Information Systems Analysis & Design
Case Studies | 1
2. Case Studies
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Two cases
a. International/Large Enterprise
b. College website redesign
Who’s who
Starting to think analytically
The goals of the projects
The Project Binder
1. Two cases:
In this course, we’ll use two real-world examples of information systems analysis and design. The
first is an amalgam of situations at several international corporations and a large public research library.
The second is a website redesign. [In our class, we’ll use the former to demonstrate the principles and the
latter as a hands-on project.]
a. Case 1: International/Large Enterprise
This is a Large international Enterprise (“LE”), divided into several divisions. Each division has its
own vice president, directors, information systems office, legacy computer systems, managers, and staff.
The scenario that you, the analyst, encounter is as follows: several staff members are comfortable making
web pages and have their own ideas of how to organize the various digital assets the office created over the
years. In one office, a staffer created his own Microsoft Access database, but he does not know about good
database design nor the impact of scaling his homegrown database to the entire office. His manager sees
his database and decides to have all 12 staff members use it. It becomes immediately clear that given the
particular design of the database, other staffers cannot use it very well and are frustrated both at being
forced to use something they cannot use well and because their work suffers. This scenario is repeated at
several similar departments in the division.
Ultimately a representative of the vice president for information resources decides it is time to
“repurpose” their company’s digital assets and is encouraged by the staff ’s dissatisfaction with their homegrown systems, believing this will make them more receptive to a new technological solution. This vice
president now requires all directors to work with an outside consultant (you) in figuring out what to do.
This scenario is complicated by the following issues: two directors have considerable emotional
investment in their homegrown systems and are determined to keep them as they are. Another director
does not understand technology or database design, and is extremely self-conscious that she does not. The
fourth director is very much in favor of an enterprise-wide solution, provided the data model be applicable
to all other units. Finally, the vice president himself without consultation with anyone has purchased an
Information Systems Analysis & Design
Case Studies | 2
expensive commercial “Content Management System” (CMS). This CMS was expected to solve the
problem, but only after purchase did he realize that no one in the organization knew the benefits or
liabilities of the CMS, how to classify the objects and create records to be stored in the CMS, or that
classification would impact work flow processes, and that no one considered how to locate objects in the
system!
The analyst who was retained (you) is expected to conduct a survey of information and data needs
and now is faced with powerful personalities who have made serious and expensive management errors.
Your task is to create a complete systems analysis of the organization’s data and information needs, keeping
in mind the frustration of all and the investment in technology that is sitting unused, and any solution
must ultimately work seamlessly with the CMS.
[Before proceeding, read up about Content Management Systems.1]
b. Case 2: A college website redesign
Creating webpages is easy using tools such as Dreamweaver and, if you’re familiar with HTML and
CSS, easy with any text editor. However, creating a useful website is not. In this scenario, the vice
president wants to have the college’s website redesigned because the Marketing Department tells her that
the results of a focus group show that the aesthetics of the current site is “not modern.” The Marketing
Department’s graphic artist has created a palette of colors that all official websites must use. Also, the
Marketing Department dictates that all academic department home pages include certain links. The
individual department deans and managers are otherwise free to determine what content they want
available via the web.
You’ve been asked to lead the Art Department’s redesign effort. You must guide the selection of
departmental information, the integration of the mandated links, the aesthetics of the website given the
official color pallet, and all the other duties typically part of Information Architecture. The results of your
work is a project binder that will be given to the web manager, whose office will create the site based on
your analysis and design.
2. Who’s who?
Complete this chart to determine who in each organization fits our model roles (system
administrator, system manager, system builder, system designer, and system user):
Administrator
Manager
Builder
Designer
End-users
Case 1
Case 2
1 For instance, see Library Hi Tech, vol. 24, no. 1 and no. 2 (2006) for a collection of articles on CMS and their use in various
organizations.
Information Systems Analysis & Design
Case Studies | 3
Note that as we progress a little into the analysis, this chart will evolve.
3. Starting to think analytically:
Different roles have different expectations about information systems. One of the first steps the
analyst takes is to figure out for himself and to help the clients figure out what it is that really is needed and
what is just something that’d be interesting to have. Though all of the clients’ needs may be useful, not all
are reasonable. For instance, would it be worth the investment of 40 hours of analysis and meetings, 40
hours of programming, 20 hours of training, 10 of maintenance, and 10 of system integration for a new
system that helps one staff member perform a task a few seconds faster?
Until we have determined facts as part of our analysis, we have to presume some of them
tentatively in order to advance our understanding of what might be the case. Expand upon the scenarios
as much as you need to to complete the form.
For each of these cases, complete this chart of interests, needs, and expectations. Remember that
not all people involved in the initial stages are included. If possible, identify the internal advocate, the
person most likely to argue for the project (and help you). Feel free to experiment: there are no absolutely
right answers at this point. The purposes of this exercise are (1) to learn to identify key roles regardless of
the organizational structure and (2) to begin to identify and anticipate needs. Create your own version of
this form and place it in your binder. The project binder is described below.
Case 1 (large enterprise)
Interest in project
Concerns/fears
Specific information needs
Expectations of the
analysis
Vice President
Director 1
Director 2
Director 3
Staff member (who made
the DB)
Staff member (forced to
use the DB)
IT Director
Your own additional notes:
How receptive do you think each of these people will be to working with an outside analyst?
Case 2 (small college)
Vice president
Marketing Dept
Art Dept Dean
Art Dept Faculty
Art Dept Staff
Interest in project
Concerns/fears
Specific information
needs
Expectations of the
analysis
Information Systems Analysis & Design
Case Studies | 4
Students
Your own additional notes:
Why do you think the faculty, staff, and students were added to Case 2’s list?
Create a chart of all participants in this project: who reports to whom? What is their contact
information? Does any team member have special skills, interests, or agenda?
4. The goal of the projects:
1) For the Large Enterprise case, as the result of your first conversation with the Director of IT, it
seems clear (at least to you) that the best solution might be to create an information storage and retrieval
system that supports record creation, searching and browsing, and downloading of the digital assets.
Because the company has an international scope, you believe the interface and the data records should
support multiple languages, hence you’re thinking Unicode, UTF-8, or UTF-16. The system you’re
contemplating is a complement to the CMS system already onsite. The CMS system will act as a large
repository; your new system will be the front-end. Perhaps it will add new features, such as creating XML
records, that the client organization has not considered.
Activity: Create a rough sketch of the possible new system architecture. [Don’t worry if you don’t
know any specific diagram language: the purpose of this activity is to get you to think about the big picture
and to realize what you don’t know.]
Put your rough sketch in the project binder as a working document.
Below is an example of a first sketch:
[http://www.agilemodeling.com/artifacts/uiFlowDiagram.htm]
Information Systems Analysis & Design
Case Studies | 5
2) For the College website redesign, you’ll lead the discussions of the participants: the Art
Department graphic designer (who works also as the web designer), a representative of the Marketing
Department, the department’s “web mistress” (who is responsible for ensuring the currency of the
information available through the department website and who works with other campus departments to
get current data), and a volunteer team of faculty and staff.
[Flash - as of Friday Sept 7: We may have the opportunity to do real website redesign and systems analysis
projects in this class for Simmons College GSLIS and the Art Dept. We’ll discuss these options in class.]
5. The Project Binder
The project binder holds all data that are generated and used during the analysis. It is a record of
the development of your understanding of the project. In addition to the official forms we’ll use, you
should keep copies of your working documents, such as the first rough sketch of the system architecture,
and your own notes (such as questions, items to follow-up on, other materials you’ve used, etc.). When the
project is complete, you will provide a copy of all “official” forms (but not your work documents), technical
documentation, user documentation, implementation and maintenance plans to the client as his or her
official version of the project. As a student, you should think of the official project binder as a portfolio
project that you can use at job interviews and as a guide on the job. Note that not all systems will have all
documents. Many web site analyses are not as detailed.
In all cases, the terms, specific techniques, and documents will vary depending on the project
management software, the type of analysis, and work behaviors of the systems analysis team. The main
point is for the analyst - you - to understand the weaknesses of the current system and to understand fully
the benefits and liabilities of the new system.
The documents typically generated in systems analysis are below. We will not create all of them.
1. Your “company identity”
2. System Service Request
3. System Costs
1. System Costs
2. Build-or-buy analysis [Cost/benefit analysis]
3. Feasibility Study
4. Baseline Project Plan (System Requirements Document) [Problem statement]
1. Change Requests (System Requirements Change Request, when necessary)
5. Contract
6. Documenting the Current Information System:
1. A brief statement of how you extract significance from these documents (equivalent to the
methods section of a research paper)
2. Interviews (interview the personnel you’ve identified above)
Information Systems Analysis & Design
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Case Studies | 6
3. Emails (only emails that discuss the current system problem)
4. Reports (what kinds of reports are generated, by whom, for whom, and how frequently or
in response to what business need?)
5. Screen dumps (collect all screen images)
6. Input forms (collect forms for input)
7. Reports (collect printouts)
8. Data/report needs
Data models
1. Data dictionary
2. Entity relation diagrams
3. SQL command to create databases
4. SQL data manipulation commands (for reports and queries)
5. XML Schema
6. Objects
Logical System Model
1. Context level diagrams
1. Level-n diagrams
2. Data flow diagrams
3. Walkthrough
4. Pseudocoding
5. Flowcharts
Physical System Model
1. RAD/JAD activities: screen and report design
2. Menu tree
3. Graphic User Interface designs
4. System Flows
5. System configuration
6. Application code [optional in this case]
Implementation Plan
1. Presentations (documents, PowerPoint, etc., for presentations to System Owners,
Managers, Users)
1. End-user Documentation
2. Presentations to technical staff (system builder, system designer)
1. Technical Documentation
3. Phased introduction plan
4. Training of users
Maintenance
1. Evaluation and responses