Application Needs Assessment Design Documents

ITE 480 Writing Assignment 4 – (15% of overall grade)
Application Final Requirements & Design Documents

Required Software: You will use Microsoft Visio or another visual graphical application to create your
Use Case diagram for Pt 1 of this assignment. If you do not have software already, get your login set up
FIRST so that you will be able to get your software installed in time to complete the assignment.
Subject: Application Needs Assessment Design Documents
Purpose: This assignment will give you experience in the final stages of a Needs Assessment document to
provide a solution that satisfies an organization’s or person’s technology needs.
Knowledge: This assignment will help you become familiar with the following important content
knowledge in this discipline:
• appropriate documentation used in a Needs Assessment for an organization
• Use Case structure to specify requirements for a system under construction or renovation
• processes available for acquiring new technology
• and how to report on anticipated effectiveness, ease of use, benefits, and decision criteria for
acquiring new technology
Skills: Through this assignment, you will practice the following skills that are essential to your success as an
Information Technology professional:
• conduct a needs analysis for a proposed system
• develop Use Cases which clearly specify the requirements for a system under construction or
renovation
• develop either a prototype or detailed system design diagram to provide traceability of your system
back to established functional and non-functional requirements
• describe processes to acquire new technology
• report on anticipated effectiveness, ease of use, benefits, and decision criteria for acquiring new
technology
Tasks: Your goal for this assignment is to produce documentation to support continued development of your
proposed system that satisfies the objectives listed below. This is broken into several steps to help build your
Needs Assessment documentation.
Part 1 (130 pts/65%):
(a) Expanded Executive Summary (50 pts)
• Submit an expanded Executive Summary of your revised Project Proposal document for the application
you are modeling, explaining the scope of the system along with all major functional and nonfunctional
requirements.
• This document is how you will convince the client that your application will meet the proposed needs. It
should be considered a mini Needs Assessment Summary like what you read and analyzed in WA2.
• Be sure to clearly state what the purpose of the system is and the business or personal goals to benefit the
user and all stakeholders. Also refer to the analysis that you conducted in WA3 to justify the requirements
you included in this design.
• Criteria for Success: The document should be professionally written, proofread for typos, and
grammatically correct. The reader should be able to understand the primary functionality and major goals of
this system.
• Submit as ITE480WA4_ExecSumJ00XXXXXX.docx.
(b) Use Case Diagram (15 pts)
• Create a Use Case Diagram for the system using Microsoft Visio (available from MS-Imagine) or another
graphical application, which will model your Use Cases, system Actors, and their relationships.
• All major functional requirements must be included in the diagram.
• Be sure to clearly identify any nomenclature you are using in your diagrams which are beyond the standard
symbols, <<include>>, <<extend>>, etc. covered in our lecture and course materials.
• Criteria for Success: The diagram should clearly identify the main functionality, system actors and their
relationship to the system. All expected diagram parts as discussed in class should be included.
• Export as a JPG file and name your file ITE480WA4_UseCaseDiag_J00XXXXXX.jpg. (Do not submit as a
vsdx file or other non-image format.)
(c) Use Case Table and Data Dictionary (25 pts)
• Complete a Use Case Table and a Data Dictionary for, at minimum, the two most important Use Cases
associated with the application using the ‘Use Case Table and Data Dictionary’ file located in Resources (see
WA4 Templates folder).
• Include Use Cases which have significant user inputs and whose purpose is not just to produce a view of
some data which is stored in your system.
• Use Cases should be important and non-trivial. (Do not write a use case for Login or just to display data!)
These elements must be traceable back to your functional and nonfunctional requirements.
• For each System Input and Output identified in your Use Case Table, add a corresponding entry in your
Data Dictionary along with the data items (data fields) associated with that input or output.
• Name Use Cases appropriately using the guidelines in the lecture materials on Use Cases. They must be
traceable to the Use Case Diagram.
• Criteria for Success: Important use cases and all elements expected are included and it is clear that there
is traceability back to your requirements listed in the Executive Summary.
• Submit as ITE480WA4_UseCaseTable_DD_J00XXXXXX.docx.
(d) Use Case Narratives (40 pts)
• Create expanded Use Case Narratives for the Use Cases in your Use Case Table using the ‘Use Case
Narrative Template’ file located in Resources (see WA4 Templates folder). There should be at minimum 2.
• Remember to consider and document all exceptions/alternative flows and errors.
• Criteria for Success: Narrative includes all required elements, documentation can clearly be followed,
and there are expected actor actions / system responses as well as exceptions/errors accounted for.
• Submit as ITE480WA4_UseCaseNarr_J00XXXXXX.docx
Summary of files due for Pt 1 on Mon Dec 3:
• Expanded Executive Summary: ITE480WA4_ExecSumJ00XXXXXX.docx
• Use Case Diagram: ITE480WA4_UseCaseDiag_J00XXXXXX.jpg
• Use Case Table and Data Dictionary: ITE480WA4_UseCaseTable_DD_J00XXXXXX.docx
• Use Case Narratives: ITE480WA4_UseCaseNarr_J00XXXXXX.docx
Part 2 (70 pts/35%): Detailed Design. Choose one of the following options for part 2. For
applications where you described a system that is more user interface based which has multiple functions
and does not have a significant hardware component, choose option A. Some of you described systems that
have a very limited user interface but provide interaction with hardware and you should submit documents
for option B.
Option A: Prototypes
• Create input screen prototypes and output screen prototypes for each system operation which is assigned to
a Use Case Narrative in Pt 1d. These should be created electronically using software in any appropriate tool
that you can create a screen prototype in. Note that these are not graded for aesthetics to the extent that an
HCI project would be graded. Focus on system function rather than design.
• Save prototypes as image files (jpg, gif, or png) named after the operation they relate to (e.g.
nameOfOperation_Input.jpg nameOfOperation_Output.jpg), and save them in your Drop Box folder.
• Include a Word document which includes the associated Use Cases from Pt 1 including these screen
prototypes next to the Use Cases to which they apply.
• Data items shown on your inputs and outputs should be traceable to your data dictionary. If a Use Case has
one operation, you’ll create one input screen prototype and one output screen prototype. If a Use Case has
two operations, you’ll create two input and two output screen prototypes and so on.
• Criteria for Success: all expected prototypes are included; prototypes show clear linkage to Use Cases to
which they apply and to the Executive Summary provided.
• Submit as ITE480WA4_PrototypesJ00XXXXXX.docx
Option B: Detailed System Diagrams
• Provide detailed documentation and diagrams relating to your system(s) that communicate with your
application. These may include, but are not limited to, network diagrams, enterprise architecture diagrams,
deployment diagrams, UML component diagrams, and activity diagrams. It is your responsibility to ensure
you are including enough information to show the architecture of your system.
• Diagrams must be easy to follow and understand. When you have completed your diagrams, save them as
image files (jpg, gif, or png) named after the type of diagram they are and save them in your Drop Box folder
(e.g. ent_arch.jpg, interface_component.jpg, etc.).
• Note: a good resource would be https://www.smartdraw.com/uml-diagram/#UMLTypes to see examples.
You may use other resources as well but they must be common UML diagrams and be clear and selfexplanatory.
• Also submit a Word document report explaining these diagrams. This documentation must detail exactly
what these diagrams are illustrating and explain how your system works as well as how this will interface
with the actors in your system.
• Criteria for Success: expected diagrams are included which clearly explain system functionality and
integration with actors, other systems, and architecture. Documentation shows clear linkage to Use Cases to
which they apply and to the Executive Summary provided.
• Submit as ITE480WA4_SystemDesignJ00XXXXXX.docx
Summary of files due for Pt 2 on Fri Dec 7:
Option A: ITE480WA4_PrototypesJ00XXXXXX.docx and all image files to Dropbox named appropriately.
Option B: ITE480WA4_SystemDesignJ00XXXXXX.docx and all image files to Dropbox named appropriately.
***** For 5 additional bonus points, submit all work for both parts by Mon Dec 3 @ 11pm *****