Conduct User Analysis Website Design With handout UseNeedsAnalysis.doc

Research Before starting the analysis you should find out about: The organisation, its background and business The department(s) or business areas that you will be working for The people you will be working with Possible solutions Prior knowledge of the organisation and its activities will help you ask appropriate and intelligent questions

Gathering Client/User Information In Website Design there are two groups you need to gather information from: The Client who wants the website The expected users of the website The Client can give you their requirements You may need specialist information in order to fulfil those requirements

Gathering Client/User Information Identify all levels of users Users of a website can include: External users – the customers or those needing the service the website supplies Internal users - Managers for analyses to determine further strategies

Gathering Client/User Information You can question the Client by: Meeting face to face Providing a survey The Client may suggest others you should talk to or survey The Client can provide some user information More strategies are presented in another Slide Show

Face to Face Meetings Can be “one on one” or “round table” Prior to the meeting, you should gather information about the subject to be discussed, for example: Read your discussion notes from previous meetings Read the department’s business plans Browse your file of articles from trade journals Remind yourself of any special terminology used by your client. Know the names, titles and relations hips of the people involved. Inform the Client of anything you need them to bring to the meeting

Face to Face Meetings Some pointers to successfully leading a meeting are: You set the topic. Get them to talk. You listen and steer with pertinent questions Ensure everyone gets a fair hearing Do not let a few people dominate the session. Aim for consensus, but do not expect it all the time After discussion of a topic, summarise the outcome. Stick to the agenda Handle lengthy sidetracks by calling a separate meeting Stick to the stated timeframe – clients are busy people.

Face to Face Meetings Remember to use “open” and “closed” questions appropriately Take notes as you go – it is not usually possible to remember everything that is said The Client may even think you are not taking them seriously

Surveys Are the process of obtaining facts and opinions from a range of people Can be undertaken by: telephone questioning written questionnaire personal questioning A combination of methods is often used successfully

Surveys Surveys are helpful if you want the views of a range of people and / or if those people are geographically dispersed They follow a very structured format Questions are carefully worded beforehand and asked in the same sequence some may be omitted depending on the responses to earlier questions.

Surveys The following points need to be considered: Questions must be unambiguous Multiple choice answers must offer distinct choices where one of the answers can be selected Leading questions must be avoided – example, ‘tell me why you think the system is bad’ implies that the system is bad You need to include cross check questions to check the answers to earlier questions

Surveys A prepared questionnaire can be the basis for a face-to-face meeting It can be sent to the users in advance to assist them to prepare for the meeting Their answers can then be used for the basis of further discussion. You can prepare a set of questions to be asked at the meeting. In this interactive situation you can seek elaboration on answers, or ask further questions.

Determining Business Function in Relation to a Website What business functions need to be represented on the site? How they should be represented? To assist representation: Get to know the terminology of the business Gather sample forms (inputs) and reports (outputs)

Analysing Business Activities What – data is used for this activity Where – it comes from and goes to Why – it is used How – it is used and possibly transformed Who – uses it When – it is used and how frequently

Documenting Functional Needs For each of the business functions you have defined, you should: Describe the function briefly Describe the data and where it comes from (inputs) Define the processes that occur on that data Describe the reports and other outputs The business function on a website must “connect” or “mesh” with the physical business function

Describing the Business Function Two or three sentences are usually sufficient to explain the purpose of the function A brief description is sufficient for providers of information technology solutions to understand what your requirements are In a Team Project you may not be the one implementing the IT solutions

Describing Processes You need to describe the major activity or group of activities This informs the supplier of IT solutions about the scope of the business function They can then map their product/expertise to website needs

Outputs The term ‘outputs’ covers any report or form a user requires from the system, or any interface to other systems (such as a link to the head office accounting system) If the report is a standard output for this type of business activity, there is no need to define it – the title is sufficient For each non –standard output, you need to state: Title, usage, purpose (in brief) Major data fields, sequence, page breaks How often it is needed, when it is needed (for example, at the end of each day) Urgency (wanted immediately or overnight)

Unusual Situations Most business functions are very similar across organisations in the same industry Sometimes you will meet a situation that is not standard If it is an important difference, and if there is good reason for the anomaly to remain, you must mention it in your report.

Other Considerations There are a number of other aspects that may be important, and need to be documented. They are: Security Audit Backup Restore Data integrity Data and transaction volumes Processing cycles Predicted growth Archive and purge