Review Questions

1. What are the business operations and processes?

The purpose of the first theme is to identify the various business processes that must be
supported in the new system. The standard question to users is, “What do you do?” or “What
are your job responsibilities?

”How should those operations be performed?

The purpose of the second theme is to understand the details of the business process in the
context of a new system. The focus is not necessarily on how the operation is done now, but
how should it be done.

What information is needed to perform the operation?

The purpose of the third theme is directly tied to the development of the new system, and what
information it must maintain and provide.

2. The objective of a structured walkthrough is to find errors in a piece of work. In other words,
it is a quality control activity to improve the quality of a piece of work, such as a data flow
diagram or data model. The objective is not to be a performance review or an evaluation of
an employee.
3. Horizontal dimension means that various departments in a company may be affected by a
system. For example, a marketing system may have information that might be useful to the
production plant. Therefore, not only marketing users need to be interviewed, but also
production users. Vertical dimension means that within each department there are clerical
users and middle management users. Both should be included. The vertical dimension also
goes higher, up to top management and executives who may have an interest in the
information provided by the system.
4. Because user requirements cannot be tested in the programming sense of the word, another
method must be used to validate the requirements. A widely used method is a structured
walkthrough. When a piece of work is completed that describes some user requirements,
either in the form of a diagram or textual description, a walkthrough is conducted. In the
walkthrough the work is reviewed with the objective of finding missing pieces, checking for
accuracy, and verifying that the diagram is internally consistent.

Thinking Critically

1. Ensure that all stakeholders are identified and included in the requirements definition
activities.
Review every existing form and report to make sure that all information needs are
understood.
Identify and understand every business activity. Be sure that all business procedures have
been discussed.
Ensure that all exception conditions have been identified and associated processing has
been defined.
Maintain an open-items list and ensure that all items are resolved.
2. Obviously, it is not a good idea to try to appear to be something that you are not. The best
solution is to become as prepared as possible in the allowed time as the project begins. The
analyst can learn about both the general industry and the specifics of the company. Industry
information is available in books and magazines. Company information can be obtained from
reviewing existing system documentation, including reports, forms, and procedure manuals.
The way in which questions are asked will also help to alleviate user or client concerns.
Questions that ask for specific details demonstrate that the analyst has done some research
in the area. For example, “Will you explain how this process works and how you use these
forms?” Questions that are too vague emphasize a lack of knowledge in the area. For
example, “What does this mean?”