IMS 5024

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IMS 5024

• Human Activity modelling

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Content

• Group assignment presentations
• Group Assignment
• Rich pictures
• Root definitions
• Conceptual models
• SSM,
• Others (Multiview, Ethics)
• Place in ISD
• Evaluation of Human Activity modelling

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Group assignment presentations
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Why human behaviour?

• Started with participation
• History of participation - refer back to
  Hirschheim et al.
• Early ISD payed lip service to participation
• System technically viable fail because?

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History of ISD methodologies
Generation Principle management and organisational issues
Formal life-cycle approaches Control of SDLC guidance through standardization
Structured approaches Productivity, better maintainable systems, control over analyst/programmer
Prototyping and evolutionary approaches Speed and Flexibility, overcome communication gap, right kind of system instead of getting system right
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History of ISD methodologies(2)
Generation Principle management and organisational issues
Socio-technical, participatory approaches Control of ISD by users through participation conflict management joint optimisation
Sense-making and problem formulation approaches Multiple perspectives in problem framing software development as social reality construction
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History of ISD methodologies(3)
Generation Principle management and organisational issues
Trade-Union led approaches Labour/ management conflict workers rights industrial democracy
Emancipator approaches Improve communication furthering emancipatory effects of ISD
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Answers to these problems

• More than interviews
• HCI
• End user computing
• JAD and JRP
• Prototyping

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Three levels of participation

• Consultative lowest level
• Representative design group, equal say
• Consensus- involve all user department staff,
  user driven

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Human Activity modelling view of ISD
Human-oriented
Conventional
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Techniques used in human activity modelling

• Rich pictures
• Root definitions
• Conceptual models

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Rich pictures

• Informal drawing that represents the
  illustrators understanding of a situation.
  (Mathiassen et al)
• Drawing or diagram of interfaces, boundaries,
  subsystems, organisation goals, issues, problems,
  concerns ect
• Represent the problem situation
• Express relationships, value judgments, feel
  for the situation

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Rich pictures

• Should be self explanatory
• Approach
• Elements of structure
• Elements of process (what is going on)
• What system can be described in this system?
  (system is a perceived grouping of people,
  objects and activities which is meaningful)

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Stakeholders
Tutors
Steering committee
SEIDET Center
Students
Administration
Community
Business
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Another example of a rich picture
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Symbols for rich pictures
ABC.
123
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Advantages of Rich pictures

• Picture is worth a thousand words
• Sort out the fundamentals of the situation
• Summary of a situation
• Help move thinking from thinking about the
  problem situation to thinking about what can be
  done about the problem situation

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Disadvantages of rich pictures

• Not well-used as DFD, ERD ect.
• Might be regarded as a joke

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Root definitions

• Identify two things problems and systems
• Plain language
• Has 6 characteristics

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Characteristics

• Client Whom (beneficiary, or victim, affected
  by the activities)
• Actor Who (carries out the transformation)
• Transformation what (the change taking place)
• Weltanschauung world view (outlook that makes
  the root definition meaningful)
• Owner (sponsor or controller)
• Environment (wider system the problem situation
  is part)

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Example
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Why root definitions

• Clarify the the situation
• Exposing different views
• Core purpose of the system
• Root definition elaborate the core transformation

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Describe the transformation
Transformation Process
Output
Input
Entity is transformed in
An entity
Primary School
Kids educated kids Need for
education education needs met Teachers
efforts retired teachers Government
funding Funding used for teaching
purposes
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Create
Computer lab at SEIDET
Compute literate community
The role of the computer lab at SEIDET
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Aspects of the role of the computer lab at
Siyabuswa

• Client Community of Siyabuswa
• Actors Tutors of the SEIDET Center
• Transformation
• Illiterate community Literate community
• Worldview A belief that computer literacy will
  create a better standard of living
• Owners SEIDET Center
• Environment Need of computer knowledge in the
  community appreciation of the needs of the
  community appreciation of expectations and
  believes of the community

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Definition

• An SEIDET Center owned system to create a better
  standard of living by delivering literate users
  in the Siyabuswa community by using the tutors at
  the SEIDET Center. The training should be
  tailored to the needs and the expectations of the
  community.

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Conceptual models

• After the rich picture and the root definition
  need to build a model which shows how the various
  activities are related to each other
• Two levels Real world and systems thinking about
  the real world.

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Objective of the conceptual model

• What ought to happen to achieve the goal in the
  specified root definition
• Compare with reality and try to identify the
  changes needed (ito SSM)

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Maintain lab 2
Determine needs of tutors 5
Create funds for lab maintenance and setup 1
Train tutors to be computer literate 6
Set lab up for training purposes 3
Present computer literacy courses to community 7
Determine needs of community 4
Take control action
Monitor 1-7
Define criteria
Criteria Efficacy Creating computer literate
community Efficiency Outcome/ resources
used Effectiveness Creating a better standard of
living
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Hard vs soft systems thinking

• Well defined problem with a well know list of
  tasks
• Little social interaction
• SDLC (failure!)
• Example build a bridge
• Problems are real and solvable
• System objectives is easily reachable and defined
• Real world seen as systematic

• Different perceptions on reality
• Human aspects
• Different solutions
• Problems not so real and solvable
• Objectives can not be accomplished so easily and
  is not so definable

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Principles of SSM

• A process of learning
• Cultural feasibility
• Participation
• Two modes of thought

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SSM technique/ methodology

• It should not be conceived of as a linear
  progression from on stage to another

A seven stage process of enquiry
MODE I and MODE II
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Phases or stages of SSM
1
7
6
2
5
4
3
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Thinking in Human Activity modelling

• Hard Vs Soft ??
• Perspective
• Objective vs Subjective
• Nature of the organisation

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Evaluation of Human Activity modelling
Problem oriented Product oriented
Concep-tual Structured analysis Entity relationship modelling Logical construction of systems Modern structured analysis Object oriented analysis Structured design Object oriented design
Formal PSL/PSA JSD VDM Levels of abstraction Stepwise refinement Proof of correctness Data abstraction JSP Object oriented programming
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Advantages/ Benefits of Human Activity modelling

• Include different perspectives to a problem
  situation
• Compare reality with the conceptual model
• Participation a must
• Change is an central element of the process
• Others??

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Disadvantages of Human Activity modelling

• Only useable in soft problems
• Can take a long time to reach consensus
• Some managers see this as silly
• Not well used
• Others??

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Human Activity modelling view of ISD
Objectives
Development group
Object system
Object system
Change process
Environment
Hirschheim et al see reading list
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Reading for next week

• No reading for next week