Ch 7 Role of User in Projects

7.1 User role in Projects Management 7.2 User role in various stages of S/W development 7.3 User role in System Implementation

User Role in Project Management

Establish cooperative relationship with developer. Play active role in:
Planning Project evaluation Replanning (as necessary)

Provide promised:
Resources Inputs

Return document in specified period. Do not sign anything that you do not understand. Insist on getting project progress reports. Participate in steering committee meetings. Never forger that it is your own project. Strictly adhere to change control procedure. Above all, get involved in all development activities.

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Software development is a joint responsibility of the

developers and the users. Participation of users during all phases of software development is essential. Software development activity is too important to be only to the discretion of developers.

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Typical problems of software projects
1.
2.

3.

Users willing to cooperate but they do not know how to do Users unclear about: Project goals Own roles Own responsibilities Users do not have time for: Giving requirements Verifying requirements Performing acceptance

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Typical problems of software projects 4. Non-involvement of users throughout the development process 5. Ineffective steering committee 6. Short-time optimization 7. Indecision about technology 8. Evolving requirements specifications 9. Frequent uncontrolled changes

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Role of users in project initiation 1. Start with positive approach 2. Understand own and developers role 3. Provide information for drawing up a project plan. 4. Agree on own commitments in project plan. 5. Establish necessary organization structure:

Form steering committee Establish responsibilities for own employees Ensure that developer establishes his organization structure

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Role of users in project initiation 6. Agree on the following

Project goals, scope, and acceptance criteria Development standards Project reporting procedures and frequency Change control procedures Mechanism for acceptance of deliverables

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Role of users during requirements phase 1. Provide details of current system 2. Specify problems faced 3. Specify expectations from the proposed system

Deliverables Acceptance criteria

4. Specify constraints

Agree on the requirements identification strategy 6. Agree on the requirement specifications

5.

Understand requirement specifications Sign specification document Keep the requirement current

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Role of users during requirements phase 7. Subsequently, follow change control procedure 8. Participate in activities like prototyping, JAD and RAD 9. Provide enough time to developers

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Role of users in software construction and acceptance
Agree on design before coding begins: Be satisfied about the performance Be satisfied about the sizing Be satisfied about the manual procedures 2. Participate in reviews as required 3. Sign-off agreed phase-end documents
1.

Users Role in various stages of S/W Development

Role of users in software construction and acceptance 4. Execute plan for acceptance testing:

Provide acceptance test data Provide agreed resources for acceptance testing Verify accuracy of acceptance test results Be satisfied about the performance Be satisfied about the manual procedures Try out restart and recovery procedures

5.

Accept software, documentation and test data:

Sign-off acceptance document

Users Role in System Implementation

Evolve implementation strategy Direct cut over Pilot run Phased Overlap 2. Acquire resources 3. Train personnel Users Developers and operations personnel
1.

Users Role in System Implementation

4. Convert master-file data

5. Perform parallel runs

6. Put system in operation 7. Perform volume testing, if planned 8. Maintain system