Requirements Gathering

Contemplative Questions What techniques are available for gathering information about requirements? Which technique is best? When is each appropriate to use? What are the problems of bias? From where can bias come?

Issues What are all the sources of information available? What is the goal? What is the end result of gathering information about requirements?

Sources Users Reports Forms Procedures Is it “better” to utilize more than one of the above? How do we define “better”? What is the inherent tradeoff here?

What characteristics should analysts possess? Impertinence Question everything Impartiality Find the best organizational solution Relaxation of constraints Attention to detail Reframing View the organization in new ways Are these attributes important? Why or why not? What do analysts really do?

Deliverables Information collected from users Existing documents and files Computer-based information Understanding of organizational components Business objective Information needs Rules of data processing Key events In and of themselves, these deliverables are not important. What do they become? What is the bigger picture here?

Techniques Interviews Questionnaires Observation Document / Procedure Analysis JAD Prototyping

Exercise Rate each of the previous techniques based on these criteria (high, medium or low): Degree of participation with user Information "richness" (depth) Breadth of information (scope) Cost (Analysts' Time) Cost (Users’ Time) Ability to integrate information User involvement w/ system design

Interviews -- Five Basic Steps Selecting Interviewees Designing the Interview Guide Preparing for the Interview Conducting the Interview Post-Interview Follow-up Each of these steps is ripe with opportunities for injecting bias. Is bias a bad thing? Why or why not? Which step takes the longest?

Interviews Selecting Interviewees Same guidelines as questionnaires Should be representative of all users Recall the effects of bias Types of samples Convenient Random sample Purposeful sample Stratified sample Convenient: sample those people that are convenient, i.e. you have easy access Random: every nth person on a list, or random number generator Purposeful: those users that meet certain criteria Stratified: a sample obtained by the process of dividing a population into categories representing distinctive characteristics and then selecting a random sample from each category. Purposeful and stratified are essentially the same thing, except stratified is a random sample of distinct groups, whereas purposeful might include all people in one specific group.

Interviews Designing the Interview Guide Sample Interview Guide Figure 7-2 For whose benefit are interview guides? Is it worthwhile to construct them? What are the benefits? What about bias? Convenient: sample those people that are convenient, i.e. you have easy access Random: every nth person on a list, or random number generator Purposeful: those users that meet certain criteria Stratified: a sample obtained by the process of dividing a population into categories representing distinctive characteristics and then selecting a random sample from each category. Purposeful and stratified are essentially the same thing, except stratified is a random sample of distinct groups, whereas purposeful might include all people in one specific group.

Interviews Designing the Interview Guide Overall Questioning Strategies General area, narrowing to specific topic (preferred) Tell me about CTI site, then Courses, then Course Information, then enrollment numbers Specific topic, moving to General Enrollment numbers on Course Info page to CTI site in general Types of Interview Questions Open-Ended No pre-specified answers Close-Ended Respondent is asked to choose from a set of specified responses

Interviews Preparing for the Interview Confirm place/time Review areas to be covered Encourage interviewee to bring reference materials

Interviews Conducting the Interview Gather facts, opinions and speculations Avoid bias when phrasing questions, e.g. phrasing in ways that imply a wrong or right answer Never take sides on an issue Tape record with individual and organizational permission

Interviews Conducting the Interview Assume tape recording will not work, which means you must simultaneously Follow the interview guide, and Listen very carefully to what is being said, and Observe body language and emotions, and Separate facts from opinions, and Take notes, and Plan the next question/flow of the interview THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT TO DO CORRECTLY AND MUST BE PRACTICED.

Interviews Conducting the Interview--practical tips Don’t worry, be happy Pay attention Summarize key points Be succinct and honest Give interviewee time to ask questions Be sure to thank the interviewee End on time And, don’t ask unnecessary questions!

Interviews Post Interview Consider asking for more time if necessary Confirm major points identified with interviewee Look for Gaps and New Questions “If it isn’t in the field notes, it never happened.” Type up notes within 24 hours (preferably immediately after the interview is over

Interviewing Groups Advantages Disadvantages Nominal Group Technique More effective use of time Enables people to hear opinions of others and to agree or disagree Disadvantages Difficulty in scheduling Nominal Group Technique Facilitated process to support idea generation by groups Individuals work alone to generate ideas which are pooled under guidance of a trained facilitator

Questionnaires A questionnaire is similar to a very structured interview Many of the same guidelines apply Choosing respondents Should be representative of all users Same types of samples Convenient Random sample Purposeful sample Stratified sample

Questionnaires Response rates to questionnaires are commonly low— over 15% is sometimes considered very good.

Observation Directly Observing Users Serves as a good method to supplement interviews Often difficult to obtain unbiased data People often work differently when being observed Be cognizant of normal and abnormal conditions, e.g. entering an order vs. the end of quarter sales report

Document/Procedure Analysis Great starting point Gets analyst quickly up to speed with user jargon Can create preliminary models, e.g. DFDs or ERDs Types of information to be discovered: Problems with existing system Opportunity to meet new need Organizational direction Names of key individuals Values of organization Special information processing circumstances Reasons for current system design Rules for processing data

Document/Procedure Analysis Four types of useful documents Written work procedures Describes how a job is performed Includes data and information used and created in the process of performing the job or task Business form Explicitly indicate data flow in or out of a system Report Enables the analyst to work backwards from the report to the data that generated it Description of current information system

Joint Application Design Joint Application Design (JAD) Brings together key users, managers and systems analysts Purpose: collect system requirements simultaneously from key people Conducted off-site

Joint Application Design

Joint Application Design Participants Session Leader Users Managers Sponsor Systems Analysts Scribe IS Staff

Joint Application Design Supporting JAD with GSS Group support systems (GSS) can be used to enable more participation by group members in JAD Members type their answers into the computer All members of the group see what other members have been typing

Joint Application Design End Result Documentation detailing existing system Consensus on features of proposed system CASE Tools During JAD Upper CASE tools are used Enables analysts to enter system models directly into CASE during the JAD session Screen designs and prototyping can be done during JAD and shown to users What is the apparent drawback with JAD?

Prototyping Repetitive process Rudimentary version of system is built Replaces or augments SDLC Goal: to develop concrete specifications for ultimate system

Prototyping Quickly converts requirements to working version of system Once the user sees requirements converted to system, will ask for modifications or will generate additional requests Is prototyping useful in any of these cases? User requests are not clear Few users are involved in the system Designs are complex and require concrete form History of communication problems between analysts and users Tools are readily available to build prototype

Prototyping Drawbacks Tendency to avoid formal documentation Difficult to adapt to more general user audience Sharing data with other systems is often not considered Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) checks are often bypassed

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Changes to the underlying Business Process (BP) can vary from project to project Minor changes to process (BP Automation) Moderate changes (BP Improvement) Major (BP Reengineering) BPR is the search for and implementation of radical change in business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in products and services Some common BPR Goals Reorganize complete flow of data in major sections of an organization Eliminate unnecessary steps completely Combine steps, or Become more responsive to future change

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Identification of processes to reengineer Key business processes Set of activities designed to produce specific output for a particular customer or market Focused on customers and outcome Same techniques are used as were used for requirements determination

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Identify specific activities that can be improved through BPR Disruptive technologies Technologies that enable the breaking of long-held business rules that inhibit organizations from making radical business changes See table 7-7

Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

Summary There are many techniques for gathering information about functional requirements To minimize bias it is a good idea to use more than one technique Consider the pros and cons of each Theoretically you should gather information until saturation, i.e. you learn nothing new