Gathering information for solutions

System Fundamentals

Understanding what your users want is very important. Your goal is to build software which meets the needs of users. There are different, complementary ways of gathering information from stakeholders. Different ways of collecting information can include surveys, interviews, and direct observations. There are other methods of gathering information but this is what you should minimally understand. You should understand each method for gathering requirements provides a different view (or lens, if you will) of client requirements. It is critical you understand the requirements prior to building a system.

SL version

Once you know a customers requirements, it's time to investigate solutions. Below is a list of different techniques you might use to look for a system which meets the customers needs.

• Examining current systems
• Examining competing products
• Organizational capabilities
• Literature searches

HL version

In addition to the above material, you should understand the idea of senior user. A senior user:

• Uses a projects specialist products to realize their benefits
• Operates, maintains or supports the project's outputs
• Is otherwise impacted by a project's products

Real-world practical advice

Make sure you are talking to the right people about system requirements. Many software projects have been doomed to fail because they were built on faulty requirements or poorly understood requirements.

Do you understand this material?

Please consider the following examples, and answer the questions:

Example 1

This is a simple example:

A small business wants to plan a new system. The new system is a computer kiosk inside the store which allows customers to sign up for a email newsletter. If a customer signs up for a newsletter inside the store, they will get a 10% discount on their first purchase at the store. The owner hopes this 10% discount will be an incentive for customers to sign up for the email newsletter. The business will then regularly email the customers special offers and savings. The business owner expects to benefit from this system by having increased sales. The customers expect to benefit from this system by having access to special offers, to save money, and to see what is new and trendy at their store.

Question 1: Describe appropriate techniques for gathering the information needed to arrive at a workable solution

Do you have an advanced understanding of this material?

Example 2

This is a complex example:

A school of 900 students wants to plan a new system. The school hopes the new system is a secure web-based application which manages attendance data. The school administrators want to carefully track attendance for the students so it can identify when students have been absent for a customizable threshold. For example, the school might set a threshold of 5 absences within 30 days, which then automatically notifies the student, parent, and teacher there is a problem with attendance. The threshold might be 3 times within 10 days, or something like that. The system should keep track of attendance and tardies. The system should have customizable attendance codes. For example, "abscence for school trip", "excused abscence", "medical abscence" are all allowed abscence codes.

School administrators expect to benefit by having data about attendance so they can support students and parents to be in school. School administrators also expect to benefit by giving parents and students information about attendance (so parents can support their children to be in school). Finally, school adinistrators expect to benefit by using attendance data to apply for government funding (as they can prove how many students were in class on a specific day).

Parents expect to benefit by knowing when their children are in school or miss school. This way parents can support their children to be in school. Being in school is a shared value that the school hopes the parents share.

Students expect to benefit by understanding how many days of school of they have missed. The school expects students to have a strong "ownership of learning" and manage their attendance.

Question 1: Describe appropriate techniques for gathering the information needed to arrive at a workable solution

Standards

• Describe appropriate techniques for gathering the information needed to arrive at a workable solution.

Observe, study, or make a detailed and systematic examination, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Give a sequence of brief answers with no explanation.

Give a detailed account or picture of a situation, event, pattern or process.

Provide an answer from a number of possibilities. Recognize and state briefly a distinguishing fact or feature.

Use an idea, equation, principle, theory or law in relation to a given problem or issue.