Problem Analysis

• Informal Approach :

1. The informal approach to analysis is one where no defined methodology is used.
2. The information about the system is obtained by interaction with the client, end users, questionnaires, study of existing documents, brainstorming, etc.
3. The informal approach to analysis is used widely and can be quite useful because conceptual modeling-based approaches frequently do not model all aspects of the problem and are not always well suited for all the problems.
4. as the SRS is to be validated and the feedback from the validation activity may require further analysis or specification.
5. choosing an informal approach to analysis is not very risky—-the errors that may be introduced are not necessarily going to slip by the requirements phase. Hence such approaches may be the most practical approach to analysis in some situations. 

• Various fact finding methods are used to collect detailed information about every aspect of an existing system.
• Shadowing : 

1. Shadowing is a technique in which you observe a user performing the tasks in the actual work environment and ask the user any questions related to the task.
2. You typically follow the user as the user performs tasks.
3. The information obtained by using this technique was firsthand and in context. 

• Interviews:

1. In interview is a one-on-one meeting between a member of the project team and a user.
2. The quality of the information a team gathers depends on the skills of both the interviewer and the interviewee.
3. An interviewer can learn a great deal about the difficulties and limitations of the current solution.
4. Interviews provide the opportunity to ask a wide range of questions about topics that you cannot observe by means of shadowing.

• Some of the questions we covered were:

1. What do you look from the system?
2. What are the problems you face while performing your task?
3. What are the details that need to be maintained?
4. Who provides the information needed to perform tasks?
5. What information do you need to maintain for future use?
6. What changes would make their experience more enjoyable?

• Hence with this we were able to achieve the following:

1. Identify the types of information that is gathered and processed and maintained.
2. Identify the sources for information.
3. Identify techniques required for data processing and the business rules to keep in mind to do the same.
4. Identify end user requirements from the system.
5. Identify the changes to be made to the system to make the experience more user-friendly.