Software Requirements Analysis - ACS2913

Software Requirements Analysis and Design

• The course ACS2913 covers software requirements analysis and design principles, focusing on an overview of systems analysis and design.
• The lecture overview includes software development and systems analysis and design, systems development lifecycle, iterative development, a sample project (developing RMO's tradeshow systems), with an introduction to Ridgeline Mountain Outfitters sourced from a textbook.

Applications and Information Systems

• Software development can refer to applications—single programs designed for specific tasks.
  • Example: Microsoft Word
• Software development can also refer to information systems -broader encompassing multiple components (hardware, data, people, processes) for comprehensive information management and support in decision-making.
  • Example: University Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle.
• Applications are standalone tools, while information systems are intertwined ecosystems combining multiple tools for a wider purpose.

Key Foundations for Building an Information System

• Understand the problem: Define the problem clearly, avoid scope creep, and identify all relevant stakeholders (users, management, customers) to understand their needs and perspectives.
• Understand how the system will be used: Employ user-centered design, focusing on user interaction (goals, behavior, preferences), ease of use and accessibility. Identify and document use cases and user stories to illustrate essential system functions and integrate them into user workflows. Continuous user feedback is imperative throughout development.
• Conceptualize the system's structure: Develop a high-level system architecture outlining components' interaction and considering hardware/software approaches (cloud-based, client-server, or hybrid). Select the appropriate tech stack (programming languages, databases, frameworks) based on project requirements and team expertise.

Ready to Begin Analyses

• Define Objectives: Establish clear goals and objectives for the analysis. Determine issues or opportunities related to the analysis.
• Identify Stakeholders: Identify all stakeholders (users, management, IT staff, external partners) affected in or by the information system.
• Gather information: Collect documentation related to the information system; interview key stakeholders and users; distribute surveys to gather quantitative data.
• Analyze business processes: Evaluate business processes the information system supports, highlighting bottlenecks and areas for potential enhancements. This involves analyzing data within the system, checking for data quality issues, redundancy, and integrity problems.
• Define requirements: Outline functional, non-functional, and stakeholder-specific requirements.
• Gap analysis: Compare the current state of the information system against the desired future state to identify necessary changes or improvements.

Systems Development Lifecycle

• SDLC: A complete process that involves all activities for building, launching, and maintaining an information system.
  • The course will cover 6 core processes within the SDLC, which will be elaborated in detail in Chapter 1.
  • The 6 core processes include: identifying the problem or need and obtaining approval, planning and monitoring the project, discovering the details of the problem or need, creating system components to solve the problem or meet the need, building, testing and integrating system components, completing system testing, and deploying the solution.

Methodology

• Methodologies (systematic and structured frameworks) that guide the process of solving problems or achieving goals.
• Example Methodologies:
  • Waterfall Method: Best suited for projects with clearly defined up-front requirements.
  • Agile Method: More suitable for projects with evolving requirements, allowing for iterative development and ongoing user feedback.
• Most current methodologies utilize Agile and iterative development methods.

Agile Development

• Agile prioritizes flexibility, responsiveness to change, and adaptation to new requirements.
• Agile Development's Key Characteristics: Flexibility, quick responses to change, customer collaboration, and early and continuous delivery.
• Benefits of Agile: increased adaptability, early/continuous delivery, and enhanced customer satisfaction due to collaboration.

Iterative Development

• Iterative Development: A process of building a system incrementally and in sections. Each section is refined over multiple iterations.
• Features of Iterative Development: Build-and-Refine Approach, Continuous Improvement and Feedback-Driven.
• Advantages of Iterative Development: mitigation of risk by using smaller, manageable portions of the system, early identification of potential problems, allowing adjustments as needed, adapting to evolving user feedback and project requirements.

Iterative and Agile SDLC

• Detailed visual representation of iterative and Agile SDLC, illustrating the core processes and iterations.

Course Summary

• The course focuses on developing information systems to address organizational needs using the System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) methodology.
• Key terminology includes information systems, computer applications, project, systems analysis, system design, and the System Development Lifecycle process. This also includes the information system development process, agile development, and iterative development.

This quiz covers the principles of software requirements analysis and design as taught in the ACS2913 course. You will explore the systems development lifecycle, and iterative development, and work on a sample project for Ridgeline Mountain Outfitters' tradeshow systems. Test your knowledge on both applications and information systems.