Information Systems Engineering Coursework

UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH
2014
Authored by: Vu Van Phu Vuong
Student ID: 000807450
Information Systems Engineering
Individual Coursework

1
InformationSystemsEngineering|10/1/2014
Table of Contents
A. REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS USING RICH PICTURE ....................................................................... 2
1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 2
2. RICH PICTURE........................................................................................................................... 2
3. PROCESSING OF MAKING RICH PICTURE................................................................................ 3
A. IDENTIFY KEY ACTORS......................................................................................................... 3
B. KEY ISSUES AND AREAS OF CONFLICT ................................................................................ 4
C. MAIN FOCUS OF THE ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................. 5
D. CONTROL OF SYSTEM, DATA, PROCESSING LIE IN THE ENVIRONMENT .......................... 5
B. REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS USING USE CASE ............................................................................... 5
1. USE CASE ................................................................................................................................... 6
A. USE CASE 1: PROCESS PRE-START LEAD.............................................................................. 6
B. USE CASE 2: WORKING ON THE BID ................................................................................... 7
C. USE CASE 3: DEVELOP NEW PROJECT................................................................................. 7
2. PROCESS OF DRAWING USE CASE ........................................................................................... 8
A. IDENTIFY THE ACTORS ........................................................................................................ 8
B. IDENTIFY KEY ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................... 8
C. IDENTIFY ALTERNATIVE USE TO PRODUCE THE SECONDARY SCENARIOS...................... 9
D. ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE SYSTEM.................................................................................... 9
C. CRITICAL EVALUATION..............................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................12
A. THE SAME THINGS BETWEEN RICH PICTURE & USE CASE ............................................12
B. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RICH PICTURE & USE CASE...............................................12
D. REFERENCES................................................................................................................................ 13

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Information Systems Engineering
Individual Coursework
A. Requirement analysis using Rich Picture
1. Introduction
“The Children Support Agency (CSA) is a national charity based in the UK that cares for young people
(aged 12-24) who require additional support to help them live their lives effectively. There are 4 key99 areas
where CSA work: housing, family support, education & training, and tackling crime.i
”
2. Rich Picture
FIGURE 1 RICH PICTURE

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3. Processing of making Rich Picture
a. Identify key actors
As CSA case study description, we need to get the overview of system clearly to identify the current situation
with main actors and conflicts between them. Its important process to draw rich picture so we need to
identify and order the key actors of CSA but not at all are mentioned in this. I need to analyze the CSA
system and decide to choose which one to put on rich picture – the actors whom have direct effect to the
current system. As the definition of Wikipedia “Stakeholder, an entity that can be affected by the results of
that in which they are said to be stakeholders, i.e. that in which they have a stake. ii
“. In CSA, I have identify
stakeholders who be a part of system and have roles or affected directly to system as below:
 Administrative Service Director
o This key actors have important role in CSA system, they help to make sure that projects
and reference activities run efficiently. Besides that, they need to show off the value which
made from the fund to funding bodies – who sponsor the money for the origination.
 Finance Director:
o Their responsibility are provide accurate financial data from Regional Directors and Area
Managers. Moreover, they have to plan for project financial in future and report to trustees
with dependable data.
 Head of Human Resource (HR):
o Head of HR have to manage the CSA’s staff resource by using the software which
developed before.
 Contract and Funding Raising Team:
o This team role are be a partnership with Area Managers to help Regional Directors for
developing new projects, sorting out the contracts with funding bodies, like manage and
plan make sourcing funds for project. This team have managed throughout Administrative
Services Department.
 Regional Director:
o They have responsible for developing new projects, sorting out the contracts with funding
bodies, identifying project deliverables, and so on.
 Area Manager:

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o The Area Manager have to overseeing the management of all of the projects being run in
their area.
 Leader Worker:
o Being a part of team member in each project, Leader Work have responsible for
overseeing and managing the project. In some case of big project which have a significant
number of member, they have to manage whole the project team.
 Senior Executive Group:
o This group are made of the Chief Executive, the Finance Director, Head of HR,
Marketing Director, Administrative Services Director and the three Regional Directors.
This is the main key actors of CSA which make decision which need to ratify by the Board
of Trustees.
 Board of Trustees:
o They get the appropriate management information which provide by Administrative
Services and have responsible to support or make final decision for Senior Executive
Group.
 Funding Bodies:
o This is most important part of CSA organization because they provide fund for all activities
of system.
b. Key issues and areas of conflict
By analyze and research carefully about current situation of CSA through case study and interviews, I have
defined the key issues and area of conflict which affect directly to the environment (CSA). All of this have
put on the rich picture above.
First of all, which key issue mentioned is between Regional Director (Sean McNally – Northern RD) and
Administrative Services Director. He don’t want head office to continually interfere with what they do as
this time. Because the CSA origination have a number of office in regionals which have so differently
manage style and not consistent between them. Sean McNally thought that he only need a system which
help him or the other director to manage staff and running project in his regional, the development for new
system that allows head office to meddle regional’s business are unnecessary and make his staff become to
overworked. This make of the fray with Administrative Service Director.
Next key issue is between Finance Director with Regional Directors and Area Manager. As mention above,
Finance Director have responsibility to provide accurate financial and project’s performance to analyze
effectiveness of system. However, as Steve Sutherland – Director of Finance department said: “It was quite
clear that Area Managers and Regional Directors haven’t been providing accurate financial data for some

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time and that clearly isn’t good enough”. As the result of this, it will make him can’t analyze exactly the
efficient of fund for projects which are running.
The third issue is depend on conflict between Leader Worker and Information Quality Officer. The team
leader feel boring because he must to do whole time for administrative tasks to send back information about
member, project’s status or other metric to Information Quality Officer as requires each periodic required.
He don’t have time to work with children and help them in some way, instead of this need to write report,
fill form, correct pieces of data or something else.
c. Main focus of the environment
As case study mentioned, The Children Support Agency is a national charity based in the UK that cares for
young people who require additional support to help them live their lives effectively. Such office of CAS
have been put in a larger area which head office in central London and another. A lot of staff chose not to
move to new office, in additionally include area office make CSA became too difficult to manage their
staffs. They cannot centralize origination and work around in a standard process. Not at all project which
running in CSA have typical style of managing and working so directors and staff only care about which they
do in their area. Moreover, the funding bodies who be an important part of CSA only care about how
effective of fund they spent and doesn’t know how CSA and staff do for running project fluently and be
successful. For all above, the main focus of the CSA environment are make contracts consistent and
centralize manage to improve the organization performance and make sure fund are effective.
d. Control of system, data, processing lie in the environment
As I draw in rich picture above, the Head Office is general control of CSA system. Senior Executive Group
also called or defined as general control of system because it made of most important roles of CSA. This
group will make decision for which project will be invest fund or not for running in the future. However it’s
not final decision, all need to ratify by Board of Trustees.
In CSA environment, almost software which they using are out of date and make the higher level too
difficult to manage system – as Director of Human Resource said that and result of analyze base on case
study.
In each child offices – mention Area Office or project team also have difference managing style. Therefore
it a reason why the Contract team and raising funding department complain about the quality of KPI’s
report and project’s performance report which provide by lower manager.
This session defined the control of systems, data and processing lie in the CSA environment and after
research and analyze problems which existed in the environment.
B. Requirement analysis using Use Case
This section using Use Case Modeling to analyze requirements of system.

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FIGURE 2 USE CASE DIAGRAM
1. Use case
a. Use case 1: Process pre-start lead
Pre-conditions:
- The lead identified meets the criteria of CSA.
- Lead’ requirements are able to meet the requirements of the tender or identified by
CSA to make sure what would be needed for the project to succeed.
Flow of events:
- CSA receive lead with references details.
- The Contract Team identify lead’ requirement in partnership with the appropriate
Regional Office and Area Office.
- Researching existed system information to be an audit of resources as human,
finance…
- Analyze appropriate factorials for the project to succeed.
- Make final decision.
Post conditions:
- Lead’ details, include references data as human resource, finance resource, lead’
requirements will be stored in the central database.

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b. Use case 2: Working on the bid
Pre-conditions:
- Lead’ details, include references data existed in the central database.
Flow of events:
- Lead’s details shown off with appropriate factorials for the project to succeed.
- The team working on the bid make a Go/No Go decision as to whether to proceed
any further.
- The similar contracts (leads) that have been successful in the past are shown up for
helping write bids.
- The bid is written to meet the criteria of the Funding Body.
- The bid goes to SEG of CSA for agreement.
- The bid is sent to the appropriate funding body.
Post conditions:
- The bid with relevant details is stored in the central database.
Alternative scenario:
- If the team working on the bid make a “No Go” decision, then they put information
into file to describe the reason.
- Stop process and do not writing the bid.
c. Use case 3: Develop new project
Pre-conditions:
- The appropriate Funding Body received the bid with relevant information – which
stored in the central database.
Flow of events:
- The Funding Body approve the bid.
- A new contract is created.
- Sets up all of the relevant information for the contract.
Post conditions:

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- Details of the setting up all of the relevant information for the contract are stored in the
central database.
Alternative scenario:
- If the Funding Body doesn’t agree with bid, then they put information into file to
describe the reason and stop process immediately.
- If the Funding Body answer “Yes, Subject to some changes”, CSA will cover tasks to
change until the bid and the criteria of the Funding Body are meet or informed. If yes
the process will continue as the main scenario. If no, the process will be the first
alternative scenario above.
2. Process of drawing Use Case
a. Identify the actors
Generally, we need to analyze and define clearly actors who have responsible in system which references
with interactions between their role and system as the use cases above. As Wikipedia said “The actor can be
a human, an external system or time”. By this report, the use case diagram describe about people or
departments which are most important in the system.
Not at all personal/roles which drawn in rich picture – section A are important or play roles which could
not missing in The Children Support Agency. This is reason why the Funding Bodies have chosen to be
one of actors in my use case.
By the organization rule and main process, all of people who work in CSA can’t work smoothly without fun
which provide by them. As officially, all the final decisions are depend in the Funding Bodies. Next, by
play roles which have responsibility to prepare bid with analyze requirement, bidding and tracking project
records, the Contract Team have become to key actor of CSA system.
b. Identify key activities
In the use case, there are three key activities: Process pre-start lead, Working on the bid and Develop new
project. By analyze the case study with references information, the “Process pre-start lead” activity is the
most important in the system. The future of coming next projects are depend almost at this step by high
quality of results and working hard of team’ members. There are many activities are mentioned in case
study and describe in the use case above:
 Working on the bid
 Identify Lead
 Audit of resources
 Put information into file
 Use data of similar contracts that have been successful in the past
 Develop New Project
 Get approval from Funding Body
 Create contract

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 Marketing and publicity for Lead
 Making sure the allocate resources
 Sets up all of the relevant information
c. Identify alternative use to produce the secondary scenarios
By focus into case study and the use case, I have identity scenarios as described above. Follow to what have
learn about skills and technique to define the secondary scenarios, I have identity the target result of system
which CSA want to do, beside make “W” questions with expected conditions as “What…If…”,
“What…When…”.
Furthermore, I have analyze what system will do with my real able experiences to write down the secondary
scenarios. For example, in the use case “Develop new project”, follow the requirement and make the
questions: “What will happened when the Funding Bodies doesn’t agree with bid?”, “When the answer is
Yes, what they need to do?”
Most important activities to make sure you can cover all and identify the secondary scenario correctly are
analyze system and requirements carefully. It will help you easy to identify all future cases happened with
less time.
d. Assumptions about the system
This part will make an assumption about the CSA system after analyzing the current system and
requirements. First at all, assume that I have enough time and suitable situations to ask all of people whom
working in CSA for questions which prepare before.
1. Interviewees: Finance Director, Information Quality Officer:
- How the others such as Leader Worker, Area Managers or Regional Directors can provide
references data/report on time to you? FAX, Email or throw General Information System?
2. Interviewees: The Contract Team:
- In the current system, have you ever met the case which duplicate contracts are using same
bidding? How did you resolve this problem?
3. Interviewees: The ICT Department, Finance Department:
- Does the current system have sub ICT Departments in each regional for manage existing data?
Who manage them?
- In new system where data have put in only general locale, whom have responsibility to tracking
and running?
4. Interviewees: Administrative Services
- Who have responsibility for decide the bid are meet the criteria of the Funding Body?

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5. Interviewees: The Senior Executive Group
- What the responsible of the marketing in system and SEG?
- Which process need them to join and work? Pre-processing/Write bid/Develop project
- Does the Board of Trustees and Funding Bodies have right access to system?
- If yes, what limitation of data which expose for them to access?
6. Interviewees: ICT Department
- What type of application users are expected to using in future? Web application or Desktop
application (Mobile application for extent).
C. Critical evaluation
This section describe about two techniques which I have use to analyze the requirement of CSA system. By
applied which studied: Rich picture and Use case modelling tool, it help me to get understand quite clearly
about current system and also analyzing the system requirement meet what customer expected. In general,
each of them have difference elements to dissect the problem. Using both of them to solve problem/analyze
system is necessary and help the project get best success in the shortest time with.
Following the article about Soft Systems Methodology in Wikipedia, a team named Lancaster had summary
main criteria known as CATWOE. Which means:
- Clients (or Customer): Who/What would benefit or suffer of this system?
- Actors: Who have responsibility to implement this system?
- Transformation: What transformation does this system bring out when start until the end?
- Worldview (or Weltanschauung): What make this system become meaning?
- Owner: Who have highest authorization to decide the existing of this system?
- Environment: What affect to the system but doesn’t control this system?
In case of the Children Support Agency system, by definition is “How to get high rate successful of the
meeting between the qualities of project and the Funding Bodies satisfaction?” with CATWOE:
- Clients (or Customer): Funding Bodies (Funding Bodies’ satisfaction).
- Actors: CSA’ staffs who involve into deliverable process.
- Transformation: Project’ reports which provide in one a year/each 6 month/monthly.
- Worldview (or Weltanschauung): Bring up the innovation, improvement, pressure to project
and project team.
- Owner: The head of CSA.
- Environment: Project Budget, Location of project implement and real life situation of project.
Rich picture known as most important part of requirement analysis. The system have describe quite clearly
with main process, actors involve to and their roles, current problems with human concern about in rich
picture. Follow what I have learn about Soft System Methodology (SSM) – which “used to support and to
structure thinking about, and intervention in, complex organizational problemsiii
”, I have analyze and drawn
the rich picture above.

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FIGURE 3 SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY PROCESS
(Source: The Process of Soft Systems Methodology - http://cci.drexel.edu/faculty/sgasson/SSM/Process.html)
The other can easy to view the rich picture and understand the CSA main process (known as workflow),
organization structure with relationship between members and groups of CSA system. Furthermore, the
rich picture also help people to know about roles and responsible of member who working in CSA beside
their concerns or complains about what they think un-rational in current system. When start to draw the
rich picture, I have drawn a draft version which have classical actors and basic system modelling as case
study describe.
FIGURE 4 MY DRAFT VERSION RICH PICTURE
At next part, by using technique “Use case modelling” method I have analysis quite clearly about the
Children Support Agency and activities of actors with scenarios reference. This method help me so much
when try to describe the case study by drawing models with functions and system workflows – which easier

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to understand and get more information about the system. If only apply Rich picture method, we also get
only the current situation of system without don’t know how they running or how system looks like.
Identifying actors will help us to understand what we need to do when develop the system which comes with
fully user requirement base on each reasonable scenario. More than that, each use case also need to fill up
(or describe) successful result and alternative results (usual known as second scenario), beside the detail of
steps which system running. The use case also help us to avoid the error of system with less time of analyze
system requirements.
It’s not all reason why I have choose Use case modelling method to analysis the CSA. Drawing use case will
help developer to identify and decide which are main actors they need to focus, purpose which activities
need to focus and put the priority for development phase. Mostly functions will describe in System
Requirement Specification (SRS) as a traditional way, with a number of document pages and numbered list
inside. However, Use case diagrams break requirements into smaller section with shorter scenarios to help
reader easy to read and understand. Finally, Use case also help development team can cover un-expected
case when the system run in production environment, so that they can list and refer to project planning task
as estimate time, budget…and get the less risk in development time.
Conclusion
a. The same things between Rich Picture & Use Case
Both of two tools mentioned above also help me to get the fullest information about the Children Support
Agency. By following the Rich Picture or Use case also help reader or users can communicate with system
and know what they need to do, what requires and the final result of each task. Both of Rich Picture and
Use case also describe the actors in system but have difference that actors in Rich Picture are all people
belong to the CSA system, and actors in Use case only describe who have relationship in the Contract
Teams (or Contract System).
b. The difference between Rich Picture & Use Case
Rich Picture bring up the view of current CSA system with user’ confuses or dissatisfied about the others. In
the other hand, use case describe/propose how system running in the new develop. So the rich picture
couldn’t help us to find out solution for requirements as the use case did. However, without Rich Picture we
cannot get an over-view about conflictions which we need to solve. In next state we had put the actors left
out of the system and only focus to drawn/analyze how user interact/communicate with system. That the
way I do in using Use case Modelling tool for analysis the Children Support Agency system requirement. So
the use case models have meet their expectation with the new system.
In conclusion, when working and apply together two tool Rich Picture and Use Case in system analysis and
gathering requirements is the best way to get a highest result. Although all of them also have specific
characteristics but tools have provide/support each other when processing. In specific, Rich Picture bring up
an over view with quite clearly about the current situation of system. So by looking and assessment to
working with Use case for solve the problem/describe the communication between users and system in real
life.
Over the coursework time, I have got quite good understanding about SSM, Rich Picture, and Use case.
Beside that help me to recognize and right assess about the important of the analysis system and gathering
requirements in a general project development process.

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D. References
- The Information System Engineer Coursework - TERM 1 2014/15
- Stakeholder (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder
- Actors (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/actors
- Introduction to Soft Systems Methodology - http://www.learnaboutor.co.uk/strategicProblems
- The Process of Soft Systems Methodology, Drexel University -
http://cci.drexel.edu/faculty/sgasson/SSM/Process.html.
- Use case Benefit – http://casecomplete.com/use-case-benefit.
i
The Information System Engineer Coursework - TERM 1 2014/15
ii
Stakeholder (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder
iii
Introduction to Soft Systems Methodology - http://www.learnaboutor.co.uk/strategicProblems/m_s_3frs.htm

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