SAD Chapter 3
Compare and contrast duration analysis and activity-based costing. What role do these activities play as analysis strategies?
Duration analysis measures the time it takes to perform a given task, but activity-based costing measures the actual cost of the task. They both serve to increase efficiency with the new project.
Discuss root cause analysis as an analysis strategy. What are the strengths and limitations of this technique.
Finding the cause of the problem the new system is trying to solve, in an attempt to fix that problem. Focuses more on the problem than the solution.
Why is document analysis useful? What insights into the organization can it provide?
It is useful for understanding the as-is system. Provided the existing system had documentation, the new team can review that documentation and can examine the system itself from there.
How can informal benchmarking contribute to requirements determination?
It's great for processes that deal directly with customers at face-value. It lets the organization compare themselves to other similar organizations so that they can be on the same level of quality (or higher) as their competition.
Outline suggestions to make observation a useful, reliable requirements elicitation technique.
Keep a low profile, do not interrupt those working, and do not influence those being observed. If you interact, the results would be tainted. Keep in mind that when you are watching people, they will be trying extra hard not to mess up, which might not be what you want when trying to determine a problem.
Explain what is meant by a nonfunctional requirement. What are the primary types of nonfunctional requirements? Give two examples of each. What role do nonfunctional requirements play in the project overall?
The quality attributes, design and implementation constraints, and external interfaces which a product must have Operational-physical and technical environments in which the system will operate the system will run on Android devices compatible with any web browser Performance- the speed, capacity and reliability of the system the system downloads new status parameters within 5 minutes of a change the system should be available for use 24/7 Security-Who has authorized access to the system under what circumstances Only direct managers can see personnel records Technicians can see only their own work assignments Cultural/Political - cultural/political factors and legal req's that affect the system Company policy is to only use Dell computers The system should be able to to distinguish between US currency and foreign currency Nonfunctional requirements describe what the system should be like, without describing how, or the nitty-gritty
Is the primary purpose of requirements determination to discover facts or to discover opinions? Explain your opinion.
When determining requirements, I would have to say both are necessary. Facts are necessary to determine the real root problem, such as how long it takes to perform a given task. Opinions though are just as important, because opinions can help drive the project towards a specific direction. If people think that a certain aspect of a project is more important than another, or if they have some ideas about important features, that is important information.
Distinguish between business, user, and functional requirements.
business - what the business needs user- what the users need to do functional - what the software should do
What are the key elements of the system proposal?
the requirements definition statement, use cases, process model, and data model, along with a feasibility analysis and work plan
What is the meaning of analysis? What is the purpose of the analysis phase of the SDLC?
-Analysis - the breaking of a whole into its parts with the intent of understanding the parts' nature, function and interrelationships. -To work extensively to fully understand what is needed from the new system to be implemented.
Give an example of a closed-ended question, an open-minded question, and a probing question. When would each type of question be used?
-Closed-Ended questions are ones for concrete facts. (How many telephone calls are received each day?) -Open-Ended questions are ones for opinion-based information. Less concrete, they seek a more wide-ranging response from the interviewee. (What do you think about the way invoices are currently processed?) -Probing questions press for more information. A follow-up question. They ask for expanding upon a previous question. (Why?)
Compare and contrast outcome analysis, technology analysis, and activity elimination. What general contribution do these strategies play in determining requirements?
-Outcome Analysis - focuses on what the organization could allow the customers to do. "How can we make our customer's more happy?" -Technology Analysis- Investigate new technologies to see how their business process could benefit from it. "How can a certain technology benefit us?" -Activity Elimination - Removing certain processses to make the new process more efficient. "What can we cut out to make this process better?" -Each one is inherently different, but depending on the organization's needs, can be incredibly helpful for defining what needs to be done.
Discuss the appropriate way to set up and conduct interviews to elicit requirements.
-Selecting interviewees - interview key stakeholders -Designing interview questions - closed-ended, open-ended and probing questions are all good ways to get information from interviewees -Preparing for the interview - You want a general plan of how you want it to go down, including what questions to ask certain employees -Conducting the interview - Build rapport with interviewee, ensure you get the most information -Post-Interview Follow-Up- an interview report that describes the information from the interview
Describe the five major steps in conducting JAD sessions.
-Selecting participants - similar to selecting for an interview. You select based on the information they can contribute. You want a good mix of organizational levels. -Designing the JAD session - JAD sessions can run from as little as a half day to several weeks, depening on the project. Other than that, they are set up similarly to interviews. You want to collect the right amount and kinds of information. You want to avoid closed-ended questions, because those are less debatable than other ones -Preparing for the JAD session - More preparation is needed, because JAD's tend to be far more in-depth than interviews. It is important that participants know what is expected of them. -Conducting the JAD session - Formal agenda. Ground rules that define appropriate behavior. JAD facilitator has important role in ensuring everying runs smoothly. -Post-JAD Follow-Up - A post-session report is circulated among the session attendees that goes over what all was discussed at the JAD session. (debriefing)
Describe the primary roles involved in JAD sessions. What is the major contribution made by the person(s) fulfilling each role?
-The biggest role is that of the facilitator. The facilitator is the one who is essentially running the JAD. They are an impartial arbiter that maintains order throughout the session. They must ensure the session sticks to its agenda, they must help the group understand the technical terms and jargon that surround the project (as well as get a basic understanding of the system as a whole), and they record the group's input on a public display area. -The only other role is that of the participants. These are usually stakeholders are various standing around the company, all providing differing amounts of information about the project, both hard data and opinions.
"Interviews should always be conducted as structured interviews." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
-This is untrue. Structured and unstructured interviews each have an appropriate time to be used. In the initial stage of a project, the as-is process can be unclear so the interviews should be unstructured. Unstructured interviews seek a broad and roughly defined set of information. More open-ended questions and less closed-ended. However it does require the interviewer to come up with newer/probing questions on the fly. -Structured interviews are better later on in the process, when the interviewer knows a bit more about the basic underlying information about a process. At this time, the interviewer can get more specific information from closed-ended questions.
What are the three basic steps of the analysis process? Is each step performed in every project? Why or why not?
-Understand the existing situation (as-is) -Identify improvements -Define requirements for the new system (to-be) Sometimes the first step is skipped or done in a limited manner if no current system exists, if the previous system is irrelevant to the new one, or is the team is using a RAD or agile development methodology in which the as-is system is not emphasized
What is the value of producing a requirements definition and having the project sponsor and key users review and approve it?
A requirements definition is a list of all the requirements needed for the system. Having it reviewed by the stakeholders will ensure it has as many requirements as possible, without needing to continually change it after development has started. (scope creep)
Explain what is meant by a functional requirement. What are the two types of functional requirements? Give two examples of each.
Functional requirements are the product capabilities, or things a product must do for its users. - Process oriented- process the system must perform - Must allow users to check order history - Should allow students to view a course schedule when registering for classes - Information-oriented-information the system must contain - Must retain order history - Must include real-time inventory levels at all warehouses
Discuss the reasons that question design for questionnaires is so difficult.
Questions must be extremely clear, as the questions can not be immediately clarified for the respondent. They must be clearly written and leave very little room for misunderstanding. Most questions must be closed-ended. You must know how you will use the questions in analysis before you actually deliver the questions.
A system development project may be approached in one of two ways: as a single monolithic project in which all requirements are considered at once or as a series of smaller projects focusing on smaller sets of requirements. Which approach seems to be more successful? Why do you suppose this is true?
The more successful option is smaller projects. Larger projects would take more time to rework if changes were needed to be made, therefore, smaller projects tend to be more effective, as they can be implemented in stages.
Discuss problem analysis as an analysis strategy. What are the strengths and limitations of this technique.
The most straight-forward strategy. Identify problems and describe how to solve them. Often very effective at improving efficiency, but only minor improvements in business value.
Discuss the considerations that should be made when determining who to include in interviews and/or JAD sessions.
You have to consider the information the subject can contribute, you need to provide a broad mix of organizational levels, and build political support for the new system
Describe a strategy for using the various requirements elicitation techniques in a project.
You need to take into consideration the following: the type, the depth (detail of info), the breadth (how much info can be collected by a certain techniqrue), and the integration (putting all theinfo together. Great for JAD sessios) of all your information, as well as the user involvement (how involved the analysis is for the prospective users of the system) and cost (how much it'd cost to use an analysis technique).
