System Design Specification

Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study and all assignments for this class, especially Stage 4: Final System Report. The feedback you received on your Stage 1 and Stage 2 assignments should be reviewed and used as you proceed with Stage 3.

Purpose of this Assignment

This assignment gives you the opportunity to apply a systematic approach to translate requirements into a high-level logical system design.This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:

• apply a systematic approach to translate requirements into an executable systems design

• effectively communicate with stakeholders to determine, manage, and document business requirements throughout the SDLC

Assignment

The results of your systems analysis and design work in this class will be documented in a Final System Report. The purpose of the Report is to inform management of your system proposal and gain approval to proceed with the project. The Report will be developed and submitted in stages, which will be compiled at the end of class into the Final System Report.

Review the outline of the Final System Report in the Stage 4 Assignment description. Note that it contains the analysis of the problem(s) and requirements, and proposes what kind of a system solution is needed. It does not propose a specific solution, but it does recommend why and how the organization should acquire the solution.

Following the Requirements Specification (Stage 2 assignment), the next stepis to develop the System Design Specification. The System Design Specification builds on the Requirements Specification to illustrate how the files/database(s) will be laid out, how the output (forms, reports, and/or screens) and input (forms and/or screens) should be designed.

As you develop this assignment, you should refer to your Stage 2 Requirements Specification (and the feedback you received) and use the inputs and outputs you listed to create the input and output layouts and the file/database design.

All of the information you need to complete the projects in this class is not provided in the case study. In the discussion area of the classroom, there is a discussion titled "Case Study Interview Questions" where you can pose questions about the case study, as if you were interviewing the people in the case study organization. Any information that you need that is not included in the case study should be asked about in this discussion. Responses from the faculty member on behalf of the case study organization will be available for everyone in the class.

Use the case study and the Case Study Interview Questions discussion, along with your Stage 2 Requirements Specification (including the feedback received),and resourcesbelow, to create a System Design Specification in the format shown below.

Include your corrected Stage 2 Requirements Specifications as the first part of this assignment. Approximate lengths for each section of the Systems Design Specification are provided as a guideline; be sure to provide all pertinent information. The sources of explanatory materials can be found in the Week 5 Content readings.

Requirements Specification

Include your Requirements Specification from Stage 2, with corrections from the feedback included. This will establish the context for your System Design Specification to follow.

System Design Specification

I. Introduction. Provide an appropriate introduction to this document. (one paragraph)

II. Output Layout. Begin with the three outputs listed in your Requirements Specification. For each of them, create a diagram or table illustrating what the output would look like. (use a short paragraph to introduce this section and each diagram, table or illustration should use about ½ of a page)

A. Output Layout #1.

B. Output Layout #2.

C. Output Layout #3.

III. Input Layout. Using the data elements listed in your Requirements Specification, create a diagram or table illustrating what the input screen would look like for each of the three sets of input. (use a short paragraph to introduce this section and each diagram, table or illustration should use about ½ of a page)

A. Input Layout #1.

B. Input Layout #2.

C. Input Layout #3.

IV. File/database Design ERDs. For each of the three sets of outputs and inputs, create an Entity Relationship Diagram showing how the data elements are related to each other [see explanation at http://academic.regis.edu/ladams/Diagramming%20101.html].

Depending on the inputs and outputs identified, there may be some overlap of the data elements in the ERDs; a separate ERD should be developed for each pair of inputs/outputs. (use a short paragraph to introduce this section, and each ERD should be on one page)

A. File/database Design ERD #1.

B. File/database Design ERD #2.

C. File/database Design ERD #3.