3.9.1 Investigation Techniques

3.9.1 Investigation Techniques

1. Interviews

   • One to one interviews are the most usual method of gathering client's requirements and are usually considered the most productive. To the get the interviewee talking an open ended discussion may be the most useful and then more specific questions can be asked to establish the requirements.
   • When there are several people at the same level who all need to be involved, a group interview could be useful. However, they require careful preparation to avoid going off topic and losing focus. Although it could also be very helpful and valuable in establishing a full set of requirements. A formal report should be prepared as soon as possible after the interview.

2. Joint Application Development (JAD)

   • In JAD sessions a group of people get together and stay in session until a complete set of requirements is documented and agreed to. The client and users can be involved in regular JAD sessions and the fact that they are so heavily involved is thought by many people to lead to faster development times and greater client satisfaction. It tends to be particularly successful in projects where a number of different users are involved, especially if their responsibilities do not fall into traditional or specialisms.
   • The benefit of this approach is that everyone discussing the requirements together means tat they have to come to a joint agreement about what is required.

3. Questionnaires

   • Questionnaires are probably the most useful for users in remote locations or for people whose role is going to be fairly minor but who may still want to be involved in the process. Additionally, they can be used to great effect when large numbers of people are involved, but it is fairly unlikely that they will all agree exactly what is needed because of their different roles and needs, or due to differing personal preferences.
   • A large number of questionnaires will allow you to judge the weight of opinion behind a request - do most people want a particular function or is it just one or two? Often, to ensure that questionnaires are valid, a random sample question will be interviewed to check response and investigate more detail.

4. Observation

   • Visiting the company to actually see what happens can be very important. A manager may have explained in an interview how the data backup service works but seeing it happen will make it all much clearer. users who have been doing the same job for a long time may not be conscious of everything that they do, because it has become second nature to them and they don't think about it. Watching such users work may give a better understanding of everything that goes on, what happens when problems occur an how they are dealt with. It also provides an opportunity to observe informal communication such as telephone calls which may not appear in paperwork but still be important.

5. Thought Showers

   • If a very new problem is being tackled, a thought shower session may be useful. This is an open session when everyone is encouraged to submit their thoughts. it gives all the participants a chance to share ideas, however unlikely some of the may seem at first. This creative process may sometimes produce truly innovative ideas and solutions.

6. Record Searching/Document Analysis

   • Record searching or document analysis, means the study of material written down about the organisation or data that it generates. For example, when investigating the back up service of a large company, there will probably be a procedure manual that describes the procedures involved. Considering this alongside observation of the process will help to confirm what happens and to highlight errors or problems..

7. Fast Recording

   • Recording the findings of an investigation is an extremely important because: It provides a permanent record. Several people may need to work on the same project and need access to the information. Findings may need to be checked and confirmed with other users and this needs a written record as evidence. The act of recording the findings provides structure and so helps analysis.

8. Unstructured Findings

   • These can be facts or opinions given in interviews. A standard discussion record may be used in some organisations.