Alberto Camacho Jessica George Maria Moya Rekeisha Scott Stephanie Williams Group B:

Using the knowledge you have gained from this chapter, summarize the roles that you think users should take during an information systems development project. What responsibilities do users have? How closely should they work with the IS team? Who is responsible for stating requirements and constraints? Who is responsible for managing requirements? The process of creating and maintaining information systems is called systems development or systems analysis and design. The users should to adapt to procedures, have proper training, and must take ownership of their system. They should work very closely with the IS team so that they fully understand how to operate the system. I think the person in charge should be responsible for managing the requirements and constraints. Finally, a system should be fit for the business and the people using it. QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2 If you ask users why they did not participate in requirements specification, some of the common responses are the following: Comment on each of these statements. What strategies do they suggest to you as a future user and as a future manager of users? A.“ I wasn’t asked.”- Even if you were not asked, as a professional, you still could of tried and help to get the job done. B. “ I didn’t have time.”- If you didn’t have time, than there should be no reason for working for a company as us. C. “They were talking about a system that would be here in 18 months, and I’m just worried about getting the order out today.”- That is good work ethic, and should always be implemented this way.

D. “ I didn’t know what they wanted.”- Well I’m sure, that you were told prior on how to do this job, or at least a hand out was given. E. “ I didn’t work here when they started the project.”- If so, when you started working here you should have been trained efficiently as what the project states and its requirements. F. “ The whole situation has changed since they were here, that was 18 months ago.”- Though the situation changed, you should have a clear understanding on how business works. This business is always changing for good or for bad and you should always be prepared for that.

QUESTION 3 If you ask IS professional why they did not obtain a complete and accurate list of requirements, common responses are: Comment on each of these statements. What strategies do they suggest to you as a future user and a future manager to users? A.“It was nearly impossible to get on the users calendars. They were always too busy.”- Users timing should be more flexible to be able to put IS Professionals on. Taking in a good amount of projects will give the users the chance to obtain to different meetings.

B. “The users wouldn’t regularly attend our meetings. As a result, one meeting would be dominated by the needs of one group, and another meeting would be dominated by the needs of another group.”- If users are having two different meetings with two different group, the needs that are required from each group should be equivalent if it dealing with the system. It will more efficient if users will have one meeting with groups, because every group will be on the same page of how to go about with the requirements of the system usage. C. “Users didn’t take the requirement process seriously. They wouldn’t thoroughly review the requirements statements before review meetings.” - Users should be under the state of mind of reviewing requirements, because if the requirements are wrong, than the system will be wrong. Users should be prepare and have an understanding on the requirements before review meetings, where as users should be the first person to review the requirements at every review meeting.

D. “Users kept changing. We’d meet with one person one time and another person a second time, and they’d want different things.”- The response to this is that although the users kept changing try to stay consistent with the work being done. The success of the work is very important when accomplishing a task, it may be hard to work if the users keep changing, but one should manage the time and effort into the work at hand. For the future manager staying consistent is very important for both the customers and the company as a whole to improve. Consistency leads to efficiency. This response as a future user is very helpful to look out for when on the job, patience would also be an important characteristic to have when dealing with constant change in the workplace.

E. “We didn’t have enough time.”- This statement seems like it would be a common occurrence at the workplace. The response to this as a future user would be to manage time when doing a project. Being able to manage time properly is extremely important. If one doesn’t evaluate time efficiently it not only makes that group lose face but also the company as a whole. As a future manager, to evaluate time properly the manager should know the right time to assign this certain project to a group. This meaning knowing the extent of the project and the overall work that needs to be done before the deadline is due. Time is also crucial on the manager as well as the employees.

F. “The requirements kept changing.”- This is a difficult problem if it were to occur at the workplace. If the requirements keep changing it is hard to get the overall project done as well as have it be successful. Not only should the members be patient and manage time properly but also be aware of the task at hand. The requirements necessary for the task to be complete are crucial in any project for any company. For a future manager it is important to get the facts straight on the project before assigning it to a certain group. If the requirements change while in the process of being worked on then it is important to not get agitated but to calmly evaluate what changes need to be made.

QUESTION 4 Why is the principle cause of IS failures due to lack of user involvement? Can the problem be resolved? -Users are unwilling to use the system, so they make mistakes when they use the system. (ex, incorrect data) -Users don’t system check the failures in the system development. The user doesn’t maintain the system therefore it leads to IS failures later on. -The problem cannot be resolve unless the system is perfectly maintained by the user/consumer.

Why is it true that users should be involved in requirements specification, and that requirements should be complete, it just can’t be done? Why or why not? -Users should be involved in requirement specification so it can decrease IS failures dramatically. -Hopefully yes, users have to work with or coordinate with the system development to provide a stable system.