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Information Systems DevelopmentMIS331

Information Gathering

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Agenda

• External success factors in SA & D– “Get the user involved!”

• Focus on Analysis phase activities– Requirements determination– Requirements structuring– Alternative generation and selection

• Presentation issues and tips

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PIECES Framework

Symptom

Performance

Efficiency

Control

Economics

Information

SymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptomSymptom

xx

xxx

x xx

xx xxx

xx

xx

x

PIECESFramework

Service

x

x

5 6 2 3 2 2Totals

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System Success Factors• The client may not be the end-user

– He who signs the checks is the client

• The system is for the end-user– The analyst has the unenviable task of balancing the

constraints of the client with the needs of the end-user

• Regardless of the need to balance...

You must You must get the user involvedget the user involved!!

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User Involvement• Creates a sense of ownership

– Builds a feeling of responsibility for success

• Reduces inhibitions associated with unknowns of a new environment– Minimizes intrinsic resistance to change

• Eliminates anxieties created by lack of communication– If you don’t provide an agenda for a group…eventually they will

create their own

• Has been shown to be directly related to system success

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Requirements Determination• “The facts, ma’am, just the facts”

– Gathering information from a variety of sources for the purpose of determining just exactly what is happening and when.

• Often, what the users think is happening is different from what is actually happening.

• Also, the reality of when something happens can be radically different than the user’s perception.

– We need to make use of a variety of data gathering techniques.• Obtrusive versus Unobtrusive

• Interactive versus Detached

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Traditional Methods• Interviewing

– Can be used in both an exploratory and a confirmatory manner

• Questionnaires– Primarily a confirmatory technique

• Direct Observation– Exploratory or confirmatory– Obtrusive and unobtrusive

• sometimes people change their behavior when being observed• “Hawthorne Effect”

• Procedure and Document Review– Forms, contracts, policy manuals, org.charts, etc.

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Modern Methods• Joint Application Design (JAD)

– simultaneous collection of requirements from key personnel

– JAD sessions are simply structured group meetings

• Group Support Systems (GSS)– Facilitates the JAD process

– Promotes anonymity thus reducing inhibition to participate

– Can provide structure to chaos

• CASE tools (Upper CASE)– Can organize the findings of many analysts

– Provides consistency in modeling activities

• Prototyping– “Show me what you’ve got and I’ll tell you if I like it.”

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Structuring and Alternatives• Structuring involves the use of models to

describe the system requirements in an understandable fashion.– Process, Logic, and Data Modeling

• Alternative Generation and Selection– Some schools of thought allow for selection of

development method based upon the identified system requirements.

– We do not subscribe to this school of thought.

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System Modeling• Logical versus Physical

– A physical model describes a system in an implementation-dependent manner

• “How we do it.”

– A logical model describes a system in an implementation-independent manner

• “What we do.”

PhysicalPhysical PhysicalPhysical

LogicalLogical LogicalLogical

HowHow

WhatWhat

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Presentations

Issues and Tips

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For Next Time...

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