Systems Design
Weekly Schedule
Week
1 Introduction to Design
2 Information Engineering
3 Introduction to the Design Problem
4 Project Proposal (Milestone #1)
5 System Analysis (Milestone #2)
6 Implementation of Systems
7 E-R Modelling (Milestone #3)
8
9 Detailed System Proposals (Milestone #4)
10 Systems Outputs (Milestone #5)
11 Systems Inputs and User Interface (Milestone #6)
12 System Procedures, Controls, Coding (Milestone #7)
13 Program Design and Structured Walk Through
(Milestone #8)
14 Training and User Documentation (Milestone #9)
15 Testing and Implementation Plan (Milestones #10 & #11)
16 Final Presentations and Demo (Milestone #12)
Final Exam
Instructions for the Thompson
Case
1. Assume that Thompson has been recently taken over by a large Pet Food
Chain - Elgins. Elgins has
retained Mr. Thompson as the Chief Executive.
2. Elgins wants to use the Thomson facilities for
a major expansion of its activities in this region. Towards this end they have
instructed Mr. Thompson to undertake a mojor overhaul
of the information systems in the company. Financing is not a major problem,
however, IS projects will be evaluated and approved after assessing the
alternatives and feasibility.
3. Elgin wants Thompson's systems and procedures to be streamlined in line
with the best practices in the industry. They also also
want to create a web presence and look into the e-commerce technologies. For
this purpose Thompson has invited major consulting vendors to study their
environment and submit proposals. Your team is one of the few consultants
invited to submit a proposal.
4. Besides problems mentioned in the case, Thompson's auditors have listed
several areas of concern in their report. These include:
A. Delays in returning rejected materials to vendors.
B. Lack of proper systems to deal with materials returned by customers for damage and other reasons.
C. Mix up of accepted and defective materials in the warehouse.
D. Significant delays in fulfilling customer orders.
E. Lack of standardization in the choice of packing boxes and lack of a proper systems to identify suitable box size for each order.
F. Problems in materials accounting, materials planning, inventory control,
and purchasing areas.
Main Milestones in the Systems Design Case
1. Project Proposal
2. Systems Analysis and Requirements Definition
3. E-R Modelling
4. Detailed System Proposal
5. System Outputs
6. Systems Inputs and User Interface
7. Systems Procedures, Controls & Coding Schemes
8. Program Design and Structured Walkthrough
9. Training and Documentation
10. Implementation Plan
11. Testing
12. Final Design Reports and Systems Demo
Main Milestones in the Systems Design Case
1. Project Proposal (10-12 excluding resumes)
Memorandum
Executive summary
Provide an overview of the main problem/Problem definition
How IS/overall systems design can be helpful in providing a solution
What does your company recommend - what would you do - how much would it cost, deliverables, milestones, time schedule
Preliminary feasibility
Summary of project team qualifications and experience
Project team - resumes
2. Systems Analysis and Requirements Definition
Summary of problem definition, identify scope
Critical success factors and procesing requirements for each area
Detailed functional and process decomposition for each area, including batch, online, and manual processes
Context diagram showing system boundary, external entities and data flows representing their interfaces with the system
Event Process Chain (EPC) for selected processes
Describe business policies and procedures for the information system
Processing requirements and business constraints
Enterprise model, list of entities (objects and events)
Preliminary entity to elementary process matrix
Preliminary entity to (all) process matrix
3. E-R Modeling
Detailed E-R model consisting of a normalized set of relations
User views, indexes
Data dictionary documenting data elements and data structures
Updated process decomposition
Updated matrices
4. Detailed System Proposal
The system proposal must include:
Cover letter
Executive summary
A section describing existing major problems, needs and opportunities associated with the current information processing situation
A section describing the proposed systems solutions, presenting general logical approaches and comparing several alternative physical implementations of these approaches
A section devoted to your recommendation for a course of action addressing and comparing the feasibility of alternative solutions
Also provide:
Hierarchy chart and EPCs for the proposed system
Normalized E-R Model
Hardware/software specification and location
Database design
Data dictionary with data validation rules
Business rules
5. Systems Outputs
Includes:
Identify data flows appearing on your DFDs that must be designed as computer outputs
Define output technical design requirements in an expanded project dictionary
Document the format for the system's display and printed outputs
Generate samples of outputs using realistic or reasonable data for
verification by users.
6. Systems Inputs and User Interface
Inputs:
Identify data flows appearing on your DFDs that must be designed as computer inputs
Define input design requirements and record these in an expanded project dictionary
Design source documents that are simple for users to complete when capturing input data
Document the format for batch and on-line computer inputs
Generate samples of source documents and input screens using realistic or reasonable data for verification by users
Interface:
Sketch a template that ensures that all screens are designed to appear consistent and familiar to users
Plan and coordinate the sequencing and variations of terminal dialogue screens to be viewed by users
Design the format of the terminal dialogue screens for your on-line system
Generate sample screens of your system's terminal dialog
7. System Procedures, Controls and Coding Schemes
Includes:
Document the sequence and flow of computer processing for your system
Include internal control methods for data capture, editing and correction
Processing Controls
Include interval control methods for backup and recovery of files and data bases
Include programs for file maintenance
Design appropriate codes for classifying various products and transactions
8. Programs Design and Structured Walkthrough
Includes:
Identify programs requiring detailed packaging
Factor your programs into manageable modules
Develop processing specifications for each program module
Assemble the input, output, file, terminal dialogue and processing
specifications of each program for presentation to computer programmers for
implementation
9. User Documentation and Training
User documentation: user manuals, procedure manuals and training module documentation
Develop a training program which will include pretraining analysis, training delivery and post-training evaluation
Manpower needed for the system
Education, experience and training needs for each user
Office layout and office automation
10. Implementation Plan
Includes:
Impact study
Software conversion and conversion methods
System review and evaluation (technical audit, user critique and management review)
For system support
Analyze change requirements (identify changes, develop work plan and analyze costs and benefits)
Modify system (review details and changes, prepare program changes, test changes, revise program documentation and manuals
Implement changes (review for acceptance, train personnel, introduce modifications)
Users' resistance to change - impact study and suggested recommendations to
deal with it
11. Testing
Test from the bottom up
Module or "stub" testing
Program testing
Link testing
System testing
Acceptance testing
Develop test data
Make it work
Make it fail
Questionnaire for User Satisfaction Summary
12. Final Project Report
Write a formal technical professional report that organizes your system documentation
Update DFDs if needed
Include final DFDs
Include, in appendices, all outputs from the previous stages (e.g., E-R Model, input design, output design, etc.)
Discuss benefits, future directions for the system
Review needs for the system
Position your systems design in the context of overall business/system design for this organization
Provide an outline of MIS plan for this organization
Discuss how "re-engineering" should be applied in this organization. Identify critical success factors, key processes, and important IS projects to help guide the future re-engineering efforts
Date
Team Number Being Rated
Milestone Number
PRESENTATION FEEDBACK
Please rate the entire team on the following dimensions. Use the following
scoring scale:
10 - excellent
9 - very good
8 - good
7 - fair
6 - below expectations
5 - poor quality
4 - unacceptable work
3 - total failure
1. Style and form (appearance of presentation, dress,
eye contact, delivery). (20%)
2. Quality of materials used in presentation.
(20%)
3. Success in communicating and explaining the design,
rationale for design choices, answering querries from the audience. (30%)
4. Quality of design produced.
(30%)