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Fact Finding and Requirements Capture Techniques

This document discusses various techniques for fact-finding and capturing requirements, including reviewing existing documentation, conducting interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, sampling, and observation. It provides advantages and disadvantages of each technique. The key techniques covered are interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, sampling, and observation. The document emphasizes the importance of having a fact-finding plan to effectively use time and resources.

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Maryam Nisar
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46 views24 pages

Fact Finding and Requirements Capture Techniques

This document discusses various techniques for fact-finding and capturing requirements, including reviewing existing documentation, conducting interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, sampling, and observation. It provides advantages and disadvantages of each technique. The key techniques covered are interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, sampling, and observation. The document emphasizes the importance of having a fact-finding plan to effectively use time and resources.

Uploaded by

Maryam Nisar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fact Finding and Requirements

Capture Techniques
Where are facts found?
 Strategic plans
 company accounts –sales orders/purchase orders
 organisation charts
 procedure manuals
 quality documentation
 job descriptions
 schedules
 training manuals
 sales and marketing literature
 etc.
Existing Systems Documentation

 Forms
 Files/Databases
 Records
 Company
Stationery
 Reports
 Memos
 etc.
External to the company
 Essentially background research
 but useful for not looking a complete …..

 Internet
 Journals
 User groups
 Consultants
Internet
 Newsgroups
 Bias towards the negative
 Web pages
 Bias towards the positive
 Email
 Who?
Journals
 Trade v general
 Good overview of industry but may not be specific for a
particular company
 Where do you get them from ?
 Library
 Subscription
 Internet
User groups
 Most widely available products will have an associated
user group network
 Independent ?
 Negative ?
Consultants
 Specialist in field
 Where to find them
 Computacenter holds a government approval list of firms call
SCAT
 Trade journals
 etc.
 Cost ?
 Really needed ?
 When to use ?
Process Modelling?
 How data is recorded
 What process there are or required ?
 What it is used for
 and perhaps what it could be used for ?
 Who uses it
 and who wants to
 and why ?
Value add!
 What additional information could be provided
 and why it isn’t
 Problems
 there should be, it’s the reason you’re there
 Possible solutions
 perhaps not ?
 Are “the users always right” ?
TECHNIQUES-Interviews
 Interviews
 Structured v Unstructured
 Requires Planning -
 Who
 What about
Advantages
 Flexible (unstructured or semi approach)
 Discovery of data
 Ideal for gaining ideas
 Face to face
 User involvement
Disadvantages
 Time consuming
 Bias
 Interpretation
Techniques - Focus Groups
 Meetings held with groups of people with something in
common
 Area managers
 Technical support technicians
 Women
Advantages
 Find out a lot about a certain area of the enterprise in
terms of their part in the procedures and operations
Disadvantages
 Do not represent the whole view of a process and are
therefore biased
TECHNIQUES-Questionnaires
 Questionnaires
 Questions -
 open ended
 closed
 mix
 Design in the key
 Poor questionnaire, poor results
 No bias questions
Advantages
 Useful for large volumes
 Geographic split
 Directed
 User involvement
Disadvantages
 Difficult to design
 Return rate
 And if you’ve missed something
TECHNIQUES - Sampling
 Used in all fact finding exercises
 Used in any type of fact finding Soil
 Water in a swimming pool
 A small sample is taken to represent the whole
Sampling
 Advantages
 More control owing to smaller numbers.
 Less time
 Disadvantages
 How is the sample chosen?
 Is it really representative?
Observation
 Covert or Overt?
 Planned or unplanned?
 Must be properly documented
Advantages
 Advantages -
 Participation
 concentration
 not easy but can sometimes see the obvious
 Disadvantages-
 Detrimental effect
 disturbing normal working practices,
 time consuming
Fact Finding Plan!
 Need to use time and resources effectively.
 One possible approach follows:
 Use observation to identify useful contacts and important
processes.
 Interview a few carefully chosen personnel
 Follow up on interesting or unclear areas with further
interviews, focus groups or questionnaires.

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