SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman C H A P T E R 6 Irwin/McGraw-Hill REQUIREMENTS DISCOVERY METHODS, USE CASES AND DOCUMENTATION Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Chapter Six Requirements Discovery • Understand six guidelines for doing effective listening. • Understand what body language and proxemics are, and why a systems analyst should care. • Characterize the typical participants in a JRP session and describe their roles. • Complete the planning process for a JRP session, including selecting and equipping the location, selecting the participants, and preparing an agenda to guide the JRP session. • Describe several benefits of using JRP as a fact-finding technique. • Describe a fact-finding strategy that will make the most of your time with end-users. • Describe various techniques to document and analyze requirements. • Understand use cases and be able to document them. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Chapter Map Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Procedure to Conduct an Interview 1. Select Interviewees 2. Prepare for the Interview 1. An interview guide is a checklist of specific questions the interviewer will ask the interviewee. 3. Conduct the Interview 4. Follow Up on the Interview Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Interview Questions • Types of Questions to Avoid – Loaded questions – Leading questions – Biased questions • Interview Question Guidelines – – – – – Use clear and concise language. Don’t include your opinion as part of the question. Avoid long or complex questions. Avoid threatening questions. Don’t use “you” when you mean a group of people. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Sample Interview Guide Interviewee: Jeff Bentley, Accounts Receivable Manager Date: Tuesday, March, 23, 2000 Time: 1:30 P.M. Place: Room 223, Admin. Bldg. Subject: Current Credit-Checking Policy Time Allocated Interviewer Question of Objective Interviewee Response 1 to 2 min. Objective Open the interview: • Introduce Ourselves • Thank Mr. Bentley for his valuable time • State the purpose of the interview--to obtain an understanding of the existing credit-checking policies 5 min. Question 1 What conditions determine whether a customer’s order is approved for credit? Follow-up 5 min. Question 2 What are the possible decisions or actions that might be taken once these conditions have been evaluated? Follow-up 3 min. Question 3 How are customers notified when credit is not approved for their order? Follow-up (continued) Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Sample Interview Guide (concluded) 1 min. Question 4 After a new order is approved for credit and placed in the file containing orders that can be filled, a customer might request that a modification be made to the order. Would the order have to go through credit approval again if the new total order cost exceeds the original cost? Follow-up 1 min. Question 5 Who are the individuals that perform the credit checks? Follow-up 1 to 3 mins. Question 6 May I have permission to talk to those individuals to learn specifically how they carry out the credit-checking process? Follow-up 1 min. Objective Conclude the interview: • Thank Mr. Bentley for his cooperation and assure him that he will be receiving a copy of what transpired during the interview 21 minutes Time allotted for base questions and objectives. 9 minutes Time allotted for follow-up questions and redirection 30 minutes Total time allotted for interview (1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.) General Comments and Notes: Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts Do • • • • • Be courteous Listen carefully Maintain control Probe Observe mannerisms and nonverbal communication • Be patient • Keep interviewee at ease • Maintain self-control Irwin/McGraw-Hill Avoid • Continuing an interview unnecessarily. • Assuming an answer is finished or leading nowhere. • Revealing verbal and nonverbal clues. • Using jargon • Revealing your personal biases. • Talking instead of listening. • Assuming anything about the topic and the interviewee. • Tape recording -- a sign of poor listening skills. Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Communicating With the User • Listening - “To hear is to recognize that someone is speaking, to listen is to understand what the speaker wants to communicate.” (Gildersleeve – 1978) • Guidelines for Communicating – – – – – – Approach the Session with a Positive Attitude Set the Other Person at Ease Let Them Know You Are Listening Ask Questions Don’t Assume Anything Take Notes Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Body Language and Proxemics Body language is all of the nonverbal information being communicated by an individual. Body language is a form of nonverbal communications that we all use and are usually unaware of. 7% words 38% vocal inflection 55% facial and body expressions Proxemics is the relationship between people and the space around them. Proxemics is a factor in communications that can be controlled by the knowledgeable analyst. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Spatial Zones • • • • Intimate zone—closer than 1.5 feet Personal zone—from 1.5 feet to 4 feet Social zone—from 4 feet to 12 feet Public zone—beyond 12 feet Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Discovery Prototyping Discovery prototyping is the act of building a smallscale, representative or working model of the users’ requirements in order to discover or verify those requirements. – Advantages? – Disadvantages? Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Joint Requirements Planning Joint requirements planning (JRP) is a process whereby highly structured group meetings are conducted for the purpose of analyzing problems and defining requirements. JRP is a subset of a more comprehensive joint application development or JAD technique that encompasses the entire systems development process. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman JRP Participants • • • • • Sponsor Facilitator Users and Managers Scribes I.T. Staff Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Steps to Plan a JRP Session 1. Selecting a location 2. Selecting the participants 3. Preparing the agenda Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Typical room layout for JRP session 41' 0" Food & Refreshments IT Professionals & Other Observers Scribe Flipchart Workstation (for CASE tool) Users and Managers Computer Projection Device 30' 0" Scribe Blackboard Overhead Projector JAD Facilitator Printer Workstation (for prototyping tool) IT Professionals & Other Observers Irwin/McGraw-Hill Scribe Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Guidelines for Conducting a JRP Session • • • • • • • • Do not unreasonably deviate from the agenda Stay on schedule Ensure that the scribe is able to take notes Avoid the use of technical jargon Apply conflict resolution skills Allow for ample breaks Encourage group consensus Encourage user and management participation without allowing individuals to dominate the session • Make sure that attendees abide by the established ground rules for the session Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Brainstorming Brainstorming is a technique for generating ideas during group meetings. Participants are encouraged to generate as many ideas as possible in a short period of time without any analysis until all the ideas have been exhausted. Be spontaneous Absolutely no criticism, analysis or evaluation Emphasize quantity of ideas Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Brainstorming Guidelines • Isolate the appropriate people in a place that will be free from distractions and interruptions • Make sure that everyone understands the purpose of the meeting • Appoint one person to record ideas • Remind everyone of the brainstorming rules • Within a specified time period, team members call out their ideas as quickly as they can think of them • After the group has run out of ideas and all ideas have been recorded, then and only then should the ideas be analyzed and evaluated • Refine, combine, and improve the ideas that were generated earlier Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Benefits of JRP • JRP actively involves users and management in the development project (encouraging them to take “ownership” in the project) • JRP reduces the amount of time required to develop systems • When JRP incorporates prototyping as a means for confirming requirements and obtaining design approvals, the benefits of prototyping are realized Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman A Fact-Finding Strategy 1. Learn all you can from existing documents, forms, reports, and files 2. If appropriate, observe the system in action 3. Given all the facts that you've already collected, design and distribute questionnaires to clear up things you don't fully understand 4. Conduct your interviews (or group work sessions) 5. (Optional). Build discovery prototypes for any functional requirements that are not understood or if requirements need to be validated 6. Follow up Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Documenting Requirements Using Use Cases A use case is a behaviorally related sequence of steps (a scenario), both automated and manual for the purpose of completing a single business task. An actor represents anything that needs to interact with the system to exchange information. An actor is a user, a role, which could be an external system as well as a person. A temporal event is a system event that is triggered by time. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Benefits of Using Use Cases • Facilitates user involvement. • A view of the desired system’s functionality from an external person’s viewpoint. • An effective tool for validating requirements. • An effective communication tool. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Example of a High-Level Use Case Author: S. Shepard Date: 03/01/200 Use Case Name: New Member Order Actors: Member Description: This use case describes the process of a member submitting an order for SoundStage products. On completion, the member will be sent a notification that the order was accepted. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Example of a Requirements Use Case Author: S. Shepard Date: 10/05/2000 Use Case Name: Submit New Member Order Actor(s): Member Description: This use case describes the process of a member submitting an order for SoundStage products. On completion, the member will be sent a notification that the order was accepted. References: MSS-1.0 System response Typical Course Actor Action of Events: Step 2: The member’s personal information such as Step 1: This use case is address is validated against what is currently initiated when a member recorded in member services. submits an order to be processed Step 3: The member’s credit status is checked with Accounts Receivable to make sure no payments are outstanding. Step 4: For each product being ordered, validate the product number and then check the availability in inventory and record the ordered product information. Step 5: Create a picking ticket for the member order containing all ordered products that are available and route it to the warehouse for processing. Step 6: Generate an order confirmation notice indicating the status of the order and send it to the member. Step 7: This use case concludes when the member receives the order confirmation notice. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Example of a Requirements Use Case (concluded) Alternate Courses: Pre-condition: Step 2: If the club member has indicated an address or telephone number change on the promotion order, update the club member’s record with the new information. Step 3: If Accounts Receivable returns a credit status that the customer is in arrears, send an order rejection notice to the member. Step 4: If the product number is not valid, send a notification to the member requesting them to submit a valid product number. If the product being ordered is not available, record the ordered product information and mark as “back-ordered.” Orders can only be submitted by members. Post-condition: Member order has been recorded and the picking ticket has been routed to the warehouse. Assumptions: None at this time. Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Requirements Tables Requirements traceability is the ability to trace a system function or feature back to the requirement that mandates it. Requirement Explanation Requirement number: Indicate a unique number or identifier of the requirement Requirement title: Assign short phrase indicating nature of the requirement Requirement text: Provide a textual statement of the requirement Requirement type: Indicate the requirement type Requirement details and constraints Rev date and rev #: Functional characteristics or dimensions Criticality Irwin/McGraw-Hill Indicate the acceptance date and revision number of current (accepted/baselined) version Must, Want, or Optional Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman Partial List of Member Services System Requirements Requirement Explanation Requirement number: MSS-1.0 Requirement title: Process New Member Order Requirement text: The system should be able to process new member orders. Within this process it should be able to validate member demographic information, verify credit worthiness, inquire and modify inventory levels based on quantity of product ordered, initiate backorder process in the event of insufficient inventory to fulfill order, and send an order confirmation notice once the order has been placed. Functional Requirement type: Requirement details and constraints Rev date and rev#: Member credit status will be obtained from the Account Receivable system. A picking ticket, containing the available ordered items, must be generated and routed to the warehouse. Version 1.0 Criticality Must Requirement Explanation Requirement number: MSS -- 14.0 Requirement title: One Hour Order Confirmation Notice Requirement text: An E-mail notice must be generated and sent to the member, within one hour from the time the member placed the order. Performance Requirement type: Rev date and rev #: The member’s E-mail address must be stored on the system within the member’s profile. The one- hour constraint applies only to the sending of the notification And not when it’s received by the member. Related requirement(s): MSS-1.0 Version 1.0 Criticality Must Requirement details and constraints Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 5th Edition Whitten Bentley Dittman System Architect Requirement Example Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2000 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved