Reflections On Early Requirements Gathering

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Reflections On Early Requirements Gathering

• Themes From Analyst-Client Conversations
• Cathy Urquhart
• University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia

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Outline of presentation

• Communication as the basis for early requirements
  gathering.
• Case study design.
• Themes from the case studies.
• Conclusions

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Communication as the basis for early requirements
gathering

• The determination of requirements is founded on
  human communication which takes place in a social
  context.
• Language is the basis for communication, and is
  the expression of interactive procedures working
  amongst various social, contextual and
  epistemological factors. Candlin 1984

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The Case Studies

• Six cases of early requirements gathering from
  public sector agencies in Tasmania, Australia.
• Several data sources.
• initial paragraph.
• individual interviews.
• videotaped interaction and review
• Analysis using grounded theory techniques,
  topics, and themes.

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Themes

• Conceptual.
• Issues To Be Discussed, Scope Of System, Problem
  Identification, Processes Associated With System,
  Information Input To System, Information Output
  From System, Links In Information.
• Social.
• Professional Relationships, Mutual Understanding.

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Themes

• Environmental.
• Organisational Context, Future Action and
  Solutions.
• Individual.
• Personal Disclosures, Analyst Understanding Of
  Processes, Notetaking, Use Of Props.

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Problem Identification

• Consists of labelling the problem at a general
  level, to be distinguished from problem setting
  where the problem characterised in terms that aid
  its solution.
• Schön 1983
• In the majority of cases, analysts framed the
  problem in terms of information, the clients in
  terms of processes.

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Problem Identification -Client

• Client Now, theres something I just thought of,
  a little bit of a problem..its measuring
  backlog. Would it be possible, if somebody had
  ten applications in their in tray.. Some had been
  there for a day, some had been there for three
  days, some had been there for ten days. Can we
  have a system which adds all those numbers up? To
  give a measurement of whos furthest behind?
• Analyst We can

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Problem Identification - Analyst

• Analyst ..what information do you want to get
  out of this system? Do you have to do reports and
  things like that?
• Client Yes. So we need to have (flipping through
  notepad) ..Im just thinking about which reports
  you want to get started with.
• Analyst Well, it depends on what you want to get
  out of the system..

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Links In Information

• Identified by analysts at organisation wide and
  key level.
• Can be seen as a particular systems analysis
  strategy which aids problem solution.
• Can also be likened to Schöns (1983) notion of
  an on-the-spot-experiment.
• Consistent with analysts information focus.

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Links in Information

• Analyst OK, so when you put in the summary
  information you put in, you put in the number,
  ..does each number..apply to each application?
• Client yes it does
• Analyst so you sort of have another code number
  or something for each applicant that gets put
  into the database?
• Client Its not, its not a reference to the
  stu(dent), the moment it cant be referenced to
  any individual student..

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Notetaking

• A subject which receives scant treatment and
  contradictory advice from systems analysis
  textbooks.
• Hoffer, George and Valacich (1999) Whitten,
  Bentley and Barlow (1994) Jordan and Machesky
  (1990) Powers, Cheney and Crow (1990) Martin
  (1994), Kendall and Kendall (1995).
• Remarks made by analysts show the value of
  reflection-in-action (Schön 1983)

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Notetaking

• I just need to say something, and Ive been
  laughing to myself about this, its actually quite
  interesting the interaction between us, here I am
  madly scribing. Im not actually looking at my
  client through most of the interview and Ive
  never really thought about it before, but..all
  they are doing is just looking at my head and
  every now and then then I pop up..

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Conclusions

• Themes as presented here are derived from
  situations of uniqueness, from which
  practitioners may construct theories and methods
  of their own. (Schön 1983)
• The situations themselves can be seen as varying
  the themes and provide a jumping off point for
  discussion of further situations and extension of
  themes.
• Value of themes is in making the implicit issues
  explicit.