Systems Analysis and Design- Ch 3

Interview schedule

listing of who will be interviewed, the purpose of the interview, and where and when it will take place.

Interview

the most commonly used requirements elicitation technique.

When to use interviews

when you want as-is, improvements, to-be information and high depth of information

Explain the analysis phase of the SDLC

breaking something down and looking at a parts of project and trying to understand relationships and interworkings of parts Basic process of analysis: -To understand the existing system (how is it currently being done (the as-is system), are we going to do something the company has never done before) -Identify improvements to the system (how are they going to be changed) -Define the requirements for the new system (to-be system) -Create list of deliverables that will be used in the new system

Questionnaire

a set of written questions for obtaining information from individuals

Requirements definition

a straightforward text report that simply lists the functional and non-functional requirements in an outline format.

Joint application development (JAD)

an information gathering technique that allows the project team, users, and management to work together to identify requirements for the system.

Symptom

any phenomenon or circumstance accompanying something and serving as evidence of it

Process integration

changing the fundamental process so that fewer people work on the input, which often requires changing the processes and retraining staff to perform a wider range of duties.

Parallelization

changing the process so that all the individual steps are performed at the same time.

Nonfunctional requirements

characteristics the system should have. "the quality attributes, design, and implementation constraints, and external interfaces which a product must have."

System proposal

compiles the detailed requirements definition statement, use cases, process models, and data model together with a revised feasibility analysis and work plan

Interview report

describes the information from the interview

Ground rule

define appropriate behavior

Unstructured interview

interviews that seek a broad and roughly defined set of information.

Requirements determination

performed to transform the system request's high-level statement of business requirements into a more detailed, precise list of what the new system must do to provide the needed value to the business

Closed-ended question

require a specific answer. Closed-ended questions enable analysts to control the interview and obtain the information they need.

Structured interview

specific sets of questions are developed prior to the interviews

Benchmarking

studying how other organizations perform a business process in order to learn how your organization can do something better.

Sample

subset of people who are representative of the entire group

Informal system

the "real," or informal system differs from the formal one, and these differences, particularly large ones, give strong indications of what needs to be changed.

Critical thinking skills

the ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses and recast an idea in an improved form

Observation

the act of watching processes being performed, is a powerful tool to gain insight into the as-is system

Technology analysis

the analysts and managers develop a list of important and interesting technologies. Then the group systematically identifies how each and every technology could be applied to the business process and identifies how the business would benefit.

Top-down interview

the interviewer starts with broad, general issues and gradually works towards more specific ones

Bottom-up interview

the interviewer starts with very specific questions and moves to broad questions

Breadth of information

the range of information and information sources that can be easily collected by that technique.

Formal system

these documents-- forms, reports, policy manuals, organization charts-- represent the formal system that the organization uses

Interpersonal skill

those that enable you to develop rapport with others, and they are very important for interviewing.

Open-ended question

those that leave room for elaboration on the part of the interviewee.

Walk-through

to explain the system in moderate detail so that the users, managers, and key decision makers clearly understand it, can identify any needed modifications, and are able to make a decision about whether the project should continue.

Document analysis

to understand the as-is system

To-be system

the new system

Potential business value BPA

= Small, BPI = Moderate, BPR = High

Electronic JAD (e-JAD)

A JAD meeting that is conducted using groupware, special software on a networked computer to anonymously submit ideas, view all ideas generated by the group, and rate and rank ideas through voting

Risk

A potential event, occurrence or result that can have positive or negative consequences.

Describe the content and purpose of the requirements definition statement

A requirement : it is statement about what the system must do or a characteristic that the system must have Requirements describe: 1)What the business needs (business requirements) 2)User requirements 3) What the system must do (functional requirements) 4) Characteristics a system must have (non-functional requirements) 5) System requirements (how the system should be built)

Project cost

All allowable costs, as set forth in the applicable Federal cost principles, incurred by a recipient and the value of the contributions made by third parties in accomplishing the objectives of the award during the project period.

How to classify requirements correctly as business, user, functional, or nonfunctional requirements

Business- what a business needs the system to do user- what the user needs the system to do functional - process and information oriented (must do or contain nonfunctional- what characteristics a system has

Interview notes

information that was collected over the course of the interview and is summarized in a useful format

describe several analysis strategies that can help the analyst discover requirements

Problem Analysis- Root cause analysis: Duration analysis: Activity-based costing process. Benchmarking : Outcome analysis: Technology analysis:

Activity elimination

The analysts and managers work together to identify how the organization could eliminate each and every activity in the business process, how the function could operate without it, and what effects are likely to occur.

Problem analysis

The most straightforward (and probably the most commonly used) requirements analysis strategy. means asking the users and managers to identify problems with the as-is system and to describe how to solve them in the to-be system

Root cause

The purpose is to determine the underlying source of a problem.

Scribe

This person assists the facilitator by recording notes, making copies, and so on. Often, the scribes will use computers and CASE tools to record information as the JAD session proceeds.

Duration analysis

a detailed examination of the amount of time it takes to perform each process in the current as-is system

Facilitator

a person who sets the meeting agenda and guides the discussion, but does not join in the discussion as a participant.

Postsession report

essentially the same as the interview report Since the JAD sessions are longer and provide more information, it usually takes a week or two after the JAD session before the report is complete.

Activity-based costing

examines the cost of each major process or step in a business process rather than the time taken.

Informal benchmarking

fairly common for "customer-facing" business processes (i.e., those processes that interact with the customer). With informal benchmarking, the managers and analysts think about other organizations, or visit them as customers to watch how the business process is performed.

Root cause analysis

focuses on problems first rather than solutions

Outcome analysis

focuses on understanding the fundamental outcomes that provide value to customers.

Probing question

follow up on what has just been discussed in order for the interviewer to learn more, and they often are used when the interviewer is unclear about an interviewee's answer.

System requirement

how the system should be built. Requirements in the design phase reflect the developer's perspective, and they usually are called system requirements.

when to use observation

when you want as-is info, and low everything

when to use document analysis

when you want as-is info, high breadth of information, and low user involvement and cost

when to use questionnaires

when you want as-is, improvement info, medium depth, high breadth, and low user involvement and cost

when to use JAD sessions

when you want as-is, improvements, to-be information, high depth of information, medium breadth of information, high integration of information, high user involvement, low-medium cost