Week3 requirement gathering and preparing interview

In week 3, we have stepped into analysis phase of SDLC and mainly talked about gathering information. We were also required to listen to an audio file and prepare interview questions about shoes stock management in a shoes store.

Requirement gathering comprises dertermining requirement, gathering information and validating requirement. At first galance, it seems that gathering requirement is an easy work, but it turns out to be fairly difficult and need significant effort. A system analyst cannot gather requirement well until he possesses of sufficient technical skills, comprehensive understading of business process and good communication skills. Peter said business people do not like IT people. If they do not trust you, they will not tell you the right things. I think peter's words address one aspect of communication issues. Peter also talked about his own experience about building a system for a stationary shop in a school. There was a problem with the sales database. Every sale was recorder twice. Peter checked the programe code and everything else but still cound not find the problem. Then he went to the shop and watch how people scan item and he found that people scanned items twice! This example imply that watch how people doing things is a effective way to figure out user's requirement.

We also started assignment 1 in week3. The assignment is buliding a shoes stock management system for a shoes shop. We were required to listen to an audio file and prepare questions for a mock interview. Assignment1a is mainly drawing an event table. After I listened to the audio, I found that the system required for stock management is simple. The owner of the shop only need some kind of system to manage inventory, deal with returned shoes and perform sales processing functions. For instance, zac wants to know the location and availability of each particular shoes and the system can help him record these imformation.