Systems Analysis and Design: IS 4430
Spring 2014
Department of Operations and Information Systems
The David Eccles School of Business
The University of Utah

Instructor Jon Soldan
Class Times Wednesday 6:00 – 9:00pm
Classroom SFEBB 1110
Phone (801) 440-0349
Email jon.soldan@business.utah.edu

Course Description
Systems analysis and design is an essential skill for anyone involved with technology. Whether you are a product manager, functional manager, database administrator, developer, project manager, or executive, you need to understand how to verbalize, document, analyze, and design information systems.

Significant resources are consistently wasted due to a lack of effective systems analysis and design when new systems are built. This course examines the analysis and design of complex projects, the tools that have been developed to assist managing these projects, and the tradeoffs faced by most business systems analysts. While the course is applicable to all job roles, we will focus primarily on what a business / systems analyst needs to know to successfully perform his / her job duties. Some of the specific topics we will discuss include functional requirements, non-functional requirements, stakeholder management, interviewing techniques, scope management, goal definition, use cases, user experience, strategic planning, solutions design, systems modeling, defining fit and rationale, agile requirements and iterative development, etc.

This is not a “memorize and regurgitate” course. There is a significant amount of research, critical thinking / discussion, and application. You will be graded less on what you memorize and more on the quality of your thinking and work (final project worth 40% of your grade).
Course Objectives
1. Be able to “talk the talk” - analyst terminology
2. Clearly understand the role of a business systems analyst
3. Learn how to apply analysis/design tools and concepts in various organizations
4. Gain a broad understanding of designing multiple types of systems utilizing various methodologies / approaches
5. Understand why skilled business/systems analysts are essential in systems development
6. Create a real requirements document and design for a systems development project of your choice
Required Textbook (Hard Copy, Kindle, eBook)
1. Suzanne Robertson, James Robertson (2012). Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right, 3/E. PA: Addison Wesley - Professional. ISBN-13: 978-0321815743.

Suggested/Optional/Cited Readings
1. Kevin Brennan. A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide) (2009). PA: International Institute of Business Analysis; 2/E.
2. Karl Wiegers. Software Requirements 2 (2003). PA: Microsoft Press; 2/E.
3. Mike Cohn. Agile Estimating and Planning (2005). PA: Prentice Hall.
4. Alistair Cockburn. Writing Effective Use Cases (2000). PA: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1/E.
5. Mike Cohn. User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development (2004). PA: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1/E.
6. Kenneth E. Kendall, Julie E. Kendall (2010). Systems Analysis and Design, 8/E. PA: Prentice Hall. ISBN-13: 9780136089162
7. Kroenke (2010). Using MIS 3/E. PA: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0558681964

Canvas
Course presentations, syllabus, assignments, recommended readings, grades, etc. will be available online. In order to access Canvas, you need to have an active University Network ID (UNID). For more information, go to http://tlt.utah.edu/.

Evaluation
Midterm …….………………………………………….……….………….. 15%
Critical Thinking Questions ………………………………………………... 20%
Project …………………….……………………………………………….. 40%
Final Exam ……………………………………………………………….... 15%
Participation ……………………………………………………………….. 10%

Critical thinking questions are based on the reading assignments. There is one midterm and one final exam. The group project will be the largest single contributor to your grade (details below).

Critical Thinking Questions
Each week,