Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition

Modern Systems Analysis and

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Chapter 6
Determining System Requirements

Chapter Overview
Chapter 6 introduces students to several methods that systems analysts use to determine requirements
for a proposed system. This chapter categorizes the requirements gathering techniques as traditional,
modern, or radical. It also introduces Agile methodologies. The traditional requirements gathering
techniques are interviews, questionnaires, Nominal Group Technique, and documents analysis. The
modern requirements determination techniques include Joint Application Design (JAD), group support
systems, prototyping, and CASE tools. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a radical method for
determining system requirements. This chapter concludes with an illustration of how system
requirements are determined for Internet-based electronic commerce applications.

After studying this chapter, students should have an appreciation for the different types of
requirements analysts collect and the different methods they use to collect these requirements.
However, reading about and discussing how analysts collect requirements is no substitute for direct
hands-on experience with these techniques. Most of the classroom suggestions listed below involve
some type of hands-on experience for students. You probably will not have time to use all of these
suggestions in class. However, try to use one or two of these classroom ideas.

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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition Instructor’s Manual

Instructional Objectives
Specific student learning objectives are included at the beginning of the chapter. From an instructor’s
point of view, the objectives of this chapter are to:

1. Provide insight into using interviews to determine system requirements and include the
preparation of an interview plan.

2. Show students how questionnaires are designed, distributed, and used to determine system
requirements.

3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of observing workers to determine system

requirements.

4. Demonstrate how the analysis of business documents provides system requirements

information.

5. Illustrate how Joint Application Design promotes efficient and quick system requirements
determination.

6. Show how computing, in the form of CASE tools and group support systems, supports
requirements determination.

7. Show how prototyping is used for requirements determination.

8. Stress that BPR involves more than just tweaking or automating processes.

9. Illustrate how disruptive technologies enable the breaking of long-held business rules.

10. Discuss Agile methodologies and how these can be used for requirements determination.

11. Discuss the system requirements determination process for Internet-based electronic commerce
applications.

Classroom Ideas
1. Point out that, while requirements determination tools and techniques are valuable in the analysis
phase, analysts benefit from their use in other phases of the life cycle. Demonstrate this with
examples from other phases. For example, JAD is useful in the early phases of design, such as
where input and output formats are designed. Also, observation is useful during system
implementation to verify that the new system is being used as expected.

2. Use Figure 6-2 to show how to construct an interview plan. Construct a plan with students during
class and have them generate similar plans as homework.

3. Use Field Exercise 1 and 2 as an in-class exercise. This exercise typically takes about one hour
to complete, including time for discussion of the results. Students can submit their reports at the
next class meeting.

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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition

4. Use the box “Lost Soft Drink Sales” (page 160) as a starting point for a class discussion on the
advantages and disadvantages of direct observation. You may want to expand the discussion of
direct observation, especially if you have experience as an action researcher, since the methods
are similar. You can discuss using confederates, how to avoid observer biases, and other issues
you consider important. Often students are reluctant to use direct observation and should be
encouraged to consider it equal to interviewing.

5. Figures 6-3 (example procedure), 6-4 (example invoice), and 6-5 (example report) can serve as
the basis for a discussion of document analysis and how system requirements can be determined
from documents. You or your students should bring sample documents, such as bills and order
forms, to class for analysis. Demonstrate how you analyze these documents to discover business
rules, as well as content requirements. For example, a shipping form shows whether the firm has
ship to, order from, and bill to addresses. A class registration form may indicate the maximum
length for student names.

6. The end-of-chapter references provide useful sources of information to supplement a class

discussion about JAD. The Wood and Silver have two quality books on JAD development that
should be useful.

7. Using a business case, run a mock JAD in class, and assign students roles as analysts, managers,
and users. As with a real JAD, the person chosen as facilitator is crucial to the exercise’s success.
The mock JAD should be preceded by the type of careful planning that precedes actual JADs, as
outlined in the text.

8. Use a CASE tool to support the mock JAD outlined in Classroom Idea #7.

9. Conduct a prototyping session in class, using a 4GL or pidoco (www.pidoco.com) prototyping

tool, or CASE tool with a prototyping component. If such software is available to your students,
have them create prototypes based on system requirements found in a business case or in
materials you provide. This can include developing an iPhone app with www.appmakr.com,
which requires no coding.

10. Conduct a session using Agile Usage-Centered design methodologies.

11. Take an activity with which students are familiar, such as enrollment in classes. Have your
students reengineer this activity. Encourage students to be innovative.

12. Have students identify an organization that would benefit from an Internet-based electronic
commerce application. Place your students into groups of three or four individuals. Then, have
students determine the system requirements for the Internet-based electronic commerce
application.

Answers to Key Terms

Suggested answers are provided below. These answers are presented top-down, left to right.

4. Formal system
2. Closed-ended questions 1. Business process reengineering
(BPR)
3. Disruptive technologies 5. Informal system
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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition Instructor’s Manual

9. Nominal Group Technique (NGT) 12. Scribe

8. Key business processes 10. Open-ended questions
11. Prototyping 7. JAD session leader
6. Joint Application Design (JAD)

Answers to Review Questions

1. Systems analysis involves determining how the current information system functions and assess
what users would like to see in a new system. Requirements determination, requirements
structuring, and alternative generation and selection are the three primary systems analysis
activities.

2. Traditional techniques for collecting requirements include interviewing individuals, interviewing

groups, observing users, and document and procedure analysis.

Interviewing involves speaking with users individually or as a group to discover their views about
the current and target systems; it also involves carefully preparing an interview outline and guide
before conducting the interview. Interviews are best done when only a few people are involved,
when you use open-ended questions or the questions vary from individual to individual, or when
a more personal method is needed.

Directly observing users involves watching how people work in order to uncover information.
Direct observation is best when detailed or complicated procedures must be documented, when
you do not want people to know they are giving you information you need, when only a few
people are involved, and observational data are representative of all situations.

Analyzing procedures and other documents involves identifying and collecting written
procedures, forms, reports, and other relevant documents in order to better identify data and
processes that would be part of the current and target systems. Analyzing documents is the best
technique when documents are complete and unbiased, when other forms of requirements
determination are too obtrusive, and when history must be studied and people do not have
firsthand data about history.

3. Joint Application Design (JAD) is a structured process in which users, managers, and analysts
work together for several days in a series of intensive meetings to specify or review system
requirements. JAD is better than traditional techniques because you have all key personnel in one
place at one time, saving everyone time and resulting in high levels of system ownership as more
people have more of a role in the development process. Weaknesses include the level of
commitment necessary to make the JAD work, the high degree of required planning, and the
typical lack of computer support.

4. Computing supports requirements determination in the form of CASE tools and prototyping.

5. The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a facilitated process that supports idea generation by
groups. NGT encourages individuals to identify and prioritize problems with an existing system
or requirements for a new system.

6. CASE tools can support requirements determination by supporting JAD and prototyping with
diagramming, form and report design, repository access, and prototyping tools. Case tools
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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition

appropriate for requirements determination include use case modeling, diagramming, prototyping
and form and report generators.

7. During requirements determination, prototyping is used to collect user requirements and present
them in the form of a working system prototype. Users can look at, play with, and compare the
prototype to their system requirements. Analysts can then adjust the prototype to better fit what
the users have in mind. Prototyping is better than traditional methods where system requirements
are not well understood, where few users that are stakeholders are involved, where designs may
be complex, where there have been past communication problems, and where the necessary tools
are readily available. Prototyping may be worse than traditional methods where formal
requirements are not documented, where prototypes become idiosyncratic to the initial user,
where issues of data sharing and integration with other systems are ignored, and where SDLC
checks are bypassed.

8. As part of the business process reengineering (BPR) effort, key business processes should be
identified. Key business processes are the structured, measured set of activities designed to
produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. Once these key business processes
have been identified, activities that can be radically improved should be identified. Primary
candidates include activities that are viewed as important, changeable, or dysfunctional. BPR
benefits include radical improvements in speed, quality, and customer satisfaction.

9. Disruptive technologies enable the breaking of long-held business rules that inhibit organizations
from making radical business changes. Disruptive technologies enable companies to innovatively
apply information technology. As a point of discussion, ask students to discuss the concept of a
virtual university. Is this an acceptable application of disruptive technology?

10. One problem with the traditional waterfall SDLC is that users are involved only at the
beginning of the project and then when the project is delivered. The continual involvement of
users throughout the development lifecycle allows any changes to business processes to be
reflected in the completed system. Also, users are more likely to have a system developed that
meets their needs. This approach works best with methodologies that are iterative, such as
Agile methodologies. In order for this technique to work, the user who works with the
development team must be knowledgeable and able to give up his or her normal business
responsibilities in order to become heavily involved in the project.

11. Agile Usage-Centered Design is similar to JAD, in that a group of experts are gathered together
and work with a facilitator. What is unique about Agile Usage-Centered Design is the focus,
which is on user goals, user roles and the tasks necessary to achieve these goals. The Planning
Game involves two types of players: Business, those who know the business processes and
represent the group for whom the project is being developed, and Development, represented by
those who are actually designing and building the system. The game pieces are cards that
contain a description of a procedure or feature to be included in the system. There are three
phases: exploration, commitment, and steering. During exploration, business writes a story card
and development provides an estimate. During commitment, business sorts out stories by
necessity, development sorts stories by risk and business chooses the stories for the next
release. During steering, business reviews progress and business and development adjust plan.
Both Agile Usage-Centered Design and the Planning Game are similar in that both involve
participation of users; both rely upon cards and focus on tasks that the system being designed
is supposed to perform.
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Answers to Problems and Exercises

1. Numerous articles are available in the library and on the Web. CASE tools and prototyping are
both useful in JAD sessions because the JAD team can use the CASE tools (i.e., creating data
flow diagrams, entity-relationship diagrams, and a data dictionary) together. This helps the team
to better, and more quickly, develop the system. CASE tools are useful in JAD sessions because
more team members can participate, the tools can help keep the team on track, the team members
can use the electronic, anonymous brainstorming tools, and the tools can automatically and
accurately capture the outputs of the sessions. Prototyping allows you to go one step further and
actually create the system during the JAD session, allowing this prototype to be further honed as
the system development process progresses. If the prototype is one that allows design through to
development there is no “throw away” element of the prototype as it actually becomes the new
system. Some of the limits to using CASE and prototyping in JAD are the availability of the tools,
the learning curve for these tools if the team members are not familiar with them, and potentially
over-structuring the development process.

2. Using a confederate or by hidden camera, the analyst can conduct observations unobtrusively, so
the effect on the users’ behavior is minimized. The analyst can also brief the users on the
observation so that the users will relax and behave naturally. For example, you can make it clear
to users that they are not being evaluated and that the observations collected will not be associated
with any one individually. In addition, the analysts can perform multiple observations over time.
This tends to minimize the effects of aberrant behaviors. Alternatively, the analysts can
supplement their requirements determination with additional data collection methods.

3. One of the primary problems with analyzing business documents is that these documents do not
provide a full picture of how work is done and why. First, business documents are often
incomplete, since people have selectively retained documentation. Second, business documents
often describe the formal system as opposed to the informal system, which is more often the way
the work is actually completed. Whether the business documents are accurate or not, they provide
useful information. If the business documents are accurate, then much of the work of gathering
information requirements is nearly finished. If the business documents are inaccurate, then the
analyst can use the documents to understand how the work processes ought to be done, or are
thought to be done, or, perhaps, should not be done. In any event, analyzing business documents
should be done in conjunction with other, supplemental data collection methods. In addition, the
analyst should speak to multiple people to gather their perceptions and uses of the documents.

4. Students might suggest the following for the JAD leader: 1) the JAD sessions should be off-site,
2) the proper people should be invited to the JAD sessions, 3) establish clear ground rules for
the sessions, 4) set and follow a clear agenda, 5) distribute the agenda to all participants before
the sessions, 6) remain neutral on issues, 7) make sure that everyone has the opportunity to
participate, 8) encourage people to be creative and break free of traditional ways of doing things,
9) manage time effectively, and 10) follow up with meeting notes.

5. The meeting’s objective is to determine courses that are required to develop necessary
programmer/analyst skills. The agenda might include introductions, background, discussion of
the courses already taken, discussion of course requirements not yet met, discussion of additional
courses to take for preparation, plotting course schedules for successive semesters, summary of
major points, questions from advisor, and closing. A meeting like this can last anywhere from 30
to 60 minutes, depending on the level of familiarity that the advisor has with the student’s case.

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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition

6. Three possible closed-ended questions, each in a different style, are:

1. Which of the following is the best feature about the word processor that you currently use
to do your job (pick only one):
a. good help system
b. extra tools such as spell check, grammar check, thesaurus, and auto correct
c. compatibility with other applications, such as graphics package and spreadsheet

2. Please rank the following three items in terms of their need for improvement in the next
version of this word processor. Place a “1” by the item that is most in need of improvement.
___ ease of use
___ speed
___ compatibility

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Strongly

Agree Somewhat Somewhat Disagree

3. The next version of this word processor should enable you to create and use hypertext
markup language documents for use on the World Wide Web.

7. Because the group interview might be more difficult to conduct and more time-consuming,
the analyst might add to the interview guide time certain events or time-stamped agenda items.
For example, if the meeting begins at 8:00 A.M., and the manager of the users will come in to
the meeting to give a brief talk, this event might be scheduled for 8:15 A.M. until 8:30 A.M.
Other processes in the meeting will be postponed during this event. With time stamping, the
analyst writes definitive start times next to each of the agenda items and then uses this to keep
the group on track. Alternatively, the analyst might write specific questions that should be
asked of particular members of the interview group. If several analysts are involved in the
group interview, the group could be broken into parallel sessions, each with its own agenda.
Finally, agenda activities should be allotted for discussion and interchange between the
interviewees, so that consensus and synergy can occur.

8. Some of the problems include scheduling difficulty, participation of all group members during
the meeting, individuals afraid or unwilling to speak in front of other people, conflicts among
group members, keeping the group on track, and accurately collecting all the information
when multiple people speak at once. Ways to deal with these problems include providing
training in team building, group dynamics, and managing conflict; having multiple
interviewers work together; and using a technological aid such as CASE, Group Support
Systems (GSS) or Web 2.0 collaborative technologies such as Google Docs.

9. The answer to this question is facilitated by revisiting the definitions for corporate strategic
planning and information systems planning. Corporate strategic planning is an ongoing
process that defines the mission, objectives, and strategies of an organization. Information
systems planning is an orderly means of assessing the information needs of an organization
and defining the systems, databases, and technologies that will best satisfy those needs. The
key to understanding BPR is that it is the search for and implementation of radical change in
key business processes. Those organizations involved with BPR are looking for new,
innovative ways to perform these processes.

10. Student Responses will vary. Other Agile methodologies they could write about include:
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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition Instructor’s Manual

• Scrum
• Crystal Clear
• Extreme Programming
• Adaptive Software Development
• Feature Driven Development
• Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

(hyperlinks to each method in Wikipedia are provided)

Guidelines for Using the Field Exercises

1 This exercise can take an entire class period, but it is very useful. This exercise simulates
actual interviewing and gives students much needed interview practice, comparison, and
feedback. Allow sufficient time for discussion, or alternatively, have students write a short
paper on their observations (as mentioned at the end of the exercise).

2. This is a useful method for learning about the team’s work processes. Students should identify
and apply the comparative advantages and disadvantages of group interviews as discussed in
the chapter. Student observations may vary based on group size, group history, and whether
the group leader is present. This also can be done in class. Students can describe systems they
use at work or systems they use at school (e.g., registration system or course management
system).

3. If the chosen teams closely follow the prescribed work method, then the information from the
interview should match the information from the written documentation. If, however, some of
the chosen teams use a more informal system for completing work, then the information from
the interview is not likely to match the information from the written documentation. Ask your
students to compare their answers and discuss why, and with what implications, these
differences might exist. If done using a class role-play the documentation from the content
management or registration system could also be helpful.

4. JAD is becoming a popular development method, so students should find systems

professionals who have used JAD. The feedback should mirror the information on JAD
presented in this chapter, and it will be useful for students to have the textbook information
confirmed by systems professionals in the “real world.” If the systems professionals provide
additional information not covered in the textbook, share this information with the other
students. It is likely that the group leader’s skills will be critical in students’ assessments of
the JAD experience.

5. Several JAD references are provided in the reference section of this chapter. For more recent
publications on JAD, students will find articles in IS journals in the academic literature, IS
magazines in the popular press, and on the Web. In addition, the proceedings of the annual
International Conference on Information Systems, the Americas Conference on Information
Systems and the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences frequently have
articles on JAD.

6. Students will discover that the organization’s systems were not merely tweaked; they were
significantly modified to the betterment of the organization. If students cannot find a contact
person, a visit to the library or to the Web will yield results. Also, you should encourage your
students to identify companies that have undergone BPR, such as Ford. Ask students to

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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition

identify the tangible and intangible benefits of this process. Students should identify the costs
as well.

7. For this exercise, you should suggest that your students perform a search on the Internet to
find an organization that uses Agile techniques. One good place to start is with the Agile
Alliance Web site (www.agilealliance.org), which contains a section on user stories. Also,
most Internet businesses such as Microsoft and eBay utilize Agile methods. Looking at large
software companies would be useful.

Petrie Electronics. Case Solutions

1. Jim has several alternatives to collect information about the CRM project. These include:
1) interviewing Petrie Electronics people in the operation and use of the current system,
2) interviewing a group of people that deal with customers
3) observing employees who work with customers
4) looking at current documents and data to see what information would be useful
5) organizing a structured joint application design team in order to analyze the
requirements

2. Answers will vary. There are several assumptions students can use to base their arguments
on what was overlooked. This includes assumptions about how the requirements were
collected, aspects of the systems that were overlooked and people who were and were not
involved in the requirement elicitation process.

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Chapter 6 Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7th edition Instructor’s Manual

3. Alternative approaches can be gathered from multiple sources. First, collecting information
about what current competition in electronics or your electronics distributor use for CRM
systems. Also, buying reports from consultants and think-tank organizations such as Gartner
that look at all the different options that exist. You would know when you are done looking at
all the alternatives when no new solutions are presented.

4. The following outlines a possible table that students can use to compare CRM systems for
their customer loyalty program.

Solutions Vendor Implementation Price

Salesforce Salesforce.com A customizable $20/user/month
Marketing Cloud cloud-based system
that is very popular
Dynamics CRM Microsoft Cloud-based system $44/user/month
for large companies
SAP AG SAP The largest CRM Between $500,000 -
system that integrates $2 million +
with SAP ERP
system

5. The make-versus-buy decision is common when evaluating different alternatives. When

deciding to make a customized system you need to make sure:
1. There are no alternatives that will work.
2. You have the ability to manage and support your own solutions.
3. You have been successful building systems in the past.

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