Agile Modeling and Prototyping

As the systems analyst presenting a prototype of the information system, you are keenly interested in the reactions of users and management to the prototype. You want to know in detail how they react to working with the prototype and how good the fit is between their needs and the prototyped features of the system…. [Continue Reading]

Prototyping is a superb way to elicit feedback about the proposed system and about how readily it is fulfilling the information needs of its users, as depicted in the figure illustrated below. The first step of prototyping is to estimate the costs involved in building a module of the system. If costs of programmers’ and… [Continue Reading]

The users’ role in prototyping can be summed up in two words: honest involvement. Without user involvement there is little reason to prototype. The precise behaviors necessary for interacting with a prototype can vary, but it is clear that the user is pivotal to the prototyping process. Realizing the importance of the user to the… [Continue Reading]

Rapid application development (RAD) is an object-oriented approach to systems development that includes a method of development as well as software tools. It makes sense to discuss RAD and prototyping in the same chapter, because they are conceptually very close. Both have as their goal the shortening of time typically needed in a traditional SDLC… [Continue Reading]

In the figures illustrated below you can compare the phases of the SDLC with those detailed for RAD at the beginning of this section. Notice that the ultimate purpose of RAD is to shorten the SDLC and in this way respond more rapidly to dynamic information requirements of organizations. The SDLC takes a more methodical,… [Continue Reading]

Agile methods are a collection of innovative, user-centered approaches to systems development. You will learn the values and principles, activities, resources, practices, processes, and tools associated with agile methodologies in the upcoming section. Agile methods can be credited with many successful systems development projects and in numerous cases even credited with rescuing companies from a… [Continue Reading]

Agile modeling involves a number of activities that need to be completed sometime during the agile development process. This section discusses these activities, the resources, and the practices that are unique to the agile approach. Four Basic Activities of Agile Development There are four basic activities of development that agile methods use. They are coding,… [Continue Reading]

Modeling is a keyword in agile methods. Agile modeling seizes on the opportunity to create models. These can be logical models such as drawings of systems, or mock-ups such as the prototypes described earlier in this chapter. A typical agile modeling process would go something like this: Listen for user stories from the customer. Draw… [Continue Reading]

Often posed as an alternative way to develop systems, the agile approach seeks to address common complaints arising over the traditional SDLC approach (for being too time-consuming, focusing on data rather than on humans, and being too costly) by being rapid, iterative, flexible, and participative in responding to changing human information requirements, business conditions, and… [Continue Reading]

In consultation with users, analysts must consider the risks that organizations face when adopting new methodologies. Clearly this is part of a larger question of when is the appropriate time to upgrade human skills, adopt new organizational processes, and institute internal change. In the larger sense, these are questions of a strategic dimension for organizational… [Continue Reading]