The Analysis Phase Objective To study the current system organization and problems to determine what changes need to be made in order to achieve the organization s goals Thus the focus of the analysis phase is the CURRENT situation not the new system that will be implemented Steps in Analysis Requirements gathering using interviews observations documents etc to learn about the customer s business their current systems and its problems Requirements structuring using DFDs ERDs logic models etc to represent and organize the information gathered Generation of alternatives based on the requirements investigate possible changes that would achieve the customer s objectives Inputs to Analysis Customer information from interviews observations documents etc information about goals objectives problems work processes current systems constraints etc Technical information from previous experience web searches vendor literature previous education information about what technology is available what it can do how it works and how much it costs Output of Analysis The Systems Proposal summarizes all the information gathered and structured during analysis presents alternative solutions compares solutions in terms of costs benefits feasibility ability to solve problems etc provides all the information the customer needs to make a decision recommends one solution Gathering requirements When starting to gather information you have to decide what information sources to consult what information gathering methods to use Choosing information sources Problem too many information sources for the time and resources available Solution sampling Convenience whoever shows up or responds Purposive each information source individually selected Random left completely to chance Stratified randomly picked from specific categories Sample size Heuristics make sure all functions are covered make sure both ends of system are covered try to get two sources for each piece of information triangulation Information gathering methods Interviewing Questionnaires Observation Documents Interviewing Focus on getting opinions feelings goals procedures both formal and informal not facts Steps in interview preparation Read background material Establish objectives Decide who to interview Schedule Design interview guide Interview Guide Logistical info record name office date time Organization How long have you worked on project At company Have you worked with any of the project members before on other projects Who on the project team do you interact with most To whom do you report To whom are you responsible for your progress on project Inspection process Who chose the inspectors How long did it take Why were those ones chosen in particular Which inspectors inspected what Who took care of scheduling Was it done via email or face to face How much time did it take What steps were involved in putting together the inspection package How much time did that take How are project inspections different from inspections in other company projects you ve been on How was this inspection different from other project inspections you ve been involved with Interview questions Open vs closed Probes Pitfalls leading questions double barreled questions judgmental questions Recording of interviews Audiorecording Notetaking Scribing Interviewing pointers give clues about the level of detail you want no more than 45 60 minutes end with anything else I should know dispel any notion of the right answer feign ignorance let interviewee know next steps say Thank you Writing up the interview ASAP Questionnaires Most useful when you want an overall opinion from a wide variety of dispersed people Use to get the majority opinion Can be combined with interviews Questionnaire questions Open qualitative richer data must be fairly specific to get comparable answers not useful with a very large number of respondents Closed quantitative easier to analyze use when all possible responses can be anticipated and are mutually exclusive Appropriate terminology Pilot use Administering the questionnaire balance between your convenience and that of your subjects paper based vs electronic general availability vs mail vs personal delivery mandated vs voluntary Accuracy Triangulation sometimes you ll get different answers to the same question different perspectives actual practice different from policy sometimes one source clearly more reliable Reconciling answers must be done sensitively ask a third person interview a group observation Observation When you need to learn what is actually done as opposed to what is described what interactions are going on what goes into decision making Time sampling vs event sampling Need both typical and atypical situations Very expensive Observation methods Shadowing Participant observation Think aloud protocols Prior ethnography Documents Artifacts of paper based system data collection forms blank and used reports Procedure descriptions System documentation Policy handbooks Archival documents Joint Application Design JAD Method for doing requirements and UI design with users Requires a 2 3 day meeting with users analysts senior people technical consultants etc Useful when innovation is important and it s feasible to get everyone together Benefits gets requirements over quickly user ownership creativity Drawbacks takes a big commitment dependent on administrative effectiveness can be political Prototyping used iteratively to clarify what a user has said they wanted show a user what they ve suggested to compare different ways of implementing a user s suggestion pitfalls design can become too tied to one user s wishes user may be unwilling to give up the prototype later concerns may impact interface design prototyping may never end Evolutionary vs Revolutionary System Change SA D is an evolutionary process processes are changed in small ways changes are based on current practice analysis is of current processes revolutionary approach Business Process Reengineering BPR making radical changes without being inhibited by current practice motivated by drastic changes in the environment need to increase profits dramatically innovative and creative managers