3.
Requirement
Determination
Munawar, PhD
3-2 Outline
The analysis phase.
Requirement determination.
Requirement elicitation
techniques.
Requirement analysis strategies.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-3 THE ANALYSIS PHASE
Analysis refers to breaking a whole
into its parts with the intent of
understanding the parts’ nature,
functions, and interrelationships.
The planning phase deliverables
are the key inputs into the analysis
phase.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-4 (cont’d)
The basic process of analysis involves
three steps:
- Understand the existing situation (the as-is
system)
- Identify improvements
- Define the requirement for the new system
(the to-be system).
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-5 (cont’d)
The final deliverables of the analysis phase is the
system proposal.
The system proposal is presented to the approval
committee in the form of a system walk-through
to explain the system in moderate detail.
The deliverables from the analysis phase are the
first step in the design of the new system.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-6 REQUIREMENTS DETERMINATION
Requirements determination is performed
to transform the system request’s high-
level statement of business requirements
into a more detailed, precise list of what
the new system must do to provide the
needed value to the business
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-7 What is a Requirement?
A requirement is a statement of what the system must do or what
characteristics it needs to have.
Requirements describe
- what the business needs
(business requirements)
- what the users need to do (user requirements)
- what the software should do
(functional requirements)
- characteristics the system should have
(non-functional requirements), and
- how the system should be built
(system requirements)
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-8 (cont’d)
Functional requirements
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-9 (cont’d)
Nonfunctional requirements
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-10 The Process of Determining
Requirements
Both business and IT perspectives are needed to determine requirements
during the analysis phase.
The most effective approach is to have both businesspeople and analysts
working together to determine requirements.
The analyst must also consider how best to elicit the requirements from the
stakeholders.
The process of determining requirements continues throughout the analysis
phase, and the requirements definition evolves over time.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
The Requirements Definition Statement
3-11
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-12 REQUIREMENTS ELICITATION
TECHNIQUES
Requirements Elicitation in Practice
The analyst should recognize that important side
effects of the process of determining requirements
include building political support for the project and
establishing trust between the project team and the
users.
The analyst should carefully determine who is included
in the process of determining requirements.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-13 Interviews
The most commonly used requirements elicitation
technique
Basic steps:
Selecting Interviewees
Designing Interview Questions
Preparing for the Interview
Conducting the Interview
Post-Interview Follow-up
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-14 Selecting interviewees
Interview schedule
Including people at different levels of the organization
Managers
Users
Other key stakeholders
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-15 Designing interview questions
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-16 (cont’d)
Unstructured interview
for a broad and roughly defined set of information
Structured interview
for very specific information
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-17 (cont’d)
Top-down vs. bottom-up interview
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-18 Preparing for the interview
Prepare a general interview plan
Confirm areas of knowledge
Set priorities in case of time shortage
Prepare the interviewee
Schedule
Inform of reason for interview
Inform of areas of discussion
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-19 Conducting the interview
Appear to be professional and unbiased.
Record all information.
Be sure you understand the issues that are discussed.
Separate facts from opinions.
Give interviewee time to ask questions, and brief explain
what will happen next.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-20 Post-interview follow-up
After the interview, the analysts needs to prepare an
interview report.
The report includes interview notes.
The report is sent to interviewee with a request to read it
and inform the analyst of clarification and updates.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-21 Joint Application Development (JAD)
JAD is an information gathering technique that allows
the project team, users, and management to work
together to identify requirements for the system.
It can reduce scope creep by 50%,
JAD is a structure process in which 10 to 20 users meet
under the direction of a facilitator skilled in JAD
techniques.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-22 Selecting participants
Selecting JAD participants in the same basic
way as selecting interview participants.
Facilitator
Expert in JAD and e-JAD techniques
In many cases, the JAD facilitator is a
consultant external to the organization.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-23 Designing the JAD session and
Preparing for the JAD sessions
JAD sessions can run from a half day to several weeks
depending upon the size and scope of the project.
JAD success depends upon a careful plan.
Most JAD sessions are designed to collect specific
information from users.
It is important to prepare the analyst and participants for
the JAD session.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-24 Conducting the JAD session
Most JAD sessions follow formal agenda and
ground rules.
The JAD facilitator performs three key functions:
Keep session on track, following the agenda.
Help the group understand the technical terms and jargon.
Record group’s input on a public display area.
The facilitator must remain neutral at all time and
help the group through the process.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-25 Post JAD follow-up
Post session report is prepared and circulated
among session attendees
The report should be completed approximately
a week to two after the JAD session
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-26 Questionnaires
A questionnaire is a set of written questions for obtaining
information from individuals.
Selecting participants - using a sample of people who are
representative of the entire group.
Designing the questionnaire – following good practice
guidelines.
Administering the questionnaire – improving the response rates.
Questionnaire follow-up – developing a report.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-27 (cont’d)
Good questionnaire design
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-28 Document Analysis
Document analysis is used to understand the as-is system.
Forms, reports, policy manuals, organization charts describe
the formal system that the organization uses.
The “real” or informal system differs from the formal one, and
reveals what needs to be changed.
The indication that system needs to be changed is when users
create new forms or make changes to the existing
forms/reports.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-29 Observation
Observation – the act of watching processes being
performed.
It is a powerful tool to gain insight into the as-is system,
and to check the validity of information gathered from
other sources.
Nonetheless, people tend to be extremely careful in
their behaviors when they are being watched.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-30 Selecting the Appropriate Techniques
Type of information
Depth of information
Breadth of information
Integration of information
User involvement
Cost
Combining techniques
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-31 (cont’d)
Comparison of Requirements Elicitation Techniques
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-32 REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS STRATEGIES
Problem Analysis
Asking users to identify problems and solutions
Improvements from problem analysis tend to be small
and incremental
This type of improvements often is very effective at
improving a system’s efficiency or ease of use;
however, it provides minor improvements in business
value.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-33 Root Cause Analysis
Root cause analysis focuses on problems first
rather than solutions.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-34 Duration Analysis
Duration analysis requires a detailed examination of
amount of time it takes to perform each process in
the as-is system.
Compare the total time to complete basic steps
and the total time for the overall process – a
significant difference indicates that the process is
badly fragmented.
Potential solutions:
Process integration
Parallelization
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-35 Activity-Based Costing
Activity-based costing examines the cost of
each major process or step in a business
process.
Both direct and indirect costs are considered.
The analysts identify most costly steps and
focus improvement efforts on them.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-36 Informal Benchmarking
Benchmarking refers to studying how other
organizations perform a business process.
Informal benchmarking is common for
“customer-facing” processes.
The analysts visit other organizations as
customers to watch how the business process is
performed.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-37 Outcome Analysis
Outcome analysis focuses on understanding
fundamental outcomes that provide value to
customers.
Think what the organization could enable the
customer to do
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-38 Technology Analysis
Technology analysis involves two steps:
1. The analysts and managers list important and
interesting technologies.
2. Then, the group identifies how each and every
technology might be applied to the business
and how the business would benefit.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-39 Activity Elimination
The analysts and managers work together to identify
how the organization could eliminate each and
every activity in the business process,
how the function could operate without it, and
what effects are likely to occur.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-40 Comparing Analysis Strategies
Each of the requirement analysis strategies has
its own purpose.
No one strategy is inherently better that the
others.
The requirement analysis strategy should be
chosen to fit the nature of the project.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
3-41 SUMMARY
Analysis focuses on capturing the business requirements for the
system
Requirement Determination is the part of analysis in which the
project team turns the business requirements stated in the system
request into a precise list of requirements.
Five Requirements Elicitation Techniques can be used to elicit
business requirements.
Requirements Analysis Strategies are useful for analysts to help the
business users think critically about the new system requirements.
Requirement Determination - Munawar, PhD
