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SYSDESI Information Gathering

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS & DESIGN Methods

Bobby Reyes

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Interactive Methods to Elicit

Human Information Requirements Major Topics
Interviewing
 Interviewing 

 Interview preparation

 Questionnaires  Question types

 Arranging questions
 Observing  The interview report
 Questionnaires
 Studying business documents  Writing questions

 Joint Application Design (JAD) 


Using scales
Design
 Administering
 Joint Application Design (JAD)
 Involvement
 Location

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Interviewing Interviewing and Listening

 Interviewing is an important method for
collecting data on human and system
information requirements.
 Interviews reveal information about:
 Interviewee opinions
 Interviewee feelings
 Goals
 One of the primary ways analysts
gather information about an information
systems project
 Interview Guide is a document for
developing, planning and conducting an
interview.

 Key HCI concerns

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… Interviewing and Listening
Typical interview guide
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Interview Preparation
 Reading background material
 Establishing interview objectives
 Deciding whom to interview
 Preparing the interviewee
 Deciding on question types and
structure
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Question Types
 Open-ended
 Closed
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Guidelines for Effective
Interviewing
 Plan the interview.
 Prepare interviewee: appointment, priming
questions.
 Prepare agenda, checklist, questions.
 Listen carefully and take notes (tape record if
permitted).
 Review notes within 48 hours.
 Be neutral.
 Seek diverse views.
Choosing Interview Questions
 Each question in an interview guide can
include both verbal and non-verbal
information.
 Open-ended questions: questions
that have no prespecified answers
 Closed-ended questions: questions
that ask those responding to choose
from among a set of specified
responses
Open-Ended Questions
 Open-ended interview questions allow
interviewees to respond how they wish, and
to what length they wish
 Open-ended interview questions are
appropriate when the analyst is interested in
breadth and depth of reply
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Advantages of Open-Ended
Questions
 Puts the interviewee at ease
 Allows the interviewer to pick up on the
interviewee’s vocabulary
 Provides richness of detail
 Reveals avenues of further questioning
that may have gone untapped
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Disadvantages of Open-Ended
Questions
 May result in too much irrelevant detail
 Possibly losing control of the interview
 May take too much time for the amount
of useful information gained
 Potentially seeming that the interviewer
is unprepared
 Possibly giving the impression that the
interviewer is on a “fishing expedition”
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Benefits of Closed Interview
Questions
 Saving interview time
 Easily comparing interviews
 Getting to the point
 Keeping control of the interview
 Covering a large area quickly
 Getting to relevant data
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… Advantages of Open-Ended
Questions
 Provides more interest for the
interviewee
 Allows more spontaneity
 Makes phrasing easier for the
interviewer
 Useful if the interviewer is unprepared
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Closed Interview Questions
 Closed interview questions limit the
number of possible responses
 Closed interview questions are
appropriate for generating precise,
reliable data that is easy to analyze
 The methodology is efficient, and it
requires little skill for interviewers to
administer
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Disadvantages of Closed
Interview Questions
 Boring for the interviewee
 Failure to obtain rich detailing
 Missing main ideas
 Failing to build rapport between
interviewer and interviewee
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Attributes of Open-Ended and

Closed Questions Bipolar Questions
 Bipolar questions are those that may be
answered with a “yes” or “no” or “agree” or
“disagree”
 Bipolar questions should be used sparingly
 A special kind of closed question

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Probes
 Probing questions elicit more detail about
previous questions
 The purpose of probing questions is:
 To get more meaning

 To clarify

 To draw out and expand on the

interviewee’s point
 May be either open-ended or closed

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Arranging Questions Pyramid Structure

 Pyramid
 Starting with closed questions and working
toward open-ended questions
 Funnel
 Starting with open-ended questions and
working toward closed questions
 Diamond
 Starting with closed, moving toward open-
ended, and ending with closed questions
 Begins with very detailed, often closed
questions
 Expands by allowing open-ended
questions and more generalized
responses
 Is useful if interviewees need to be
warmed up to the topic or seem
reluctant to address the topic

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Pyramid Structure for Interviewing Goes
from Specific to General Questions
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Funnel Structure for Interviewing Begins
with Broad Questions then Funnels to
Specific Questions
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Diamond-Shaped Structure for
Interviewing Combines the Pyramid and
Funnel Structures
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Funnel Structure
 Begins with generalized, open-ended
questions
 Concludes by narrowing the possible
responses using closed questions
 Provides an easy, nonthreatening way
to begin an interview
 Is useful when the interviewee feels
emotionally about the topic
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Diamond Structure
 A diamond-shaped structure begins in a
very specific way
 Then more general issues are examined
 Concludes with specific questions
 Combines the strength of both the
pyramid and funnel structures
 Takes longer than the other structures
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Interviewing Groups
 Drawbacks to individual interviews:
 Contradictions and inconsistencies
between interviewees
 Follow-up discussions are time
consuming
 New interviews may reveal new
questions that require additional
interviews with those interviewed earlier
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… Interviewing Groups Closing the Interview

 Interviewing several key people together
 Advantages
 More effective use of time
 Can hear agreements and disagreements
at once
 Opportunity for synergies
 Disadvantages
 More difficult to schedule than individual
interviews
 Always ask “Is there anything else that
you would like to add?”
 Summarize and provide feedback on
your impressions
 Ask whom you should talk with next
 Set up any future appointments
 Thank them for their time and shake
hands.

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Interview Report Questionnaires

 Write as soon as possible after the  Questionnaires are useful in gathering
interview information from key organization
 Provide an initial summary, then more members about:
detail  Attitudes

 Review the report with the respondent  Beliefs

 Behaviors

 Characteristics

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Planning for the Use of

Questionnaires Question Types
 Organization members are widely  Questions are designed as either:
dispersed  Open-ended
 Many members are involved with the  Try to anticipate the response you will
get
project
 Well suited for getting opinions
 Exploratory work is needed  Closed
 Problem solving prior to interviews is  Use when all the options may be listed
necessary  When the options are mutually
exclusive

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Trade-offs between the Use of Open-

Ended and Closed Questions on
Questionnaires Questionnaire Language
 Simple
 Specific
 Short
 Not patronizing
 Free of bias
 Addressed to those who are knowledgeable
 Technically accurate
 Appropriate for the reading level of the
respondent

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Measurement Scales Nominal Scales

 The two different forms of measurement  Nominal scales are used to classify things
scales are:
 It is the weakest form of measurement
 Nominal
 Data may be totaled
 Interval
What type of software do you use the most?
1 = Word Processor
2 = Spreadsheet
3 = Database
4 = An Email Program

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Interval Scales Validity and Reliability

 An interval scale is used when the  Reliability of scales refers to consistency
intervals are equal in response—getting the same results if
 There is no absolute zero the same questionnaire was
 Examples of interval scales include the administered again under the same
conditions
Fahrenheit or Centigrade scale
How useful is the support given by the Technical Support Group?
 Validity is the degree to which the
NOT USEFUL EXTREMELY question measures what the analyst
AT ALL USEFUL intends to measure
1 2 3 4 5

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Problems with Scales Leniency

 Leniency  Caused by easy raters
 Central tendency  Solution is to move the “average”

 Halo effect category to the left or right of center

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Central Tendency Halo Effect

 Central tendency occurs when  When the impression formed in one
respondents rate everything as question carries into the next question
average
 Solution is to place one trait and several
 Improve by making the differences
items on each page
smaller at the two ends
 Adjust the strength of the
descriptors
 Create a scale with more points

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Designing the Questionnaire Order of Questions

 Allow ample white space
 Allow ample space to write or type in
responses
 Make it easy for respondents to clearly
mark their answers
 Be consistent in style
 Place most important questions first
 Cluster items of similar content together
 Introduce less controversial questions
first

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Administering Questionnaires
 Administering questionnaires has two
main questions:
 Who in the organization should
receive the questionnaire
 How should the questionnaire be
administered
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Electronically Submitting
Questionnaires
 Reduced costs
 Collecting and storing the results
electronically
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Analyzing Procedures and Other
Documents
 Document Analysis
 Review of existing business
documents
 Can give a historical and “formal”
view of system requirements
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Methods of Administering the
Questionnaire
 Convening all concerned respondents
together at one time
 Personally administering the
questionnaire
 Allowing respondents to self-administer
the questionnaire
 Mailing questionnaires
 Administering over the Web or via email
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Directly Observing Users
 Direct Observation
 Watching users do their jobs
 Obtaining more firsthand and objective
measures of employee interaction with
information systems
 Can cause people to change their normal
operating behavior
 Time-consuming and limited time to
observe
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
 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
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
 Useful document: Written work
procedure
 For an individual or work group
 Describes how a particular job or task
is performed
 Includes data and information used
and created in the process
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
 Formal Systems: the official way a
system works as described in
organizational documentation (i.e. work
procedure)
 Informal Systems: the way a system
actually works (i.e. interviews,
observations)
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
An example of a business
form—An invoice form for
QuickBooks, from
jnk.btobsource.com. Reprinted
by permission.Source:
http://jnk.btobsource.com/NAS
App/enduser/products/product
_detail.jsp?pc513050M#
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
 Potential Problems with Procedure
Documents:
 May involve duplication of effort.
 May have missing procedures.
 May be out of date.
 May contradict information obtained
through interviews.
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
 Useful document: Business form
 Used for all types of business
functions
 Explicitly indicate what data flow in
and out of a system and data
necessary for the system to function
 Gives crucial information about the
nature of the organization
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… Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
 Useful document: Report
 Primary output of current system
 Enables you to work backwards from
the report to the data needed to
generate it
 Useful document: Description of
current information system
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… Analyzing Procedures and Contemporary Methods for

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

 Group Support Systems

 Facilitate sharing of ideas and voicing of
opinions about system requirements

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Joint Application Design (JAD) Joint Application Design (JAD)

 Intensive group-oriented requirements  Joint Application Design (JAD) can
determination technique replace a series of interviews with the
 Team members meet in isolation for an user community.
extended period of time  JAD is a technique that allows the
 Highly focused analyst to accomplish requirements
 Resource intensive analysis and design the user interface
with the users in a group setting.
 Started by IBM in 1970s

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Conditions that Support the Use

of JAD Who Is Involved
 Users are restless and want something  Executive sponsor
new.  IS analyst
 The organizational culture supports
joint problem-solving behaviors.  Users
 Analysts forecast an increase in the  Session leader
number of ideas using JAD.  Observers
 Personnel may be absent from their  Scribe
jobs for the length of time required.

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Where to Hold JAD Meetings Benefits of JAD

 Offsite  Time is saved, compared with
 Comfortable surroundings traditional interviewing
 Minimize distractions  Rapid development of systems
 Attendance  Improved user ownership of the system
 Schedule when participants can attend  Creative idea production is improved
 Agenda

 Orientation meeting

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Drawbacks of Using JAD … JAD

 JAD requires a large block of time to be
available for all session participants.
 If preparation or the follow-up report is Illustration of
incomplete, the session may not be the typical
room layout for
successful. a JADSource:
Based on Wood
 The organizational skills and culture and Silver,
1995
may not be conducive to a JAD session.

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