Any description of their work is destined to fall short in some way but there are qualities that most systems designers seem to display.Ībove all, designers are problem solvers. Including management and systems consulting firms. They may work in many different environments or functional units (e.g., finance, marketing) of various organizations, Successful systems designers must possess a wide range of talents. Systems designers must correctly understand the information needs, the tasks and activities accomplished in meeting the needs, the requirements preferences, and information-use patterns of their end users. Modern information systems are increasingly used by individuals who have little or no previous experience with information technology but who possess a perception about what this technology should accomplish in their professional and personal environments. The systems development phase consists of writing and testing computer software and of developing data input and output forms and conventions. These components define the data that are required and decompose the processes to be carried out on data to a level at which they can be expressed as instructions for a computer program. These specifications are then converted to a hierarchy of increasingly detailed components. The systems analysis phase focuses on what the system is required to do. The problem-solving steps for design can be simplified to three phases: analysis, design, and development. Different support situations can thread back into the previous steps. The maintenance step involves keeping the system functioning at an acceptable level, analyzing the implemented system, refining the design, and implementing improvements to the system. The implementation step involves implementing the physical system into the normal business operation. The test step involves ensuring that the system does what it was designed to do. The creation step involves coding, debugging, documenting, and testing programs, selecting and ordering new hardware, writing and testing procedures, preparing end-user documentation, initializing databases, and training users. The hardware components that support the programs and the data are defined. Data elements are grouped to form physical data structures, screens, reports, files, and databases. Processes are converted to manual procedures or computer programs. The designer's focus shifts from the logical to the physical. The design step involves determining how the problem will be solved. Typically, the logical elements of a system are defined during analysis. The analysis step involves studying and analyzing the problems, causes, and effects and then identifying and analyzing the requirements that must be fulfilled by any successful solution. The planning step involves identifying the problem, determining the cause, scope, and boundary of the problem, and planning the development strategy and goals. A systems development life cycle consists of a set of iterative activities and usually incorporates the following general problem-solving steps: planning, analysis, design, creation, test, implementation, and maintenance. Most systems designers use some variation of a system problem-solving approach called a "systems development life cycle" to build information systems. Among these roles are (1) analyst in order to study the existing system in detail, paying meticulous attention to understanding and distinguishing between users' problems and users' viewpoints, (2) designer in order to propose new procedures for information flow, reporting, and computer processing, (3) technical writer in order to document the results of the design effort, (4) consultant in order to provide advice on options that are available to users and indicate the implications that each of these options has for the performance of the system, (5) team member in order to be able to work with other computer specialists and user representatives toward achieving a common goal, and (6) behavioral scientist in order to design an interface between the system's users and the computer so that the design itself and its method of implementation result in users being satisfied with the final result. Systems designers have to assume a variety of roles throughout the design process. Systems designers may design entirely new information systems, including both hardware and software, or they may add a single new software application to an existing system. They study business, scientific, or engineering data-processing problems, use their knowledge and skills to solve problems, design new solutions, and enable computer technology to meet the individual needs of the organizations. Systems designers are the people who are responsible for the analysis and design of information systems that are involved in the operation of
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