System Analysis & Design Chapter 5 Part 2

System Analysis & Design

• Presented by Menna Ibrahim Gabr

Chapter 5 Part 2: Requirements Determination

• Requirements Gathering:
  • A process used to build political support for a project.
  • Establishes trust and rapport between the project team and users who will use the system.
  • Ensures all key stakeholders (those who influence or are affected by the system) are included.
  • Stakeholders might include managers, employees, staff, and customers/suppliers.
  • Lack of involvement can cause problems during implementation.

Requirements Gathering Techniques

• Techniques used to gather requirements for a system.
• Key techniques:
  • Interviews, JAD sessions (a specialized group meeting), questionnaires, document analysis, and observation.
  • Combinations of these techniques are often employed, typically interviews, JAD sessions and document analysis.

Requirements Gathering Techniques - Interviews

• Interviews are extensively used.
• One-on-one or group interviews, depending on time.
• Five steps to the interview process: selecting interviewees, designing questions, preparing for the interview, conducting the interview and follow-up.
• Selecting interviewees involves scheduling based on needs for interview.
• Different perspectives are important.
  • People at different organizational levels have different perspectives.
  • Staff who perform tasks and managers who oversee tasks both should be interviewed.
• Interview needs may change over time.

Requirements Gathering Techniques - Interviews: Question Design

• Three question types:
  • Closed-ended: require explicit answers (multiple choice, arithmetic).
  • Open-ended: allow for extended responses (essay format questions).
  • Probing: follow-up questions to clarify or gain more information.
• Closed-ended questions are useful when specific, precise information is needed.
• Closed-ended questions do not uncover reasons behind answers nor additional information not initially considered.
• Open-ended questions allow for rich information and provide more control to the interviewee.
• Probing questions follow-up on discussions to gain more understanding or details.

Requirements Gathering Techniques - Interviews: Interview Process

• Crucial to build rapport with the interviewee to encourage complete, honest answers.
• Explain the reason for the interview, and then utilize planned questions.
• Record all provided information meticulously. Irrelevant information could prove useful later.
• Understand the context (the "why") of interviewee inputs.
• If unsure of an answer, ask the question and record how to deal with issue(s)
• Periodically summarizing answers aids in understanding and demonstrates active listening.

Requirements Gathering Techniques - Interviews: Interview Structure

• Organize questions for a logical flow: top-down or bottom-up approaches.
• Top-down approach: Starts with broad issues to more specific.
• Bottom-up approach: Starts with specific to general questions.
• Analysts commonly combine approaches.

Requirements Gathering Techniques - Interviews: Interview preparation

• Prepare for interview like a presentation.
• Construct a detailed plan for interview process and anticipated answers (including follow-ups).
• Verify the sources of information for interviewee's knowledge
• Review all topics, questions, and schedules, addressing urgency if there are time constraints.

Requirements Gathering Techniques - Interviews: Additional notes

• No single question type is superior, use a combination.
• Initial interviews can begin with unstructured questions when details are unknown.
• Interviewer should have a general sense of required info but has few close-ended questions to ask.
• These are the most challenging interviews to conduct because they require open-ended questions to gather additional info quickly and accurately.

Joint Application Development (JAD)

• An information-gathering technique allowing team, users, and management to identify system requirements together.
• Developed by IBM originally, often a top choice for requirement gathering.
• Capers Jones claims it reduces scope creep by 50% and prevents vague or specific issues usually created during the SDLC process.
• Structured process where 10-20 users meet under a facilitator skilled in JAD techniques who guides the discussion but does not participate.
• Facilitator is an expert in both techniques and systems analysis.
• One or two scribes record notes (likely with technology support now).
• Meeting room is usually in a U-shape, with visual aids to help discuss ideas and facilitate the process.

Joint Application Development (JAD): The Meeting

• Group will meet until necessary requirements are gathered.
• Meeting rooms are specially designed (away from offices to avoid distractions).
• The room will have tools for visuals (whiteboard, flip chart, projector).

Joint Application Development (JAD): Group Dynamics

• JAD can suffer from traditional group issues: reluctance to challenge others (especially bosses), certain people dominating discussions, and limited participation from others.
• Electronic JAD (e-JAD) uses software to bypass this problem; ideas are provided anonymously (using groupware).
• This technique can reduce time required for JAD sessions, often by 50-80%.

Joint Application Development (JAD): Additional Points

• Participant selection follows interview process procedures, incorporating diversity of organizational levels and required expertise.
• Availability from work for meetings can be a barrier to participation. Ideally, the participants are the best for the particular business.
• JAD sessions can last from a half-day to several weeks.
• E-JAD sessions are usually one-week periods.

Joint Application Development (JAD): Developing Requirements

• JAD sessions are designed with planned questions to extract specific information.
• Closed-ended questions are not typically used (it is more productive and reveals more to proceed top down).

Joint Application Development (JAD): Preparation

• Preparation for JAD involves planning and familiarizing participants with system-related documentation.

Joint Application Development (JAD): Follow up

• Post-session report is created and circulated to attendees. (similar to interview process).
• Longer sessions to acquire more details mean more time (often a week or 2) for generating a report with a completed review of the data gathered.

Joint Application Development (JAD): Facilitator Roles

• Expert in JAD techniques and has experience with the business in discussion.
• Be neutral and not present personal opinions.
• Facilitate the group when disagreements or deviations occur.
• Facilitate when deviations from agenda lead to new direction needing to be developed.

Joint Application Development (JAD): Facilitation

• Help the group in clarifying technical terms.
• The facilitator should recognize key issues from the discussion for the process (not provide solution).
• Participants understand their roles and provide information and don't need to be formally trained in the analysis process.

Dive into Chapter 5 Part 2 of System Analysis & Design, focusing on Requirements Determination. This quiz covers the importance of requirements gathering, key techniques like interviews and JAD sessions, and the role of stakeholders in the process. Test your knowledge of how to effectively gather and analyze system requirements.