Fact Finding and Requirements
Capture Techniques
Where are facts found?
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Strategic plans
company accounts –sales orders/purchase orders
organisation charts
procedure manuals
quality documentation
job descriptions
schedules
training manuals
sales and marketing literature
etc.
Existing Systems Documentation
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Forms
Files/Databases
Records
Company
Stationery
Reports
Memos
etc.
External to the company
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Essentially background research
 but useful for not looking a complete …..
Internet
Journals
User groups
Consultants
Internet
 Newsgroups
 Bias towards the negative
 Web pages
 Bias towards the positive
 Email
 Who?
Journals
 Trade v general
 Good overview of industry but may not be specific for a
particular company
 Where do you get them from ?
 Library
 Subscription
 Internet
User groups
 Most widely available products will have an associated
user group network
 Independent ?
 Negative ?
Consultants
 Specialist in field
 Where to find them
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Computacenter holds a government approval list of firms call
SCAT
Trade journals
etc.
 Cost ?
 Really needed ?
 When to use ?
Process Modelling?
 How data is recorded
 What process there are or required ?
 What it is used for
 and perhaps what it could be used for ?
 Who uses it
 and who wants to
 and why ?
Value add!
 What additional information could be provided
 and why it isn’t
 Problems
 there should be, it’s the reason you’re there
 Possible solutions
 perhaps not ?
 Are “the users always right” ?
TECHNIQUES-Interviews
 Interviews
 Structured v Unstructured
 Requires Planning 
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Who
What about
Advantages
 Flexible (unstructured or semi approach)
 Discovery of data
 Ideal for gaining ideas
 Face to face
 User involvement
Disadvantages
 Time consuming
 Bias
 Interpretation
Techniques - Focus Groups
 Meetings held with groups of people with something in
common
 Area managers
 Technical support technicians
 Women
Advantages
 Find out a lot about a certain area of the enterprise in
terms of their part in the procedures and operations
Disadvantages
 Do not represent the whole view of a process and are
therefore biased
TECHNIQUES-Questionnaires
 Questionnaires
 Questions 
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open ended
closed
mix
 Design in the key
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Poor questionnaire, poor results
No bias questions
Advantages
 Useful for large volumes
 Geographic split
 Directed
 User involvement
Disadvantages
 Difficult to design
 Return rate
 And if you’ve missed something
TECHNIQUES - Sampling
 Used in all fact finding exercises
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Used in any type of fact finding Soil
Water in a swimming pool
 A small sample is taken to represent the whole
Sampling
 Advantages
 More control owing to smaller numbers.
 Less time
 Disadvantages
 How is the sample chosen?
 Is it really representative?
Observation
 Covert or Overt?
 Planned or unplanned?
 Must be properly documented
Advantages
 Advantages  Participation
 concentration
 not easy but can sometimes see the obvious
 Disadvantages Detrimental effect
 disturbing normal working practices,
 time consuming
Fact Finding Plan!
 Need to use time and resources effectively.
 One possible approach follows:
 Use observation to identify useful contacts and important
processes.
 Interview a few carefully chosen personnel
 Follow up on interesting or unclear areas with further
interviews, focus groups or questionnaires.