Siri
Here is an interesting video about Siri: How iPhone’s Siri Got “Her” Start. Siri is an exciting new personal voice assistant developed by Apple for use with the iPhone. The technology is primarily software, embedded in Apple’s latest iPhone 4S. It is voice-controlled and can be used to answer queries, search the Internet for results, read or send text messages, make calls, schedule appointments for you and much more. Once activated, it works entirely with voice commands; there is no need to type anything. Even simple questions like “Will it rain today?” can be answered by Siri with ease. If Siri doesn’t understand the request, it can respond with questions until it understands and can carry out the request. In cases where Siri is unable to find the answer to a request, it will fetch data from the Internet and present potential results. Lifehacker.com gives a brief overview of Siri’s capabilities and can be accessed at http://lifehacker.com/5846543/all-about-siri-your-iphones-new-assistant
The goal of Sixth Sense technology is to merge the physical world with the digital world in an attempt to make digital access more intuitive and “human”. Simplifying a user’s work is the main goal of commercial technology today. Using voice as an input method accomplishes both these goals, creating a useful digital assistant that interacts with the user in a more human way. Although voice-input technology had existed for a while, the accuracy and the efficiency of such technologies were poor at best. Although Siri is based on these older technologies, it is leagues ahead of the competition. For example, traditional voice technologies require the user to speak some predefined paragraphs to train the system to recognize their voice and to memorize predefined words that must be used to obtain results. But Siri just extracts or parses out the meaning of user’s words to find an answer. No need to worry about syntax or memorize certain words.
One of the major factors that helped Siri to be successful in a market of voice-detection technologies is its ability to correct the user’s request. For instance, if a user tells Siri to set an appointment at a certain time and there is already a previous appointment for the user, Siri will notify the user of the scheduling conflict.
The most formidable competitor to Siri might be new voice artificial intelligence technology call Truehandsfree Voice control 2.0. It promises to expand on Siri’s technology by fixing the issues that occur in noisy situations. It will run on iPhone devices as well as other devices such as android devices.
TrulyHandsfree is a product of Sensory, Inc., a company that has been in the speech technology field for a number of years. The company states the following about this product:
“With TrulyHandsfree Voice Control, users are not required to hold the device to their mouth to deliver commands. The technology can respond to commands delivered as far as 20 feet away or in high noise conditions making it a perfect solution for controlling devices in the home while multitasking or in the car where users need to focus on driving.”(sirifunny, 2011)
Sensory has released a video demonstrating how TrulyHandsfree Voice Control works. The voice control application can be on and listening all the time. It is activated by speaking a keyword. No touch is required. This technology can be incorporated into many devices, such as an appliance, navigation device, clock, or tablet, to voice activate the device.
Will Siri survive in the marketplace? Its future looks promising. Google chairman Eric Schmidt stated that Siri is a “significant development” and “represented a threat to Google’s search business.” Schmidt compares Siri with Google’s voice-assisted search tool in the article titled “iPhone’s Siri Threatens Google, Schmidt says.” But Siri is not without its challenges. A team of Paris-based developers are using reverse-engineering techniques to understand how Siri works in order to extend the same capabilities to other devices such as older iPhones, the iPad and smartphones. If successful, this could cut into Siri’s market share. Siri is not without its detractors. In an article by Mellisa Tolentino titled “Siri Becomes Political Calamity for AI,” many shortcomings of Siri are discussed. These include problems with poor voice recognition and poor network connections as well as failure to give accurate or complete answers, especially with medically-related questions. But Siri has so much potential and many useful features that it is likely to be around for a long time. Even with the competition racing to catch up, Siri represents a milestone in artificial intelligence and will serve as the foundation for future improvements in voice-controlled digital access.
Additional information about Siri can be found at:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221847/After_a_month_Siri_finds_her_voice
http://www.dangreller.com/archives/975
References
http://www.sirifunny.com/competitors-to-siri/
http://www.mbtmag.com/Content.aspx?id=3748
http://lifehacker.com/5846543/all-about-siri-your-iphones-new-assistant
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/productivity_apps/231902440
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231903052
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2011/12/01/siri-becomes-political-minefield-for-ai/
UML Diagrams: MIS 552 Group 4 Blog Report Assignment 5 November 16, 2011
“Discuss the roles of Component Diagram, Deployment Diagram and Package Diagram in UML. Identify an example from the web that shows how component and deployment diagrams are used.”
UML 2.2 has thirteen types of diagrams divided into three classifications:
- Behavior diagrams. A type of diagram that depicts behavioral features of a system or business process. This includes activity, state machine, and use case diagrams as well as the four interaction diagrams.
- Interaction diagrams. A subset of behavior diagrams w
hich emphasize object interactions. This includes communication (aka collaboration), interaction overview, sequence, and timing diagrams. - Structure (aka Physical) diagrams. A type of diagram that depicts the elements of a specification that are irrespective of time. This includes class, composite structure, component, deployment, object, and package diagrams.
These diagram types can be presented hierarchically as shown below:
Component Diagrams:
- Describe how a software system is split up into components and shows the dependencies among these components.
- Display the high-level packaged structure of the code itself. Dependencies among components are shown, including source code components, binary code components, and executable components. Some components exist at compile time, at link time, at run times well as at more than one time.
- Depict the components that compose an application, system, or enterprise. The components, their interrelationships, interactions, and their public interfaces are depicted.
- Show the dependencies among software components, including the classifiers that specify them (for example implementation classes) and the artifacts that implement them; such as source code files, binary code files, executable files, scripts and tables.
Deployment Diagrams:
- Describe the hardware used in system implementations and the execution environments and artifacts deployed on the hardware.
- Show the execution architecture of systems. This includes nodes, either hardware or software execution environments, as well as the middleware connecting them.
- Show the physical configurations of software and hardware.
- Depict a static view of the run-time configuration of hardware nodes and the software components that run on those nodes. Deployment diagrams show the hardware for your system, the software that is installed on that hardware, and the middleware used to connect the disparate machines to one another.
Package Diagrams:
- Describe how a system is split up into logical groupings by showing the dependencies among these groupings.
- Show how model elements are organized into packages as well as the dependencies between packages.
- Simplify complex class diagrams, as it can group classes into packages. A package is a collection of logically related UML elements.
Example Component Diagram:
eSana framework builds a platform in order to create small mobile applications in the health environment.
http://diuf.unifr.ch/main/is/esana-framework
Example Deployment Diagram:
Utilizing the application of Machine Smarts technology within an autonomous vehicle framework, each of these robotic system architectures uses the California Robotics Control software package to provide a platform that learns from the user.
http://machinesmarts.com/page7.html
End-user Software Engineering
This video features Dr. Margaret Burnett, of Oregon State University, speaking about problems with end-user software and attempts of the EUSES Consortium to improve the process and provide better tools and processes to end-user programmers.
To frame the problem, Dr. Burnett stated that there is a large number of end-user-created software in the world, mostly spreadsheets, but also including dynamically created web pages, simulations, email filtering, and much more.
Two problems have been identified regarding end-user software:
- Errors exist in up to 90% of production spreadsheets
- End users are overly confident about creating and modifying their programs
End-user software engineering deals with what happens after the software is created – how to support the rest of the software life cycle. The goal is to reduce errors in end-user programs. This is hindered by the fact that end-user programmers generally have little motivation, interest or training in software engineering.
EUSES Consortium – End Users Shaping Effective Software – is a collaboration among the following universities and IBM:
- Cambridge (UK)
- Carnegie Mellon
- Drexel
- Nebraska
- Oregon State
- Penn State
EUSES Research identified three areas of end-user software; where these areas overlap or intersect is where end-user software exists:
- Software Engineering and Languages group
- Education group
- HCI and Psychology group
Research areas within EUSES:
- Sources & meta-sources of faults by end users
- Static, dynamic analysis: code, data
- Incremental algorithms immediate communication
The big question is: If we build it, will they come (use it)?
Dr. Burnett discusses the research prototype developed in Forms/3 spreadsheet program. Key aspects of the spreadsheet paradigm include:
– Cells that are not locked into a grid
– Use of meaningful names
– Ability to view formulas and data at same time
One device built toward end-user software engineering is a form of systematic testing.
A test, for spreadsheet usage, is a decision whether some output is right given the relative input. Test adequacy helps determine whether enough tests have been performed, and criterion has been developed to reason when enough testing has been done.
The WYSIWYT Strategy (what you see is what you test) incrementally updates tested-ness (as per formal criterion), allowing the user to incrementally inform the system of decisions, and immediately reflect this information (new testedness) in border colors as follows:
- Red means untested
- Checkboxes are used to record when value is correct
- Blue means tested
- Purple (or any color in between blue and red) means partially tested
- Other question marks in check boxes,
- Change the inputs – if value is correct, then enough testing is done and everything turns blue.
Many Empirical studies of WYSIWYT show that participants are afforded multiple benefits. End users benefit from higher test coverage, show a functional understanding of the testing process and appropriate confidence and judgment regarding whether the spreadsheet has been adequately tested. This type of testing results in more effective and faster debugging and less end user overconfidence about the correctness of the spreadsheet.
Assertions are a very important part of this process. It provides end-user programmers with ways of saying things about what they expect of a program. Assertions provide supplemental information about a program’s properties. They also add checks and balances that continually guard correctness – which cannot be done with testing alone. The assertion process need not be all or none – even one or two assertions provide some benefit. Assertions may also be added incrementally to refine the specifications in an on-going fashion.
Two types of assertions are documented:
- User Assertion – which are provided by the user
- System Assertion – which are obtained by the system because enough insertions in the cell enabled the system to make the determination
When system and user assertions do not match, an Assertion conflict or Value Violation may be highlighted. This will alert the end-user programmer to a potential error. In this case, either the formula is wrong or the assertion is wrong. The user makes the final judgment as to which assertion is correct.
How to get end users interested: Surprise-Explain-Reward
End-users are not always interested in every tool that software offers them, or they are just novice to additional features that might benefit them. Most users are simply trying to get something done by using the software tools most familiar to them. Users tend to utilize the features they are most familiar and comfortable with.
The Attention Investment models how people make decisions about what kinds of features in software to make use of, or how to spend their time to become more productive. The following are strong considerations:
- Cost of new feature – learning and interacting with new feature
- Weigh against benefit of new feature – may not be clear without incurring the cost to learn about the new feature
- Risks – wasted cost on time learning new feature; possibility of getting the environment into a state from which they cannot easily recover
In order to get end-users interested, you must arouse their curiosity. End Users/programmers believe their programs work well enough so they don’t need to research other features. To implement change, they must be shown the presence of an information gap, which would make them curious.
Surprise – Explain – Reward Strategy
SURPRISE: show them an information gap to arouse their curiosity. Surprise delivers the end-users to the explain stage – gets them curious about enough to seek explanations.
EXPLAIN: users seek explanation to close the information gap. This is usually self-directed learning. This offers the opportunity to suggest actions we want them to take to improve their software. Explain delivers the end-users to the reward phase – make clear what rewards are and tells them what we want them to do. Empirical studies have shown that self-directed learning is very effective.
REWARD: we must make benefits of taking those actions clear early in the process.
WYSIWYT testing is accessible and easy at first, but eventually it gets harder to conjure up suitable values to cover all the test situations. This is where HELP-ME-TEST (HMT) comes in. It will help conjure up test values for the end-user. This provides an opportunity for surprises by using HMT to suggest assertions. By hovering over an assertion, the end-user can get a tooltip which explains the assertion and how to fix the potentially bad values. Tips are provided via text only explanation or video demonstration.
The explanations are delivered through tooltips because the users seek explanations from the surprise object, or source of surprise. Users typically won’t want to go far for these explanations. The suggest action portion of the explanation gets users to take the desired action and they learn something through the process. This enables the user to be more engaged in the process.
Rewards take the form of:
- Red circle around values indicate either bugs or incorrect assertions (short-term and long-term benefit)
- Improved HMT behavior on input – picks better inputs
- HMT challenges assertions on non-input cells, aggressively seeking bugs
- Computer-generated assertions might look wrong
- Red circles around conflicting assertions
- Are first surprises, then rewards
Dr. Burnett discusses a behavior study conducted to test this process. There were sixteen participants who were given no assertions in advance. The purpose was to test whether the Surprise-Explain-Reward Strategy would entice and enable users to use assertions.
The results of study indicated:
- Surprises got users’ attention eventually
- 94% used assertions at least once
- Once they discovered assertions, then kept using them
- 87% used them on both tasks
- Once discovered, assertions were used more quickly
- Entered Assertions using HMT at first for training, then entered assertions on their own without need for HMT.
- Rewards seemed to be sufficient; participants felt they contributed to the accuracy
In the process of testing, it was determined that there were gaps in the help provided. It led to asking end-user debuggers what they wanted to know that might be missing. Gaps were identified as follows:
1) Oracle / Specification – 40% of gaps – whether output is correct; concentrated on the task, not environment and its features; difficult to tie help to these gaps
2) Strategy – 30% of gaps – what should we do now – strategy hypotheses – also not about features; no way to tie help to these gaps
3) Features – only 16% of gaps – but would work well with tooltips; unfortunately it would provide only a fraction of what users want to get out of help provided
4) Self-judgment – 9% of gaps – metacognitive instances are important in learning; self-efficacy (self-confidence) – improving accuracy of self-judgments may increase debugging effectiveness
5) Big (!) Gaps – 5% of gaps – users cannot voice the specific question –time they occur in the process may help identify the problem
Implications and Opportunities:
- Information gaps do not primarily focus explanations on features
- Users’ greatest need: Oracle/specification
- Strategy outnumbered features 3 to 1; needs local and global support
- Accuracy of users’ self-judgments may impact effectiveness
Emerging Research regarding Explanation devices have identified three types of explanation devices:
1) Tool tips – continue to provide features/rewards plus links to strategy videos
2) Video explanations of strategy and self-judgments – 1 to 2 minutes, may include:
- Head shots of people discussing the problem; enable users to identify with people shown in video; self- efficacy – if people you identify with are having same problem and demonstrate that they can solve it, so can you
- Spreadsheet so you can see what is happening
3) Side panel – links to text-based versions or video versions –
- Text version has same content as the videos; doesn’t have examples, but does include hyperlinks
The preliminary results of the Empirical study indicate that the three methods of supplying explanations have closed half of the gaps identified earlier with regard to strategy, oracle/specification, and self-judgment. It also shows that videos and text are used nearly the same amount of time, depending on the tasks being researched:
- When first learning about the feature, most users chose text version
- When returning for an explanation, most users chose the video, possibly because it has more content pictorial example.
- For a quick refresher, users chose text version for direct access to the desired information
Males and females responded differently to the videos. Females looked at the head shots and were engaged with speakers, while males looked at the spreadsheet and didn’t seem to want anyone to know they needed the videos. This supported the use of both forms of explanations. Both serve the purpose of filling a certain need, by a certain person, at a given point in time.
Lessons Learned
The main goal of end user software engineering is to find ways to address such issues as looking past the creation phase of software development and resolving the issues so as to facilitate ease of flow through the remaining stages of the software development lifecycle. This requires an organized attempt to help end-user programmers reduce errors in their programs. End-user programmers need help with design and composition of elements as well as support for evolution, maintenance, and development – a complete process for software development. This requires having sufficient knowledge of the current needs of end-user programmers.
WYSIWYT (what you see is what you test) is a methodology to support a systematic testing for the end user programmers by incrementally informing the system of decisions and immediately reflecting changes.
Surprise-Explain-Reward, developed to train the end user in software engineering techniques such as testing supported by WYSIWYT, appears to be working. In tests, users found this strategy to be helpful, and the software they produced contained fewer errors.
In conclusion, the research done by EUSES identified two areas of need in an attempt to fix the problems with end-users software engineering. First, it is apparent by the error rate of 90% that users need help with learning how to use the tools / features of programs. Once they are exposed to information gaps they are more likely to learn how to use the tools available to them. This makes it possible to engage them in an effort to modify their end user behavior, which, in turn, achieves the goal of fewer errors in end user programs.
What ethical issues may arise during the Fact-Finding process and how should they be handled?
Major ethical issues that may arise during the fact-finding process involve security, confidentiality, and privacy. Fact-finding activities often result in sensitive information being viewed and analyzed by system analysts. These sensitive documents must be protected by the analyst to ensure the security, confidentiality, and privacy of any data with which they have been entrusted.
This type of sensitive information may include the company’s pricing structure or future plans, employee profiles or performance evaluations, or other confidential documents. In order to secure this sensitive information, the analyst must ensure that it is never left unattended or in plain sight. In addition, the analyst should never discuss sensitive information in public, especially where such conversations can be easily overheard by those around them. Leaking sensitive information may result in negative consequences to the analyst as well as the company. The analyst may lose respect, credibility and the trust of the system users and management. This could seriously hinder the systems analyst’s ability to perform their job. The company may be subject to fines, lawsuits, and/or negative publicity. The systems analyst responsible for the breach might also be personally liable for sensitive information that is leaked as a result of invading someone’s personal privacy.
The analyst should ensure compliance with the company’s code of conduct and ethics statements. The analyst should also stay up-to-date with government regulations regarding the handling of sensitive information. This will ensure the analyst will not encounter any issues with the handling of sensitive information. Also, there should be a way that employees can report abuse of the policy so that control measures might be enacted to eliminate future incidents (Whitten, 2007).
Several measures can be taken by the company to minimize this danger.
- The company should have a clearly stated code of conduct and ethics statements that are displayed and made available to everyone throughout the company. These statements could be visually displayed throughout the company on banners or signs. In addition, this information could be provided on the company’s website to be accessed by off-site employees. All employees should sign a contract stating that they have read the policy and understand the severity of the consequences for breaching the policy.
- The company can require employees to attend training seminars on company ethics. Ongoing training sessions should be mandatory for employees at all levels throughout the organization. Finally, violations of the policies should lead to disciplinary action and, if the violation is severe enough, termination of the offending employee.
- The company can create a culture that is group centric. Cultures that are focused on competition (the individual centric company culture) can create situations where ethics are bent to reach the ultimate goal of being the best. Contrast this to company cultures that focus on the group. In these cultures the pressure to outperform others is substituted with the goal to work and perform well as a group. In this type of culture, people are more likely to safeguard sensitive information, especially during the fact-finding process.
- The company should use prescreening during application process to test for personal ethics.
One resource for systems analysts is The Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers course, which is offered by the Free Management Library (Carter McNamara). This guide asserts that there are two broad areas of business ethics:
- Managerial Mischief
“…includes illegal, unethical, or questionable practices of individual managers or organizations, as well as the causes of such behaviors and remedies to eradicate them.” (Carter McNamara)
- Moral Mazes
“…includes the numerous ethical problems that employees must deal with on a daily basis, such as potential conflicts of interest, wrongful use of resources, mismanagement of contracts and agreements, etc. ” (Carter McNamara)
The Free Management Library also offers up several tools with which to handle ethical dilemmas; one of those is “Twelve Questions to Address Ethical Dilemmas”:
- Have you defined the problem accurately?
- How would you define the problem if you stood on the other side of the fence?
- How did this situation occur in the first place?
- To whom and to what do you give your loyalty as a person and as a member of the corporation?
- What is your intention in making this decision?
- How does this intention compare with the probable results?
- Whom could your decision or action injure?
- Can you discuss the problem with the affected parties before you make your decision?
- Are you confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time as it seems now?
- Could you disclose without qualm your decision or action to your boss, your CEO, the board of directors, your family, society as a whole?
- What is the symbolic potential of your action if understood? If misunderstood?
- Under what conditions would you allow exceptions to your stand?
An example of a company with an ethical training policy is the International Monetary Fund’s Ethics Office. They express their core ethical values as Integrity, Impartiality, and Honesty (International Monetary Fund, The Ethics Office, Annual Report 2010). They portray their ethical framework as follows:
They advocate that staff be ethically educated in a variety of risk topics including, but not limited to:
– Core ethical values
– Commitments to stakeholders
– Conflicts of interest
– Fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption
– Use of Fund property and resources
– Confidentiality of Fund and member country information
– Whistleblower protection
– Human rights protection
– Safety and security
– Competition
– Employee privacy
– Harassment, discrimination, and retaliation
The goal of their ethics training is to achieve ethical analysis and decision making at all levels of the organization:
Systems analysts have a responsibility to adhere to these established standards of conduct (Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice):
Confidentiality – Respect the employers or clients confidentiality whether a confidentiality agreement has been signed or not.
Competence – A systems analyst should not take a job knowing that job is higher than the person’s competence and skill level.
Property rights – The systems analyst should be aware of any copyright, patents, or property that are property of the company and protected by their rights.
Computer Misuse – An analyst should not use a computer to misuse it from minor infractions to serious infractions like viruses.
The responsibility for ethical conduct falls on everyone in the company, but it is especially critical for the systems analyst. Business owners, users and other stakeholders place their trust in systems analysts to keep sensitive documents secure and confidential. In order to do their job effectively, the systems analyst needs the trust and confidence of the entire company. It is therefore essential that the systems analyst ensure that their trust is not misplaced or betrayed.
Works Cited
Carter McNamara, M. P. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers: http://managementhelp.org/businessethics/ethics-guide.htm#anchor53723
International Monetary Fund, The Ethics Office, Annual Report 2010. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from http://www.imf.org/external/hrd/eo/ar/2010/etoar10.pdf
Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2011, from ACM: http://www.acm.org/about/se-code
Whitten, J. L. (2007). Systems Analysis & Design Methods. McGraw-Hill.
Blog Report Assignment 2
“In the 4-Model approach, the process is essentially transition between logical and physical model. In this thread, discuss the differences between logical model and physical model. Use example, if possible.”
LOGICAL MODEL
A Logical Model shows what the system is or does and depicts the system independent of any technical implementation. (Bentley) The logical model is sometimes referred to as the business model because it focuses in on the actual business requirements.
A sound logical design should streamline the physical design process by clearly defining data structures and the relationships between them. A good data model is created by clearly thinking about the current and future business requirements. A logical data model includes all the required entities, attributes, key groups, and relationships that represent business information and define business rules. 1
Reasons for building a logical model are as follows 2:
- Aids in common understanding of business data elements and requirements
- Provides foundation for designing a database
- Facilitates avoidance of data redundancy and thus prevents data and business transaction inconsistency
- Facilitates data re-use and sharing
- Decreases development and maintenance time and cost
- Confirms a logical process model and facilitates impact analysis.
System analysts tend to focus more on the logical model for the following reasons: (Bentley)
- They encourage creativity by avoiding the “this is how we did it in the past” mind set.
- It allows for a better analysis of what is required for completeness, accuracy, and consistency by separating what the system must do from how it will do it.
- It allows for easier communication with end users because of its less technical nature.
The benefits of logical data modeling include 2:
- Helping to improve the overall business process
- Providing a wider focus on the requirements rather than depending on technology
- Producing higher investment returns
- Helping to organize metadata by centralizing them
- Promoting unlined communication between applications
- Aiding in the provision of a coherent naming scheme
Example 3:
PHYSICAL MODEL
A Physical Model is a pictorial representation that shows what the system does and does not do and how it is physically and technically implemented. The physical model provides details of the way components will be deployed across the system infrastructure. It defines a roadmap from the logical models to specific hardware with details of network capabilities, server specifications, hardware requirements and other information related to deploying the proposed system. The physical model is implementation-dependent. It represents technology choices and the limitations of those choices. A developer will use a physical model to anticipate what future data changes will occur.
- Also called implementation model or technical model
- Used to depict technical designs
- Serves as blueprint for construction of the new system
Some of the advantages of physical model include 7:
- Provides a better visualization of the actual system to be implemented
- Aids in better understanding of the system in both business and technical aspects
- Speeds up the process of identifying defects in the current system
- Saves cost and reduces risk as it is much cheaper to implement than the system itself.
Examples:
- Database schema which is the structure of the database that defines the objects in the database.
- Structure chart which is a diagram consisting of rectangular boxes, which represent the modules, and connecting arrows. Structure charts encourage top-down design and support the concepts of modularity and top-down structured design
- Flowchart which is a type of diagram that represents a process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with arrows, providing a step-by-step solution to a given problem.
Below is an example of a database schema for a health insurance company. This schema illustrates a database that records policy sales and claims, maintains records of customers, and tracks their policies and claims against those policies.
Below is an example of a structure chart, also called a hierarchy chart. This type of chart shows the relationship of various units and helps to document a program. 5
Below is an example of a basic flowchart documenting a typical software development process 6.
1 http://www.learndatamodeling.com/ldm.htm
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_data_model
3 http://www.learndatamodeling.com/ldm.htm
5 http://cnx.org/content/m18682/latest/
6 http://www.rff.com/software_development.htm
7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_model
Blog Report Assignment 1
“Information systems can be analyzed and designed from different perspectives. Discuss what perspectives are influencing the current practice of system analysis and design. Also, provide examples of system designed from various perspectives. Discuss at least three perspectives. For example, you can use “business intelligent” as one design perspectives. Do not use the three perspectives “Data, Process, Interface” as discussed in class.”
Information System Design Perspectives
Per Whitten, “the product of systems analysis and design is an information system”. He illustrates this concept with the following diagram that shows the context of systems analysis and design methods:
(Whitten & Bentley, 2005)
Note that there are four major influences on information systems analysis and design:
- Business Drivers
These include the underlying motivations of any and all organizations: the desires to improve Business Knowledge, Business Processes, and Business Communications
- “The Process”: Project and Process Management
These include the steps of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC): System Initiation, System Analysis, System Design, and System Implementation
- Technology Drivers
These include the underlying technical foundations of system design: Network Technologies, Database Technologies, Software Technologies, and Interface Technologies
- “The Players”: System Analysts and Project Managers
These include the people involved with any given information system which can range from customers to vendors, from business office staff to IT staff: System Owners, System Users, System Designers, and System Builders
(Whitten & Bentley, 2005)
The topic of design perspectives is much studied and debated subject matter. In his paper, “Different Perspectives in Designing Multi-Agent Systems”, Cossentino describes the multidimensional perspectives in a design process; this include the architectural, social, knowledge, resource, and computer perspectives. Zachman of the Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence provides a framework similar to that of Whitten, but its focus is on the architecture of the enterprise as a whole rather than specifically on the design process. That said, it still provides food for thought on the complexities of designing from a multitude of perspectives. His framework includes the executive, business management, architect, engineer, technician, and enterprise perspectives.
(Cossentino; Zachman, 2011)
(EACOE, 2011)
(Zachman, 2011)
There are a myriad of perspectives that come into play when analyzing and designing information systems. Some examples include:
- Business drivers, such as globalization of the economy and electronic commerce
- Technology drivers, such as networks, the Internet, mobile and wireless technologies
- Stakeholders, such as system owners and system users
Each perspective is critical to the overall design of the system. The goal of system analysis and design is to take these perspectives into consideration and design a system that is compatible with each — without compromising system quality and performance. Whitten goes on to provide more detail to the framework in the diagram below by expanding on the information system building blocks:
(Whitten & Bentley, 2005)
Some specific perspectives and example systems are discussed below.
Business Drivers Perspective
A business is dependent on factors influencing the organization both internally and externally; these factors push a company to concentrate on improvement of knowledge, processes and communication. A successful entity must provide a combination systems, information, and people to work in a manner so as to avoid being overrun by competition. A balance has to be established between processes overcoming disadvantages in some and sacrificing some traditional methodologies in some to attain success. Better business drivers can be achieved by organizations by:
- Providing unique solutions or products or even services which can potentially attract customers. Such processes require more analysis and productive capacity.
- Providing services and products much faster with quality. This requires that the organization researches its complete process cycle and find potholes in it, then go about innovating them with an eye to increasing speed of every process to achieve faster business.
- Providing more environment-friendly products so that customers are benefited by the advantages such products provide.
Even new innovations brought about by technology constitute to business drivers. Software based on information technology help in overriding the disadvantages of errors caused by manual tasks; these include managing inventory, boosting sales, maintaining employee information, storing historical data for future analysis (Data warehousing), etc. Some of the most recognized names in any organization today include Customer Relationship Management System (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP), Human Resource Management System (HRM), etc. The availability of an abundant supply of open-source products and services (like Linux, an open-source OS which is provided free of cost) even act as a big business driver in the poor economy of today. The quality of such products and brand names associated with them (like Google’s Android OS) make customers lean towards such services and thus they act as a major business driver demanding uniqueness for a successful product.
Business drivers play an important role in the development of an information system. Some of these drivers become fads and lose their impact, while some continue to influence system development for many years. There are many current trends, including globalization of the economy, electronic commerce, collaboration and partnership, to name a few.
Globalization of the Economy is an important driver because of the implications it has to a business’s ability to compete effectively. Globalization provides both benefits in the form of new international markets for goods and services and challenges in the form of new international competition.
These factors influence an information system in the following ways:
• Information Systems and applications must be internationalized to
o Support multiple languages
o Support currency exchange rates
o Adhere to international trade regulations
o Adapt to different business cultures and practices
• Information must be consolidated internationally, beyond the limits of individual business locations and countries
• Communication must be possible on an international level
Electronic Commerce trends have opened up new opportunities for businesses to capitalize on by providing a business outlet that has the potential for availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This requires:
• Effective use of the Internet for external transactions
• Ability to conduct day-to-day business within the organization using Internet technology
This has led to the development of information systems designed to run within the Internet using Internet browsers.
Collaboration and Partnership trends are having a tremendous influence on the design of Information systems. This influence extends the reach of an information system to include:
• Cross-functional teams that extend beyond traditional organization departments and functional areas
• Product design that extends beyond engineering to many areas of the business, such as marketing, sales, manufacturing, inventory control, distribution
• Collaboration with Business partners with an information system that allows external access while maintaining tight security
These are just a few of the issues that need to be addressed from the perspective of business drivers.
Example: Staples.com is a great example of a system designed from a business driver’s perspective. The site offers Staples a way to globalize its economy to take advantage of new international markets, as well as capitalize on new business opportunities by being available 24/7 because of electronic commerce. The globalization of the economy dictated that the site be able to allow people in other countries to purchase goods in their own currency and that the site be translated into their local languages. Because the site is an electronic commerce storefront it helps with the marketing of the corporate image by informing customers about produce, services, and policies. It also allows for Web-based channels of distribution for traditional products and services to consumers (B2C), and allows for paperless digital processing of transactions between Staples and other business (B2B).
Technology Perspective
Advances in technology offer tremendous opportunities for improvements in information systems. These improvements can provide businesses with new opportunities for improving operations which may give the business a competitive edge. Technology drivers include networks, mobile and wireless technologies, and the Internet.
The Internet and Web technology have had a tremendous influence on the design of information systems. With the growing need for the analysis of complex data to be precise and available, Web technology makes that possible using object-oriented application. Object technologies allow applications to be built with reusable objects that can be shared with different designs saving time to market when these applications are developed. These applications are based on Web technology such as .NET or java, making them available to anyone no matter what operating system they are using as the information is accessed over the Web or mobile devices.
These applications then can be used internally (intranet), or used by customers and clients externally via the Internet. Web portals then are created to allow a user to have simple access point and then are allowed to only see which applications they can access. As data grows and the need for complex answers increase, structured tools are used in the background with the Web application sitting in front.
There is a growing need for document sharing/management and collaborations that can be used by the application development team during a project, or through other business teams that use the data. Even these applications are Web based allowing for information to be downloaded and viewed via a Web site or mobile device even if you are offline and not connected to any network.
Example: BB.UIS.edu can be used as an example of a system designed from the technology driver’s perspective. Blackboard’s object-oriented design allows the site to adapt to new and emerging technologies. The site has adapted from pure Web browser base to being able to switch to a mobile version for easy access on smartphones to an app for display on iPads.
Stakeholder Perspective
Stakeholders are information workers who design, maintain and use information systems. Stakeholders include system owners, system users, systems designers, systems builders, and systems analysts. Each group has different expectations and plays a unique role in the development of an information system.
System Owner Perspective of Knowledge
Knowledge is produced from information and data. System owners are not interested in raw data and information; they are most interested in the knowledge that is derived from the raw facts and information. This knowledge is what aids the owners in ongoing pursuit of mission and vision achievement.
The system owners are responsible for defining the vision and scope for an information system project. Owners are most concerned with the big picture, not necessarily the here-and-now. Systems owners’ expectations include knowledge that will enable them to solve problems, seek opportunities, identify constraints and achieve competitive advantage.
System owners’ perspectives are goal oriented and futuristic. In the systems development process the owners of the system are most responsible for providing the scope and vision for the entire project. This is accomplished by the owners through clearly identifying the problems and improvement opportunities that are necessary in the to-be model. In addition to these activities, owners attempt to control the cost associated with the systems development project, while also gaining the maximum benefit from the newly designed system.
Example: A dashboard, or at least what ToysRUs refers to it as, is a Web-based system that allows managers to see trends and highlights information needed to make decisions regarding the business decisions. This system is designed in the perspective of the system owner because it takes raw sales data and makes it useful by helping a manager understand the big picture of what is happening in the store. The managers are then able to focus in areas for improvement and make decisions that will help them reach their long-term goals.
Works Cited:
- “Business Drivers.” Cadence. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.cadence.com/products/pcb/Pages/business_drivers.aspx>.
- “Business Drivers Strawdog.” Enterprise-Wide IT Architecture (EWITA). Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.ewita.com/>. http://www.ewita.com/EWITA%20Tools/Strawdogs/SD%20Business%20Drivers.doc
- Cossentino, Massimo. “Different Perspectives in Designing Multi-Agent Systems.” Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pa.icar.cnr.it/cossentino/paper/AGES02.pdf>. http://www.pa.icar.cnr.it/icar2/
- EACOE: Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.eacoe.org/index.shtml>.
- Staples®. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.staples.com/>.
- UIS BlackBoard. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://bb.uis.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp>.
- “What Is Business Drivers.” Online Learning. 30 Dec. 2007. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.learn.geekinterview.com/data-warehouse/business-intelligence/what-is-business-drivers.html>.
- Whitten, Jeffrey L., and Lonnie D. Bentley. “Chapters 1 & 2.” Systems Analysis and Design Methods. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007. Print.
- Zachman International® – The Official Home of The Zachman Framework™. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.zachman.com/>.
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