Chapter 3

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS (PHASE-2) PART 1

REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Systems analysis phase
include four activities:
 Requirements modelling
 Data and process
modelling
 Object modelling
 Transition to systems
design
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 The overall objective of requirements
objective is to :
 understand the proposed project
 ensure that it will support business requirements
 build a solid foundation for systems design phase
 Requirements modelling involve investigation
and fact-finding to
 describe the current system
 define the requirements for the new system
 Modeling Tools
 UML – Unified Modeling Language
 A widely used method of visualizing and
documenting software systems design
 UML provides various graphical tools and
techniques such as use case diagram and sequence
diagrams
 These two techniques will be covered in Chapter 5
 Modeling Techniques
 Use Case
 Visually represents the interaction between users
an the information system
 In a use case diagram, the user is an actor, with a
specific role that describes how the person
interacts with the system
 Example:
 Use case diagram to show validation for a credit card
transaction at a sales counter
Use Case Example
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 A system requirement is a characteristic or feature
that must be included in an information system to
satisfy business requirements and be acceptable to
users
 System requirements fall into five categories:
 Outputs
 Inputs
 Processes
 Performance
 Controls
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Outputs - Examples
 The Web site must report online volume statistics every
four hours, and hourly during peak periods
 The inventory system must produce a daily report showing
the part number, description, quantity on hand, quantity
allocated, quantity available, and unit cost of all parts -
sorted by part number
 The sales tracking system must produce a daily fast moving
item report, listing all products that exceed the forecasted
sales volume – grouped by style, color, size and re-order
status
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Inputs - Examples
 Department head must enter overtime hours on a
separate screen
 Data entry screens must be uniform, except for
background color, which can be changed by the user
 Student grades must be entered on the online
grading system by the instructor
 A data entry person at the medical group must input
patient services into the billing system
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Processes – Examples
 The warehouse distribution system must analyze
daily orders and create a routing pattern for
delivery trucks that maximizes efficiency and
reduces unnecessary mileage
 The human resources system must interface
properly with the existing payroll
 The video rental system must not execute new
rental transactions who have overdue DVDs.
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Performance
 Response time should not exceed 5 seconds
 The student record system must produce class list
within five hours after the end of registration
 The system must be capable of supporting 50 users
simultaneously
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Controls
 System must provide log-on security at the
operating system level and at the application level
 The system must maintain separate levels of
security for users and system administrator
 The manager of the sales department must approve
orders that exceed a customer’s credit limit
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Fact Finding
 Fact-finding involves answers to five familiar
questions:
 Who

 What

 When

 Where

 How
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 Examples:
1. Who? Who performs each of the procedures within the system? Why?
Are the correct people performing the activity? Could other people
perform the tasks more effectively?

2. What? What is being done? What procedures are being followed? Why
is that process necessary?

3. Where? Where are operations being performed? Why? Where could

they be performed? Could they be performed more efficiently
elsewhere?

4. When? When is a procedure performed? Why is it being performed at

this time? Is this the best time?

5. How? How is a procedure performed? Why is it performed in that

manner? Could it be performed better, more efficiently, or less
expensively in some other manner?
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 The sequence of the questions is very
important, especially at this early stage of the
development process.
 The systems analyst first must know what the
current situation is before determining the next
course of action
 REQUIREMENTS MODELLING
 The systems analysis phase can be especially challenging when a
large system is involved

 Business systems are never static - they change rapidly to meet the
organizations needs

 If revisions were made to a system, it might not resemble the

original systems design at all

 In some cases, the systems analyst must perform reverse engineering

to find out how the original system functioned before it was
modified

 It is possible that several layers of changes were made at various

times because of enhancements and maintenance
 Fact Finding Techniques
 Interviews
 An interview is a planned meeting during which you obtain
information from another person.
 You must have the skills needed to plan, conduct, and
document interviews successfully.
 The interviewing process consists of these seven steps:
 Determine the people to interview
 Establish objectives for the interview
 Develop interview questions
 Prepare for the interview
 Conduct the interview
 Document the interview
 Evaluate the interview
 Interview Process
 Step 1: Determine the people to interview
 To get accurate description of the system, you
need to select the right people to be interviewed
and ask them the right question
 Although format organization charts are useful in
guiding the interviewee selection but you need to
consider also informal organization charts
 Interview Process
 Step 2: Establish Objectives for the Interview
 After deciding on the people to interview, you
must establish objectives for the session.
 First, you should determine the general areas to be
discussed, and then list the facts you want to
gather.
 You also should try to solicit ideas, suggestions,
and opinions during the interview
 Interview Process
 Step 3: Develop Interview Questions
 Creating a standard list of interview questions helps
keep you on track and avoid unnecessary problems
 Using a standard question list allows you to compare
the answers to the same questions for multiple
interviews
 The interview should consist of several different
kinds of questions:
 open-ended
 closed- ended
 questions with a range of responses
 Interview Process
 Open Ended Questions
 Questions that requires further elaboration/details
 Example:
 How this task is performed?
 What additional features would you like to see in the new system?
 How do you perform checks to compare the actual OT hours with the
forecasted/planned OT hours?
 Close Ended Questions
 Questions that requires a direct Yes or No response
 Range of Response Questions
 Similar to close ended type but interviewees are given
multiple choices of answers
 Interview Process
 Step 4: Preparing the interview
 Schedule a specific day and time for the meeting and place a
reminder call to confirm the meeting.
 Remember that the interview is an interruption of the other
person's routine.
 Business pressures might force a postponement of the
meeting; when that occurs, you should schedule another
appointment as soon as it is convenient for both of you.
 Send a list of essential questions to an interviewee several
days before the meeting when detailed information is needed,
 This is to prepare the interviewee for the interview and
minimize the need for a follow up meeting
 Interview Process
 Step 5: Conduct the Interview
 Develop a interview meeting plan

 Begin by:
 introducing yourself
 describing the project
 explaining your interview objectives

 Ask questions during the interview

 Interview Process
 Step 6: Document the Interview
 Write down some notes during the interview but
keep to a minimum to avoid distraction
 Record important facts and information quickly
after the interview
 Interview Process
 Step 7: Evaluate the Interview
 Attempt to identify biasness during the interview
 Aware of protective / defensive characteristic
interviewees
 Aware of interviewee who has a strong character,
distortion of facts is possible
 Some interviewees might attempt to answer key
questions but do not have the experience to
provide accurate information
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Document Review
 Document review helps in understand how a
current system work
 Aware of out date documents/ forms
 Obtain current forms / latest operating documents
 Get the blank copies of the form and already filled
out forms
 If the system uses a software package, review the
documentation for that software
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Observation
 Seeing the system in action gives you additional
perspective and a better understanding of system
procedures
 Recommendations often are better accepted when they
are based on personal observation of actual operations
 Observation also:
 can provide the knowledge needed to test and install future
changes
 can help build relationships with the users who will work
with the new system
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Observation (cont’d)
 Hawthorne Effect:
 A factor resulted from a study conducted at Western
Electric Company in the 1920s
 Purpose: Determine how various changes in the work
environment affect employee productivity
 Revealed that employees performed better during the
observation period, regardless of the working condition
 The conclusion of the study:
 productivity seemed to improve whenever the workers knew
they were being observed
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Questionnaires and Surveys
 Ifwere to obtain input from a large number of people, a
questionnaire might be used
 A questionnaire (survey), is a document containing a
number of standard questions that can be sent to many
individuals
 Questionnaires are used to obtain information about
 workloads
 reports received
 volumes of transactions handled
 types of job duties
 Difficulties during work
 opinions of how the job could be performed better or more
efficiently
Sample Questionnaire
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Sampling
 When studying an information system, you should collect
examples of actual documents using a process called
sampling.
 The samples might include records, reports, operational
logs, data entry documents, complaint summaries, work
requests, and various types of forms.
 Sampling techniques include
 systematic sampling
 stratified sampling

 random sampling
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Sampling
 You also should consider sampling when using
interviews or questionnaires
 Rather than interviewing everyone or sending a
questionnaire to the entire group, you can use a
sample of participants
 You must use sound sampling techniques to reflect
the overall population and obtain an accurate
picture
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Research
 Research can include reviewing journals,
periodicals, and books to obtain background
information, technical material, and news about
industry trends and developments
 Information can also be obtain through the Internet
 Example
 Information about hardware and software
 Services offered by the company (client)

 Newsgroups
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Interviews vs. Questionnaires
 When you must ask a series of identical questions
to many individuals, a questionnaire is very useful.
 If you require information from only a few people,
then you probably should interview each person
individually
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Interview vs. Questionnaires
 Interview has the following advantages:
 Rapport building
 Interviewee can elaborate further on unclear responses
 People who are asked for their opinions often view the
project more favorably
 Disadvantages:
 Time consuming
 Costly
 Interviewer has to do follow up work
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Interview vs. Questionnaires
 Questionnaires advantages:
 gives many people the opportunity to provide input and
suggestions
 Questionnaire recipients can answer the questions at
their convenience and do not have to set aside a block
of time for an interview.
 If the questionnaire allows anonymous responses,
people might offer more sincere / genuine responses
than they would in an interview
 Other Fact Finding Techniques
 Interview vs. Questionnaires
 Questionnaires disadvantages
 requiresskill and time for questions preparation
 Misinterpretation of questions is possible

 unless questionnaires are designed well, recipients

might view them as intrusive, time-consuming, and
impersonal
- End of Chapter -