Systems Analysis and Design, Chapter 3-4

Basic info of a use case include:

- Use Case name - ID - primary actor - short description - triggers

How long does the post-JAD report need to complete?

1 or 2 weeks

what is the return rate of email questionnaires?

30-50%

the analysis phase involves significant interactions with people

True

What number of use cases signifies that a system is complex?

more than 8 or 9 -> group them into packages of related use cases

document analysis

to understand as-is system

What are 2 fundamental approaches to organizing the interview questions?

top-down & bottom-up

International Institute of Business Analyst (IIBA) defines functional requirements as

"the product capabilities, or things that a product must do for its user"

non-functional requirements are defined by IIBA as:

"the quality attributes, design, implementation constraints, and external interfaces the product must have"

Interview report can be distribute when ready without going through interviewees review

- FALSE - never distribute someone's information without prior approval

- Which part of a use case is sometimes referred to as a "happy path"? - Why?

- Normal Course - because steps in normal course are performed when everything flows smoothly and there are no problems or issues that arise.

information-oriented functional requirements

- content the system must HAVE - suggest things that happen involving information or time triggers to collect or produce information.

Preconditions in Use Case

- define the state the system must be in before the use case commences - are taken care of in a different use case

What is essential use case?

- depict user-system interaction as abstract - technology-independent steps

Postconditions in Use Case

- final products, tangible results - the state the system must be in when the use case is complete - preconditions for the next Use Case in the series

What is a JAD facilitator need to be an expert in?

- group process techniques - systems analysis and design techniques

non-functional requirement describe variety of characteristics:

- operational - performance - security - cultural and political

What is a good strategy to increase understanding during an interview?

- periodically summarize the key points - be sure to separate facts from opinions

What does facilitator do in a JAD session?

- sets the meeting agenda - guides the discussion - DOES NOT join the discussion - remain neutral during the session

process-oriented functional requirements

- things the system must do - suggest a direct action resulting from and external or temporal event

Why technology-independent steps are use in essential use case?

- to not limit the options of how tasks should be done

3 steps involved in basic process of analysis

- understanding the existing system (as-is system) - identify improvements - define requirements for the new system (to-be system)

When are Fully Dressed Use Cases especially valuable?

- user representatives are not closely engaged with the development team throughout the project - the application is complex and has high risk comprehensive test cases will be based on the user requirements - collaborating remote teams need a detailed, shared understanding of user requirements

When is bottom-up approach preferred?

- when analyst already has gathered a lot of information about issues and just needs to fill in some holes - when low-level staffs might feel threatened or unable to answer high-level questions

What are indications that the system needs ti be changed?

- when users create their own forms or add additional information to the existing ones - when users must access multiple reports to satisfy their information needs

4 steps performed in sequence to create use cases

1) Identify the major use cases 2) Identify the major steps for each use case 3) Identify Elements within steps (by identifying triggers to each step) 4) Confirm the use case

What 3 key functions the JAD facilitator performs?

1) ensures that the group sticks to the agenda 2) help the group understand the technical terms and jargon that surround the system development process and the specific analysis technique used 3) record the group's input on a public display area (white board, flip chart, computer display)

What information does the Summary section of a Use Case provide?

4 columns - inputs (1) and their sources (2) - outputs (3) and their destinations (4)

Interview report should be written within:

48 hours

what is the return rate of web-based questionnaires?

5-30%

A JAD session can reduce scope creep by ___.

50%

e-JAD can reduce the time required to run JAD sessions by

50-80%

One of the major differences between a JAD session and an interview is: Preparing for the session Selecting participants All JAD sessions are structured and must be carefully planned Writing up results and a report

All JAD sessions are structured and must be carefully planned

The primary actor in a use case is generally: The Champion The Project manager The Project Sponsor An external user of the system

An external user of the system

Which is NOT a purpose of the requirements definition? A more precise list of requirements that can be used as inputs to the rest of analysis Create cost/benefit analysis To give a very high-level explanation of the business requirements Create functional requirements

Create cost/benefit analysis (this is in planning phase)

Most existing systems are well documented which leads to document analysis being very valuable.

FALSE

an Interview session should only include interviewees from one organizational level at a time to efficiently structured the questions True/False Why?

FALSE! - people at different levels will have different viewpoints on the business areas. it is important to include both managers who oversee the processes and staff who actually perform the processes to gain both high- and low-lever perspectives: - also to minimize the number of interview sessions have to be organized

When GATHERING requirements, the most commonly used technique is: Document Analysis Questionnaires JAD Sessions Interviews

Interview

The interview process has gone well. There are a few things that need clarification and what really happens when specific financial analysts use the system. Which of the following might be the best way to verify what does happen? Additional interviews with top level managers in the finance area Observation of how the analysts do their work Document analysis of what the system was to do A JAD session with end users, financial analysts and top managers

Observation of how the analysts do their work

What helps clarify the software components that will be needed to accomplish the functional requirements? Data model Process model use cases

Process model

A use case depicts a set of activities performed to produce some output result.

True

Close-ended questions do not uncover why the answers are the way they are

True

Determining requirements is the single most critical aspect of the entire SDLC

True

It is common practice to create smaller, more focused use cases breaking the whole process down into parts.

True

JAD sessions are much more expensive than the other initially but significantly reduce the time spent in information integration and thus cost less in the long term

True

Management of requirements and system scope is one of the hardest parts of managing a project True

True

Requirement determination is 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

True

The 'primary actor' is the external user that triggers the event to which the system responds.

True

The most commonly used requirements gathering technique is the interview.

True

The most important purpose of the requirements definition is to define the scope of the system.

True

Use Cases give more detail about requirements.

True

failing to determine the correct requirements is a primary cause in many factors contribute to a system's failure

True

observation is often used to supplement interview information

True

During requirement determination, the to-be system concept is easy to change

True because little work has been done yet

A use case helps: Define interview questions Clarify ongoing costs for a system Identify risks with the project Refine project management milestones Understand system activities and requirement

Understand system activities and requirement

Which technique require the least training? a) document analysis b) interview c) observation d) JAD e) a & c

a & c: document analysis and observation

Among requirement analysis strategies, which is the most similar to duration analysis? problem analysis root cause analysis activity-base costing analysis outcome analysis

activity-base costing, looking at the monetary side of the processes

In what phase essential use cases are used?

analysis

what is the most powerful approach used in Confirming the Use Case?

ask user to role-play

Use cases generally have three parts:

basic information, inputs and outputs, and details

What skill does an analyst need to move users from as-is to to-be system

critical thinking skill

Where is the data component of the system defined? data model process model use cases

data model

What is the CRITICALLY IMPORTANT purpose of the requirements definition?

defining scope of the system

Which analysis strategies are most useful in finding the most "broken" process?

duration analysis and activity-based costing

what is duration analysis?

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

Which one require the most coding? a) normal course b) exception handling c) alternative course

exception handling

use cases are often thought of as an _____________________ view of a business process

external or functional

Use cases are the same as process diagrams

false

Use cases are a type of 'data-driven modeling'

false (event-driven)

there are 2 types of document analysis

formal & informal

What purpose are Open-ended questions designed for?

gather rich information and give the interviewees more control over the information is revealed

What problem of JAD that e-JAD overcomes and how?

group problem - participants submit ideas anonymously through networked computers - ideas are ranked through voting

What is the single most important benefit of JAD separating it from the others?

immediate integration of information

non-functional requirements include:

important behavioral properties

which part do RAD and agile methodologies (iterative, prototyping, throwaway prototyping, and XP) focus exclusively on?

improvements and the to-be system requirements rather than studying as-is system

Which analysis strategies help team think "outside the box"?

outcome analysis, technology analysis, and informal benchmarking.

What are probing questions?

probing questions are asked to follow up what has been discussed in order for the interviewer to learn more

when ANALYZING the requirements, what is the most commonly used strategy? interview JAD document analysis problem analysis

problem analysis

Which analysis strategies are most useful when the situations focus is narrow and efficiency gains are sought?

problem analysis and root cause analysis

What does root cause analysis focus on?

problems first rather than solutions

What is the indication of the need for process integration or parallelization?

processes in which many different people work on small parts of the inputs

occasionally, JAD sessions are followed by:

questionaires

What kind of questions should be avoid?

questions regarding matter outside of interviewee's areas of knowledge

The System proposal components:

requirement definition use cases process model data model

Steps in use case

should be of the same size

what does problem analysis produce?

solutions to the problems

Interviewees are selected based on the basis of: interviewee's knowledge interviewee's influence in the organization interviewee's influence to the project the analyst's information needs

the analyst's information needs

During the analysis phase, requirements are written from the perspective of___________

the business.

in the design phase, requirements reflect the perspective of _____________

the developer

Which approach is more commonly more appropriate to most interviews? why? top-down bottom-up

top-down -enables the interviewees to become accustomed to the topic before he or she needs to provide specifics, avoiding missing important issues

What problem does JAD suffer?

traditional problem associated with group: people are reluctant to challenge the opinions of others.

When are close-ended question used?

when analyst is looking for specific, precise information - give the analyst more control