Information Technology

FIT2001 – Systems Development

Seminar 3: Investigating System Requirements
Information Gathering Techniques

Chris Gonsalvez
 ▪ How do we find out what
Our road map: the user wants?
▪ Who do we need to talk to?
▪ Data gathering methods

▪ What are Information

Systems?
▪ How do we develop them?
Systems Development
(SDLC) – key phases
▪ Some System Development
roles and skills
▪ Development approaches –
focus on Agile

FIT2001 – 3.2
At the end of this seminar you will:
▪ Understand the requirements gathering process
▪ Explain the difference between functional and
non-functional requirements
▪ Understand how to investigate and validate the
requirements using a range of techniques, and be
able to determine when each is best applied

FIT2001 – 3.3
What is requirements gathering?

▪ Investigating requirements using a range

of techniques

Developing a deep
understanding of the
business domain

▪ Defining what the solution needs to be to

meet the requirements

FIT2001 – 3.4
 What is requirements gathering?

Bringing ‘fresh eyes’

to the problem

Identifying opportunities for

improving business processes –
Business Process Re-engineering
(BPR)
FIT2001 – 3.5
Requirements must be
verified by the client
FIT2001 – 3.6
 What do you need to gather?

Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition – Figure p45-47

FIT2001 – 3.7
 Investigating Requirements Case Study
ON THE SPOT COURIER SERVICES
Bill Wiley – start up, same day courier service
Initially just received delivery requests via texts on his mobile, but then
customers started asking if he had a website where they could place
orders
As the business grew, Bill hired another person to help with the deliveries.
He could no longer use his van as the ‘warehouse’, he now needed a
central warehouse where he could organise and distribute packages for
delivery, and if it grew further someone at the warehouse to co-ordinate
the arrival and distribution of the packages
What information do you need to gather for On the Spot Courier Services

FIT2001 – 3.8
We now know:
Why we want to gather requirements?
What we need to investigate?
Who we need to gather these requirements from?

… our next step is work out:

How to find out what the user wants?

What approaches do we use to gather User Stories?
(the Agile way of documenting requirements – more next week)

FIT2001 – 3.9
INVESTIGATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Can be quite challenging …

… Users often find it difficult to

articulate exactly what they want
FIT2001 – 3.10
Common fact finding techniques:

1. Interview users/stakeholders
2. Use questionnaires to gather information
3. Observe business processes
4. Review existing reports, forms, and procedure
descriptions
5. Research vendor/competitor solutions
6. Prototyping *
7. Story-writing workshops *
* To be discussed next week

FIT2001 – 3.11
1. Interviewing

▪ An effective way to
understand business
functions and rules

▪ But time-consuming,
resource intensive …
multiple sessions

FIT2001 – 3.12
Preparing for a Successful Interview

Set clear objectives

What types of
information do you
expect to get?

FIT2001 – 3.13
Preparing for a Successful Interview

Select appropriate
stakeholders to interview

Do your research about the

participant

FIT2001 – 3.14
Preparing for a Successful Interview
Determine the type of interview

One-on-one interview

Group interview

FIT2001 – 3.15
Preparing for a Successful Interview
Consider company documentation
Reports

Forms

FIT2001 – 3.16
Preparing for a Successful Interview

Develop
an
Agenda

Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition, Figure 2.8, p53

FIT2001 – 3.17
Preparing for a Successful Interview
Avoid long interviews …

Hard to absorb
large amounts of
information at one
time

Participants often
time poor

Several shorter interviews better .. can clarify information

FIT2001 – 3.18
Preparing for a Successful Interview - Summary
– Set objectives
Clear focus, What types of information do you expect to get
– Select appropriate stakeholders to interview
Do your research about the participant
– Determine the type of interview
One on one vs. Group
– Consider outside information – forms, reports, etc.
Will make the interview time more productive
– Develop an agenda
– Documents objectives, nothing forgotten, logical progression
 Avoid long interviews because
Stakeholders often time poor, Hard to absorb large amounts of
information at one time
 Several shorter interviews better because:
Can ask further probing questions to seek clarifications
Can verify requirements collected from previous iterations of interviews
FIT2001 – 3.19
Preparing for a Successful Interview - Logistics

▪ Planning – Interviewees have been sent:

▪ Location and time
▪ Objectives and list of questions
▪ Finalise interview arrangements - send reminders
▪ Arrive early
▪ Ensure that the room is prepared for conducting interviews
▪ Decide on a documentation method
▪ Take notes, Recording, Video taped – always get permission

FIT2001 – 3.20
Tips and Tricks for a successful interview
– Interview Skills - Youtube video: Reporter Katie Couric
– Lead the conversation with the information that you already know
– Consider the interviewee’s knowledge and role
– Use phrases and words that are easy to understand
– Ask lots of open-ended questions
Useful for identifying new ideas
Help analysts to identify a large number of business processes quickly
– Use closed questions to collect specific facts (e.g. how many forms a
day a sales executive process?)
– Avoid biased or loaded questions
– Paraphrase important findings throughout the interview to make sure you
have accurate understanding
– Ask for the opportunity to follow up after the interview to fill in any gaps
you may have
– Checklist for conducting an interview

FIT2001 – 3.21
Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition, Figure 2.7, p52

FIT2001 – 3.22
How to Get the Information You Want
– Review current business problems
Beware: Excessive attention given to current system may result in
suggesting a new system that only automates the current system

Determine the high level steps of the process.

Talk about activities and responsibilities for every role
Ask leading questions about each part of the process
Identify exception and error-handling
Ask questions to identify new system requirements and identify business
opportunities

– Sample of question themes

FIT2001 – 3.23
Question themes in interviews

Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition – Figure 2.6, p50

FIT2001 – 3.24
Interview – Follow up
▪ All documentation created after the interview should be reviewed by
the participants for accuracy as soon as possible after the interview
▪ Follow up interviews are required to explain and verify the models with
the interview participants, and ask further questions
You will have unresolved issues

They should be tracked and resolved

Sample ‘Open items’ list

FIT2001 – 3.25
 A sample open-items list
…. unresolved issues need answers

Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition, Figure 2.9, p55

FIT2001 – 3.26
 2. Questionnaires
▪ Suited to gathering limited and specific information from a
large number of stakeholders
▪ Good when the people are widely dispersed
▪ Can give a preliminary insight into business
▪ Not well suited for gathering detailed information
▪ Open-ended questions encourage discussion and
elaboration, but stakeholders will often not complete them
▪ Must be written effectively – clear, flows well, respondents
questions anticipated
▪ Sample Questionnaire
FIT2001 – 3.27
Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition, Figure 2.10, p55
FIT2001 – 3.28
3. Review existing reports, forms,
and procedure descriptions
▪ Existing business documents and procedure
descriptions within organization
– Obtain preliminary understanding of processes
– Identify business rules, discrepancies, and
redundancies
– Be cautious of outdated material
– Can help guide interviews

Sample form

FIT2001 – 3.29
Sample order form

Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition, Figure 2.11, p56

FIT2001 – 3.30
 4. Observe business processes
▪ Varies from office walkthrough to performing actual tasks
▪ Not necessary to observe all processes at same level of
detail
▪ May make users nervous, so use common sense

Hawthorne effect: also referred to

as the observer effect refers to a
phenomenon whereby workers
improve or modify an aspect of
their behaviour, or stop working in
response to the fact that they are
being watched
FIT2001 – 3.31
5. Research vendor/competitor
solutions
▪ Many problems have been solved by other
companies – have a look around for good ideas
▪ Positive contributions of vendor solutions
– Frequently provide new ideas
– May be state of the art
– Cheaper and less risky
▪ Danger
– May purchase solution before understanding problem

FIT2001 – 3.32
 Validating the requirements
▪ Meet with users regularly to get feedback on your
understanding of the system
▪ You must confirm that your understanding of the
requirements is correct
▪ You are aiming for requirements that are:
Complete – all functions identified
Unambiguous – nothing vague or fuzzy
Sufficient – level of detail okay
Testable – can check if working as intended
Consistent – no conflicts among requirements

FIT2001 – 3.33
No-one said it was easy …

FIT2001 – 3.34
You now know the basics of:
▪ The role of requirements gathering in System
development
▪ A range of techniques to help you investigate
requirements

FIT2001 – 3.35
Recommended reading
Prescribed text:
– Satzinger, J. W., Jackson, R.B., and Burd, S.D.(2016) Systems
Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition, Cengage
Learning, Chapter 2 (pp 43-58)
– See additional resources on Moodle

FIT2001 – 3.36
Thanks for watching

FIT2001 – 3.37