FACT FINDING & RECORDING

To develop a project it is important to understand how the current system is used. Considerations should include how the new system will be different and also how it could evolve in the future.

Questionnaires allow a large number of people to be assessed on how they use the system, although they may not be entirely honest with their answers as they may be embarrassed about parts of the existing system which they have trouble with. Watching users work with the software allows first hand analysis of how they use the system, in a real life situation, weaknesses can be easily seen and understood. It is important to discover which areas users have difficulty with or functions that do not work properly on the existing system. Watching users is the best method.

This is an information gathering stage, it is important to discover what the exact problems are of the existing system and why it needs to be replaced. This contributes towards developing a better solution and avoiding mistakes or problems on the new system that were previously made.