Intro
Identifying the Context of a new system
When a new system is being developed for an organization the system, it isn’t developed in isolation. The system is developed within an existing environment and is subject to the needs and constraints of the environment, the organization and the individuals within the environment.
It is important to consider the wider situation, especially in regards to:
- The physical, economic, political and cultural environment that it is being developed within
- The nature, culture and policies of the organisation
- The individuals who are going to be involved in the system
- Any existing system in place.
- Any constraints that will be placed on the development of the new system.
- The scope of the new system.
Environment
Physical Environment
- What kind of premises is the new system going to used in?
- Is the system going only to need to be usable locally and remotely?
- What hardware is the system going to be running on?
- What are the network and internet connections like? Are they reliable? Does the system need to be able to cope with loss of internet connection?
- Is the environment busy, dark, outdoors, dirty, wet?
Political Environment
- Does the system need to adhere to certain laws in regards to data privacy, security or accessibility?
The Cultural Environment
- Does the system need to follow a particular house style or user experience?
- Does the organizational culture dictate certain requirements?
Organisation
The organisation
- How large is the organisation?
- How many different departments are there?
- How will the system be fitting in within those departments?
- What other systems will the system need to interoperate with?
Is the organisation growing? How will its needs change over time? How is the system going to adapt?
Individuals
Individuals within the system
- What individuals are going to be interacting with the new system?
- How many different user roles are there? How do their needs differ?
- How does the existing workflow function?
- Are there any other stakeholders within the system who aren’t users.
System
Existing System
- Is there an existing electronic system in place?
- Is there currently a paper-based system in place?
- Why does the existing system need to be replaced?
- Which parts of the existing system need to be kept?
Constraints
Internal Constraints
What are the internal constraints from within the organisation?
- Time – when does the new system need to be in place?
- Money – what is the budget?
External Constraints
What external constraints are there?
- IB IA Project deadline
- Legal constraints
Scope
Scope of the new system
It’s important to sit down early on with the client and establish exactly what is within the scope of the system and more important and what is out of scope for the new system.
In-scope
- A specific list of features and capabilities that the new system will have.
- Agreed deliverables & timeframe
- Project costing estimate
Out of scope
- What features are not going to be included.
- What interoperability is not going to the provided
- What items are not included within the costing and therefore will need to be billed extra
Failure to establish firm boundaries will lead to feature creep, missed deadlines other issues further down the line.
Activity
Activity 1 – DDA Australia
Businesses and other organisations are required to make adjusts for users with disabilities.
Take a look at this document (it’s quite long so you should skim read to the portion of the document that is relevant) and identify 2 adaptions that should be made to make websites accessible to those with disabilities.
Activity 2 – School Sports Day Results
A school is looking to implement a new system where sports day fixture results are recorded and analysed.
- Identify 3 constraints for the new system
- Describe 3 different user roles that the new system might have
- Decide on 2 items that will be out of scope for the new system.
Activity 3 – Sailing club
An amateur sailing club is looking to create a system that allows the club to record attendance and results for the sailing competitions the club attends, both on-site and off-site. Discuss the environmental factors might you need to consider when implementing a new system?