7.

Discuss possible techniques that can be used to gather information about the problems faced at
Pahang Electronics Sdn. Bhd. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each technique
identified.

Establishing the sources and methods to obtain the information can help to define where to begin the
search and how to continue. This will in turn identify the sequence in which sources will be searched and
what information is to be gathered at each step. There is no standard procedure for gathering
information because each technique is unique.

Possible techniques that can be used to gather information about the problems faced at Pahang
Electronics Sdn. Bhd are:
1) interviews
2) review of documents
3) observation
4) questionnaires
5) Joint Application Design
6) prototyping

Interviews

Interview reveals information about the interviewee opinions and feelings about the existing state of
the system, organizational and personal goals and informal procedures. There are basically four steps in
an interview preparation:
 read the background materials to establish the interview objectives
 decide who to interview
 prepare the interview
 decide on question type and structure

The first information source investigated is usually the users. Interviewing is a formal face-to-face
meeting between the systems development team and the user. Interviewing is one of the most common
techniques of gathering information. Information needs and systems requirements can be discovered
and problems revealed. Interview can also reveal what is actually being done, areas misunderstanding,
unrealistic expectations and even indications of resistance to the proposed system. Interviews are
extensively used in defining user requirements because most of the knowledge of the system lies with
the user. The work of the development team is to elicit appropriate information as quickly and
effectively as possible.

There are two types of interview:

Structured interview means the interviewer will only ask questions that have been planned and written
out in advance. The interviewer will stick only to those questions. Unstructured interview means the
interviewer will ask questions that have been prepared earlier but will also ask other subjects if they
seem appropriate.

It is important to come up with the right question and ask them in the right order. Questions can be
categorized by their subject content and type depending on the specific system study.
Advantages
Some of the advantages of interview are that you get to meet the persons involved in the system
thereby establishing rapport with them and you can get more information if asked correctly.

Disadvantages
Two major disadvantages of interview are that it is time-consuming to undertake and it is relatively
more costly than the other information gathering techniques.

There are many types of different users and different approaches may be needed for each user. Detailed
information should be sought out from users actually doing the work. Some users may cooperate more
readily because they are in favor of changes and will provide support. Some may feel threaten and may
not readily volunteer information.

Note that it is important to start the systems analysis by interviewing the management. Management is
aware of what is going on in the system. They can help you find out how to go about getting
information. They can identify people you should interview and probably introduce you to these people.
Interviewing management first will ensure that they will encourage cooperation from their department.
You must make management aware of your objective and how you work will affect their department. it
is important to establish management’s confidence in your abilities. You must ensure that management
feel that you are there to help them solve problems.

Review of Documents

Written documents include manuals, procedures, forms, reports etc. Copies of written documentation
should be obtained for review. These documents can provide valuable information about an
organization and its operations.

Reviewing such documentation can reveal how the existing system should work. This can then be
compared with information gained by other techniques concerning how the system really functions.
Differences between how the system is supposed to function and how it really does function can point
to possible problems.

There are a variety of documents in any large system. It is important to identify a complete list of
documents, go through and analyze them. Also check for duplication of data to ensure that the same
data item does not appear under two names.

Many systems use computers and you must determine exactly what the existing system does by
examining the computer programs. Sometimes you need to run the programs with test data to see what
it does and examine the user interface.

By reviewing documentation, you can conduct more effective interviews with managers and users. The
review should give important clues for future requirements. Users may specify input and output
particularly reports that are not part of the existing system. But it is also likely that users will want many
of their existing documents and records to be reproduced in the new system.

Advantages
One of the advantage of documents review is that it is relatively inexpensive compared to other
techniques. Its also a good source of background information and provides a behind-the-scenes look at a
program that may not be directly observable.

Disadvantages
The major disadvantages of documents reviews are that the information may be inapplicable,
disorganized, unavailable, or out of date. The information also may be incomplete or inaccurate. Finally,
it can be time consuming to collect, review, and analyze all those documents.

Observation

Observing allows gaining Information that cannot be obtained by any other information gathering
techniques. Through observation, first hand information can be obtained about how activities are
carried out. Direct observation is where the systems analyst watches the potential users as they go
about performing their job function.

During observation, we watch people do their work, who interrelates with whom, how paper moves
from desk to desk and how information comes in and leave the organization.

This technique is most useful when we need to actually see how documents are handled, how processes
are carried out and whether specified steps are actually followed. Observation is a powerful technique
for gathering information because it enables us to see the reality of a situation rather than listening to
others described it in an interview.

It is important to keep a low profile, not to interrupt those working and not to influence those being
observed. Observation is often used to supplement interview information. In most cases, observation
will support the information that users provide in interviews. When it does not, it acts as an important
signal that extra care must be taken in analyzing the system.

Advantages
The advantages of observation technique are that the data gathered can be highly reliable because the
observation is done by the analyst himself and the analyst is able to see what is being done. Also,
observation is less expensive compared to other technique.

Disadvantages
There are few disadvantages of observation which are, people feel uncomfortable being watched, they
may perform differently when being observed. Also, the work being observed may not involve the level
of difficulty or volume normally experienced during that time period. It also might be inconvenience for
the system analyst if some f the activities are taken place at odd times. Furthermore, the tasks being
observed are subjected to types of interruptions and some task may not be in the manner in which they
are observed. There also might be a situation when people act temporarily and perform their job
correctly when they are being observe, they might actually violates the standard of manner.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are used when there are a large number of users. In some instances, it is not
economically feasible to interview all the users of the system due to schedule and budget limitation
constraint. Or the users may be dispersed geographically that make visiting them expensive and time
consuming. In this instance, it would be possible to define their requirements by using questionnaires.

The questions have to be reasonably straightforward because you will not be there to clarify any
ambiguity. The questions should also be relatively few. This is to increase the likelihood of response
from the user.

Questionnaires can be distributed via e-mail or on the Internet. Electronic distribution can save a
significant amount of money compared to distributing paper questionnaires. Questionnaires enable you
to obtain information from a large number of people with a relatively small expenditure of time and
money. But the information provided may be less detailed than the information one could get from a
face-to-face interview and it also could be biased information if only a few individuals respond to the
survey.

Advantages
Questionnaires offer a cheaper and quicker way to interview. Also, questionnaires would enable the
analyst to obtain information from a large number of people with less time and money.

Disadvantages
The difficult part of this technique is setting the questions that are clear to the user and to ensure an
adequate response rate. The information provided also may be less detailed than information get from
other techniques.

Typically at least two techniques are combined. The systems analyst or business analyst might send a
questionnaire to all users then conduct face-to-face interviews with a selected but representative few.

Joint Application Design

Joint Application Design is an information gathering technique that allows a system development team,
users and management to work together in a highly focused workshop to identify requirements for the
system. Joint Application Design is an effective technique for building user commitment through their
active participation in the analysis of requirements and the specification of the systems design.

Joint Application Design centers on a structured, dedicated workshop session. Everyone gets together in
a room and talks it out. This team building environment gives people a chance to learn from each other
and to understand each other`s needs and concerns. Different functional units have different ways of
operating, making decisions, and analyzing what is going on around them.

The facilitator is responsible in making sure that the group follows the agenda and directs the process.
Visual aids are used to clarify concepts being discussed. The group dynamics with constant feedback will
stimulate creativity.

Advantages
The advantages of Joint Application Design include a shortening of the time it takes to complete a
project. It also improves the quality of the final system by focusing on the up-front portion of the
systems development life cycle, thus reducing the likelihood of errors that are expensive to correct later
on. Moreover, the participation of the system development team, users and management can greatly
increase their commitment in searching for problems and solutions. The sessions also help bring experts
together giving them a chance to share their views, understand views of others, and develop the sense
of project ownership.

Disadvantages
Without proper preparation for Joint Application Design session, valuable time of professionals can
easily be wasted. Wrong problem can be addressed, wrong people can be invited to participate,
inadequate resources for problem-solving can be used - all these scenarios can happen if organizers of
the session will not study the elements of the system being discussed. The team chosen to participate in
the workshop should include employees that provide input on most of the necessary parts of the
problem. That's why particular attention should be paid during selecting participants. Group should
consist not only of employees from various departments that will have interaction with the new system,
but also from different places on the organizational ladder. This variety of thought process
understanding will reflect different, sometimes even conflicting points of view, but will allow
participants see a "different side of the coin". Facilitator as a smoothing and motivational force has to
make sure that all participants have a chance to offer their opinions, ideas, and thoughts.

Prototyping

Another approach to determine requirements is through the use of prototyping. It is often very difficult
for users to specify in advance what they want from a new system. Users know what they want but they
do not have a way to articulate the detail of their business needs so that the systems development team
can understand them and build working systems to support them effectively. They may find it hard to
visualize how the proposed system will look like and how it can help them solve their business problems.
Prototyping can be used to if only address some of these problems.

A prototype is a model of a proposed system. Prototyping is an approach where a version of the

Prototyping acts as a communication device between users and system development team and aids in
the learning process. The users are better able to explain their requirements from the model developed
by the prototype. The prototype is also better able to demonstrate how the proposed system is
intended to operate.

Prototyping has five main stages. The first is to agree approximately what is needed. Then build
something quickly which looks like what is wanted. Test it and see if it does what the user wants. Fourth,
use it in a representative environment. Then adapt and develop the prototype based on the experience
and information gained from its use.

Prototyping allows you to experiment without much risk. lf the prototype does not turn out to be
worthwhile, you simply have not spent too much time and effort. Many organizations use prototyping
on limited bases. For example, an organization may prototype a data entry sequence or a particular
screen. In other words, the prototype does not necessarily have the scope of the final system. Prototype
is also used in the user interface design so that users could experience the "look and feel" of a significant
part of the application before the final system is developed and implemented.
Advantages
Some of the advantages of prototyping include improving information gathering process, improve
relationship between systems development team and users and better identification of systems
problems. Prototyping also helps to ensure quality in the eventual system.

Disadvantages
One of the disadvantages of prototyping is potential cause of conflict between departments that want
different things from the system. End users may mistakenly think that the actual system can be designed
and developed at the same speed.