D. Suleiman H.

Mustafa 1
 Systems Analysis

Reviewed and Modified

by Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa
2.1
Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa
UNIT 03
(Part-1)

D. Suleiman H. Mustafa 3
 Determining System
Requirements

Reviewed and Modified

by Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa
2.1
Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa
Analysis Activities

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

Requirements Elicitation

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

 Analysis
• Analysis is the first systems development life
cycle (SDLC) phase where you begin to
understand, in depth, the need for system
changes.
• Systems analysis involves a substantial amount
of effort and cost, and is therefore undertaken
only
– after management has decided that the systems
development project under consideration has
merit and should be pursued through this phase.

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

 Analysis
• The analysis team should not take the analysis
process for granted or attempt to speed through
it.
– Most observers would agree that many of the errors
in developed systems are directly traceable to
inadequate efforts in the analysis and design phases
of the life cycle.
• Analysis can be divided into two activities:
– Requirements determination. This is primarily a fact
finding activity.
– Requirements structuring. This activity creates a
thorough and clear description of current business
operations and new information processing services.

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

 Sources of Information
• The purpose of analysis is to determine what the
system should do
– what information and information processing services
are needed to support selected objectives and
functions of the organization.
• Therefore, we gather information from many
sources
– Users
– Reports
– Forms
– Procedures

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 Characteristics
• Characteristics for Gathering Requirements
– Impertinence
• Question everything
– Impartiality
• Find the best organizational solution
– Relaxation of constraints
• Assume anything is possible and eliminate the
infeasible
– Attention to details
• Every fact must fit with every other fact
– Reframing
• View the organization in new ways

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 Deliverables and Outcomes
• Types of Deliverables (see next slide):
– 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

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5.12
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Traditional Methods for
Requirements Elicitation

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

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 Interviews

• Interviewing and Listening

– Gather facts, opinions, and speculations
– Observe body language and emotions
Goals
Feelings
Informal
Opinions Procedures

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 Interviews

• Guidelines (see next slide)

– Plan the interview
• Checklist
• Appointment
– Be neutral
– Listen and take notes
– Seek a diverse view

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5.17
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 Interviews
• Interview Questions
 Open-Ended
 No pre-specified answers
 Used to probe for unanticipated answers
 Close-Ended
 Respondent is asked to choose from a set of
specified responses
 Work well when the popular answers to
questions are known
 Do not require a long period of time, and can
cover a greater number of topics

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5.19
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5.20
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 Direct Observation
• Directly observing users serves as a good
method to supplement interviews
• However, it is often difficult to obtain unbiased
data: People often work differently when being
observed.
Relationships
Messages
Activities
Gain Insight
Influence
Confirm, Negate, Reverse
Structured & Systematic

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 Documents: Written Work
Procedures
• Types of Information to Be Discovered:
– Problems with existing system
– Opportunity to meet new needs
– Organizational direction
– Title and names of key individuals
– Values of organization
– Special information processing circumstances
– Rules for processing data

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5.23
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Documents: Written Work Procedures
• The written work procedure describes
– how a particular job or task is performed by an
individual or work group, and
– data and information used and created in the process
of performing the job.
• For example, the procedure shown in Figure 5-3
includes data (list of features and advantages,
drawings, inventor name, and witness names)
required to prepare an invention disclosure.

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa
 Documents: Forms
• A second type of document useful to systems analysts is
a business form, illustrated in Figure 5-4.
• Forms are used for all types of business functions, from
recording an order to acknowledging the payment of a
bill to indicating what goods have been shipped.
• Forms are important for understanding a system
because they explicitly indicate what data flow in or out
of a system.
• In the sample invoice form in Figure 5-4, we see space
for data such as invoice number, the “bill to” address, the
quantity of items ordered, their descriptions, rates, and
amounts.

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

An invoice form from Excel

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

Modern Methods for Requirements
Elicitation

Dr. Suleiman H. Mustafa

 Modern Methods for Determining
Requirements
1. Joint Application Design (JAD)
› Brings together key users, managers, and
systems analysts
› Purpose: collect system requirements
simultaneously from key people
› Conducted off-site
2. Prototyping
› Repetitive process
› Rudimentary version of system is built
› Replaces or augments SDLC
› Goal: to develop concrete specifications for
ultimate system

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 Joint Application Design (JAD)
• Participants
– Session leader
– Users
– Managers
– Sponsor
– Systems analysts
– Scribe
– IS staff
• End Result
– Documentation detailing
• Existing system
• Features of a replacement system

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5.31
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 Prototyping
• User 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

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System Prototyping

Slide 33
Throwaway (Design) Prototyping

Slide 34
 Prototyping (continued)
• Most useful when:
– User requests are not clear
– Few users are involved in the system
– Designs are complex and require concrete form to
evaluate fully
– History of communication problems between analysts
and users
– Tools are readily available to build prototype

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 Prototyping (continued)
• 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

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 END

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