systems
Operating environment
Functional requirements
Logical view
Physical view
Non-functional requirements
Performance
Quality
Business rules
Information domain
Data definitions
Structure
Project costs
Analysis
Software development
Hardware and network
Benefits
Tangible
Intangible
GAIN APPROVAL
STORYBOARDS FOR WEB PAGES
A common technique for providing functional
information for websites to the client is to provide a
storyboard. Storyboards are a visual representation of
what a website interface is supposed to look like.
They can consist of a site map and a detailed
representation of some or all of the pages in the site.
• Here is an example of a site map:
GAIN APPROVAL
GAIN APPROVAL
GAIN APPROVAL - ACTIVITY 1
Activity 1 - Functional requirements
A workshop was held with Bazaar Ceramics in order to determine the
requirements for the proposed website. The workshop was conducted
to compile a comprehensive list of website features and functions
which were ranked by participants in order of importance. The results of
the workshop can be found in the Bazaar requirements workshop
data.xls. It contains the requirements ranked in importance from
highest to lowest, high having a larger number and low having smaller
number.
Pair up with another student (optional), analyse the information in the
spreadsheet and put it into the IEEE standards document.
GAIN APPROVAL – ACTIVITY 2
Role play: Presenting the requirements to the client
You go to a meeting with your client at Bazaar Ceramics to present the
mandatory and desirable functional requirements. The goal of the role
play is to deal with any objections your client may have, and to reach
agreement on the requirements.
Consider the questions and objections your client may have and how you
will deal with them.
Round 1
Deliver the presentation to the client; another plays the role of the client.
Round 2
Reverse roles (or rotate pairs) so that the pair who played the role of the
client is now presenting their requirements.
Each pair now gives feedback to the pair who presented to them. Give
feedback on both the written document (the Requirements Report) and
the presentation itself.
GO FORTH AND GATHER DATA
That’s it.