Requirements Determination

(Systems Analysis Phase)

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Lesson Objectives
 Identify and differentiate between different types of
requirements
 Describe various methods of gathering systems
requirements
 Given a scenario, choose the appropriate methods of
gathering systems requirements

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Activities of the Analysis Phase
Involves gathering information about the current system
through methods such as observation, interviews, JAD
(Joint Application Development), NGT (Nominal Group
Technique) etc.

Documenting the gathered requirements

using various tools and techniques e.g.
DFDs, ERDs, use cases etc

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Determining Requirements
What is a requirement?
A requirement is a
statement of what the
system must do or what
characteristics it needs to
have

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Types of Requirements
1. Business Requirements – describe the overall goals
of the system and clarify the contributions that the
system will make to the organization's success
 e.g. Increase market share, reduce customer service
requests, provide account access to mobile customers,
reduce business operational costs, improve efficiency etc.
2. User requirements - describe what the system needs
to do in order for the user to fulfill a needed job or
task
 e.g. Schedule a client appointment, place new customer
order, register students etc.

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Types of Requirements cont’d
3. Functional requirements - describe what the software
should do so that the user can accomplish a specific
task.
 These are directly related to a process in the system
 They describe the capabilities and functions that have to be included in
the system
 They expound more on the user requirements
 E.g. select desired course, self-registration of course, attach a document,
confirm appointment etc.
 NB: User requirements and functional requirements are defined
in the analysis phase and are used in the design phase, to design
the solution/system

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Types of Requirements cont’d
4. System requirements – describe the developer’s
perspective of how to implement the solution
 Are more technical in nature e.g. hardware (memory, secondary
storage, peripherals etc.) and software (platform, APIs, web browser
etc.)requirements
5. Non-functional requirements – describe the quality
attributes, design and implementation constraints and
external interfaces which the system must have.
 Non-functional requirements are linked to the behavioral aspects of the
system such as performance, usability, security etc.
 Examples: ability to access the system through a mobile device, speed of
access, user friendly interfaces, etc.

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Why do we specify requirements?
 To make as specific, unambiguous, and clear as
possible what the intended system should do or how it
should perform
 If the requirements are not clear, then the end product
(system) will not meet the user’s expectations and
hence the project will have failed

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Requirements specification involves:
1. Understanding the current system
2. Identifying the user’s requirements for the new
system
3. Interpreting the user’s requirements for the new
system
4. Defining the user’s requirements for the new
system

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Methods of Requirements Determination
1. Traditional Methods 2. Contemporary Methods
a. Questionnaires a. JAD (Joint Application
b. Interviews Development)
c. Observation b. Prototyping
d. Document Analysis

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Methods of Requirements Determination cont’d
3. Radical Methods 4. Agile Methods
 BPR (Business Process Re- a. Continual User
engineering) Involvement
b. Agile Usage Centred
Design
c. eXtreme Programming

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Methods of Requirements Determination
1. Interviews  Interviews reveal
 Q & A sessions between information about:-
 Interviewee opinions
Interviewer &  Interviewee feelings
interviewee(s)  Goals
 Can be individual  Key HCI concerns
interviews or group  Nominal Group Technique
interviews (NGT) - a group process involving
problem identification, solution
narration, and decision making

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Methods of Requirements Determination
2. Direct Observation 3. Questionnaires
 Series of questions designed
to elicit specific information
from users.

 A good supplement to
interviews but often gives
biased data

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Methods of Requirements Determination
4. Documentation Analysis
(soft copy/hard copy)
 Examine business forms,
manuals, program
specifications, written work
procedures, reports etc.
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5. Prototyping
 Repetitive process where a
rudimentary version of
system is built
 Goal: to develop concrete
specifications for ultimate
system
Methods of Requirements Determination
6. Joint Application
Development (JAD)
 Brings together key
users, managers and
systems analysts
 Purpose: collect
system requirements
simultaneously from
key people through
seminars/workshops
etc.
 Conducted off-site

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Methods of Requirements Determination
NB:
Upper CASE tools can be used to enable 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

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Methods of Requirements Determination
7. Business Process Re-engineering
 involves the radical redesign of core business processes to
achieve dramatic improvements in productivity, cycle times
and quality.
 Goals
1. Reorganize complete flow of data in major sections of an
organization’s business processes
2. Eliminate unnecessary steps
3. Combine steps
4. Become more responsive to future changes

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 Reading Assignment
 Research and write short notes on the advantages and
disadvantages of the following methods of requirements
determination:-
1. Interviews
2. Questionnaires
3. Observation
4. Examining existing documentation
5. Prototyping
6. JAD

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Deliverables for Requirements Determination
1. From interviews and observations - interview
transcripts, observation notes, meeting minutes
2. From existing written documents - mission and strategy
statements, business forms, procedure manuals, job
descriptions, training manuals, system documentation,
flowcharts
3. From computerized sources – Joint Application Design
session results, CASE repositories-data is stored and
maintained i.e. multiple databases, reports from existing
systems, displays and reports from system prototype

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Sources
 Kendall & Kendall, Systems Analysis and Design, 9th
Edition
 Hoffer, George & Valacich, Modern Systems
Analysis and Design, 7th Edition
 Roth, Dennis & Wixom, Systems Analysis and
Design, 5th Edition

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