Table of contents
1. Requirement Elicitation: Key Elements
2.3. Nonfunctional Requirements
2.4. Requirements definition report
2.5. Requirement Definition example
3.1.2. Bottom-up (specific to broad; useful for collecting details)
3.4.2. Closed Interview Questions
4.1. Designing the Questionnaire
Interviews | Questionnaire | Document Analysis | Observation | |
Type of Information | As-Is Improve To-be | As-Is | As-Is | As-Is |
Depth of Information | High | Medium | Low | Low |
Breadth of Information | Low | High | High | Low |
User involvement | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Cost | Medium | Low | Low | Low-Medium |
1. Requirement Elicitation: Key Elements
- The main users of the system
- The functionalities carried-out or operated by each and everyone of the users
- The data required by each user activities and the results generated by the same
- All the requirements of the system
2. What is a Requirement?
- A statement of what the system must do; or
- A statement of characteristics the system must have
- Types of requirements:
-> what the users need to do (user requirements);
-> what the software should do (functional requirements);
-> characteristics the system should have (nonfunctional requirements); and
-> how the system should be built (system requirements).
2.1. User Requirements
- What the user needs to do to complete a needed job or task
- Focus on user tasks that are integral to business operations
- Understanding user tasks helps reveal ways that the new system can support those tasks
2.2. Functional Requirements
- A process the system should perform as a part of supporting a user task, or
- Information the system should provide as the user performs a task
- Specify the support the system will provide to the user in fulfilling his/her work tasks
2.2.1. Process oriented
- A process the system must perform or a process the system must do.
- Checking available inventory before completing an order
- Users should be able to login to the system
2.2.2. Information oriented
- information the system must contain
- All the sales details should be stored for months
- All customer details should be maintained
2.3. Nonfunctional Requirements
behavioral properties the system must have
- Operational – physical and technical operating environment
- Performance – speed, capacity, and reliability needs
- Security – access restrictions, needed safeguards
- Cultural and political – issues that will affect the final system
2.4. Requirements definition report
- Text document listing requirements in outline form
2.5. Requirement Definition example
FR1: Search for a product using the product name
Input: The product name
Process:
1.The user enter the product name on the search bar
2.The user clicks the search button
3.The system reads the name entered by the user
4.The system search all the available products with the name entered by the user
5.Format and display the available products to the user
Output: the list of matching products
3. Interviews
- Most important and most used fact-finding technique
- The systems analysts collects information from individuals face to face
- Type of interviews
1.One-to-one interviews
2.Group interviews
- Who should be interviewed?
-> Managers in early project stages to get broad understanding
-> Staff can provide details and specifics later.
-> Political issues are important – may be necessary to interview influential people, even if they are not too knowledgeable
3.1. Interview Structure
3.1.1. Top-Down
- Begins with generalized, open-ended questions
- Concludes by narrowing the possible responses using closed questions
- Provides an easy, non-threatening way to begin an interview
3.1.2. Bottom-up (specific to broad; useful for collecting details)
- Begins with very detailed, often closed questions
- Expands by allowing open-ended questions and more generalized responses
- Is useful if interviewees need to be warmed up to the topic or seem reluctant to address the topic
3.2. Advantages
- Interviewee can respond freely and openly to questions.
- Interviewee can be asked for more feedback.
- Questions can be adapted or reworded for each individual.
- Interviewee’s nonverbal communication can be observed.
3.3. Disadvantages
- Very time-consuming, and therefore costly, fact-finding approach.
- Success is highly dependent on the systems analyst's human relations skills.
- May be impractical due to the location of interviewees.
3.4. Question Types
- Open-ended
- Closed
- probing
3.4.1. Open-Ended Questions
- Open-ended interview questions allow interviewees to respond how they wish, and to what length they wish
- Open-ended interview questions are appropriate when the analyst is interested in breadth and depth of reply
3.4.1.1. Example
- What do you think about the current system?
- What are some of the problems you face on a daily basis?
- How do you decide what types of marketing campaign to run?
3.4.1.2. Advantages
- Puts the interviewee at ease
- Allows the interviewer to pick up on the interviewee's vocabulary
- Provides richness of detail
- Reveals avenues of further questioning that may have gone untapped
- Provides more interest for the interviewee
- Allows more spontaneity
- Useful if the interviewer is unprepared
3.4.1.3. Disadvantages
- May result in too much irrelevant detail
- Possibly losing control of the interview
- May take too much time for the amount of useful information gained
- Potentially seeming that the interviewer is unprepared
- Possibly giving the impression that the interviewer is on a "fishing expedition”
3.4.2. Closed Interview Questions
- Closed interview questions limit the number of possible responses
- Closed interview questions are appropriate for generating precise, reliable data that is easy to analyze
- The methodology is efficient, and it requires little skill for interviewers to administer
3.4.2.1. Example
- How many telephone orders are received per day?
- How do customers place orders?
- What additional information would you like the new system to provide?
3.4.2.2. Advantages
- Saving interview time
- Easily comparing interviews
- Getting to the point
- Keeping control of the interview
- Getting to relevant data
3.4.2.3. Disadvantages
- Boring for the interviewee
- Failure to obtain rich detailing
- Missing main ideas
- Failing to build rapport between interviewer and interviewee
3.4.3. Probing questions
- Probing questions elicit more detail about previous questions
- The purpose of probing questions is:
-> To get more meaning
-> To clarify
-> To draw out and expand on the interviewee's point
- May be either open-ended or closed
3.4.3.1. Example
- Why?
- Can you give me an example?
- Can you explain that in a bit more detail?
4. Questionnaires
- special-purpose documents that allow the analyst to collect information and opinions from respondents.
-> Mass produced and distributed.
-> Respondents complete the questionnaire on their own time.
- Facts are collected from a large number of people while maintaining uniform responses.
-> When dealing with a large audience, no other fact-finding technique can tabulate the same facts as efficiently.
4.1. Designing the Questionnaire
- Allow ample white space
- Allow ample space to write or type in responses
- Make it easy for respondents to clearly mark their answers
- Be consistent in style
4.2. Order of Questions
- Place most important questions first
- Cluster items of similar content together
- Introduce less controversial questions first
4.3. Advantages
- Most can be answered quickly (if properly designed).
- Relatively inexpensive.
- Allow individuals to maintain anonymity.
- Can be tabulated and analyzed quickly (if properly designed)
4.4. Disadvantages
- Response is often low. How to motivate participation?
- Incomplete questionnaires returned – are these worthless?
- Tend to be inflexible.
- Body language cannot be observed.
- Cannot clarify a vague or incomplete answer to any question.
- Difficult to prepare a successful questionnaire.
4.5. Questionnaires Types
4.5.1. Fixed-format questions
- Similar to a multiple choice exam question
- Must be able to anticipate potential answers to questions
- Easy to tabulate results
4.5.2. Free-format questions
- Like an essay question – open-ended
- Response is unpredictable
- Harder to tabulate results
4.6. Questionnaire Language
- Simple
- Specific
- Short
- Free of bias
- Addressed to those who are knowledgeable
- Technically accurate
5. Document Analysis
- Provides clues about existing “as-is” system
- Typical documents
-> Forms
-> Reports
-> Policy manuals
- Look for user additions to forms
- Look for unused form elements
6. Observation
- Is the act of watching processes being performed, is a powerful tool to gain insight into the as-is system.
- Users/managers often don’t remember everything they do
- Checks validity of information gathered other ways
- Behaviors change when people are watched
- Careful not to ignore periodic activities
-> Weekly … Monthly … Annual
7. Requirements freezing
- The client requirements can change form time to time
- The client may request changes very late leading to Scope creep.
-> Scope creep - adding new requirements to the project after the system design has been finalized
- Some requirements may be difficult to be incorporated
- Hence “Freeze the requirements”
8. Summary
- There are five major information gathering techniques that all systems analysts must be able to use: Interviews, Questionnaires, Document Analysis, and Observation.
- Systems analysts must also know how and when to use each as well as how to combine methods.
