Z 556: Systems Analysis & Design

1. Z556: Systems Analysis & Design Week 2

2. Announcements • Class mailing list

3. Problems with Information Systems • Information Systems-centric

4. Problem w/ Traditional Systems Analysis Approach A hypothetical clearing bank system in a data flow diagram: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/16/verity_stob_software_diagramming/

5. Problem w/ Traditional Systems Analysis Approach Dataflow diagram

6. Consider Business Problems • People and work practices are essential ingredients in IT success stories, and that supposed “computer glitches” often involve sloppy work practices and human error (Alter, 2006, p. 4)

7. The Analyst as a Business Problem Solver (Satzinger, et al., 2009) • Information systems are developed to solve problems for organizations. Therefore a system analyst is often thought as a problem solverrather than a programmer.

8. Definition of A System • A collection of interrelated components that function together to achieve some outcome • Other examples of a system?

9. Definition of An Information System • A collection of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to complete a business task

10. Definition of An Information System Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 5th Edition

11. Definition of An Information System • Any examples of an information system?

12. System Development Life Cycle (SDLC, or the waterfall method) 1. Traditional Predictive Approach Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 5th Edition 2. Newer Adaptive Approach Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 5th Edition

13. Contextual Design • Discover the everyday work practice of people

14. Contextual Design • Discover the everyday work practice of people

15. For example… • If you are designing automated check-out system at a grocery, what’s the process you should follow?

16. For Example…

17. Work Redesign

18. Work Redesign

19. 5 Work Models in Contextual Design • Flow • Sequence • Artifact • Physical • Cultural

21. Sequence Model

22. Any Questions

23. What is a Problem? • A problem is a difference between things as desired and things as perceived (Gause & Weinberg)

24. What is a Problem? • A problem is a difference between things as desired and things as perceived (Gause & Weinberg) Zero inventory

25. Defining Problems Organizational goals Problem

26. Defining Problems Organizational goals Long-term Scope Feasibility Problem

27. You Cannot Solve a Problem Unless You know the Cause Physician Scientist Systems analyst (You) Observe symptoms Observe phenomenon Recognize problem Formulate hypothesis Identify possible causes List possible causes Perform experiment Conduct diagnostic tests Study present system

28. Communicate the Hypothesis with The Clients • A good problem statement includes: • The problem: a list of symptoms • E.g., inventory value is $100,000 too high • The objectives: the likely cause(s) • E.g., reduce inventory cost by $100,000 by eliminating obsolete inventory • Scope: analyst’s sense of the problem's magnitude. • Specify what must be done, not how to do it

29. Problem Definition • The problem definition = the analyst’s preliminary sense of the problem (it could be wrong, thus keep an open mind) • See the assignment page for details: https://info.slis.indiana.edu/~nhara/teaching/fall14/z556/assign.html

30. Common Mistakes in Problem Definition • Example of a goal/objective: • The goals of the analysis of the current information system used in the Recreational Sports Center is to provide an online form that is generic as much as possible that could help face the challenges described earlier.

31. Common Mistakes in Problem Definition • Don’t act first. “Think fist, then act” (Davis, p. 38) • Don’t be prescriptive: • “Objectives specify what must be done, not how the problem will be solved” (Davis, p. 38) • Don’t make vague statements

32. Common Mistakes in Problem Definition • Example of a goal/objective: • The major earmark of success in fixing this problem would be a reduction in the time spent managing it. This would entail a system that is designed to reduce erroneous data entry, create simple and complex data reports, and automatically import certain data sets from the online catalog to reduce the amount of time spent entering bibliographic information.

33. Common Mistakes in Problem Definition • Example of a goal/objective: • A concrete, tangible goal of this project to be considered successful would be a 50% decrease in the number of ordering and reporting errors.

34. Common Mistakes in Problem Definition • The scope of the problem is your sense of the problem's magnitude • Example of a scope: • The departments primarily involved in resolving product failures are Engineering, Service, and Quality in the U.S., and Service in Japan. . . . The team consists of 5-10 members, and each team leader is responsible for 4-5 projects simultaneously.

35. Common Mistakes in Problem Definition • The scope of the problem is your sense of the problem's magnitude • For the assignment: identify how significant/serious the problem is, e.g., # of people who are affected by the problem, cost of failure if not addressed • Davis (1994): a preliminary cost estimate • Wait for later until you are certain about the solution

36. Scope of the Team Project in the Past

37. WSLC Overview Activity 1. Form groups of 4 people 2. Two teams will work on the UpNow case, and the other two will work on the Websters4 case 3. Discuss the cases by asking the question on the worksheet for apx. 20 minutes 4. Report back to the class