This document discusses participant development in designing solutions for information systems. Participant development involves individuals within an organization developing solutions themselves rather than relying on IT specialists, as IT personnel were often unable to provide immediate service. The stages of the system development cycle are affected by participant development, with participants identifying problems, choosing solutions, developing solutions, implementing systems, and maintaining solutions. Design tools that can assist in solution development include context diagrams, data flow diagrams, system flowcharts, decision trees, decision tables, and data dictionaries.

1. 1.5) Designing
Solutions

2. • Designing a solution is the transformation of
the specifications into appropriate hardware,
software and information processes.
• It involves:
• purchasing hardware
• writing or purchasing software
• specifying information processes
• Participant development occurs when people
within the information system develop the
solution.

3. • Participant development became a solution
because IT personnel were often unable to
provide immediate service.
• The stages of the system development cycle
are affected by participant development in the
following way:
• Understanding the problem—participant
identifies the problem. Information system
personnel might be used to advise the
participant on possible tools to solve the
problem.

4. • Making decisions—participant chooses an
appropriate solution.
• Designing solutions—participant develops
the solution, often using guided processes
found in application packages. The
participant may require some training

5. • Implementation—participant begins using
the system. This stage is often easier to
accomplish with participant development
than with a system developed by information
system personnel as the participant is
familiar with the application and does not
require further training.
• Testing, evaluating and maintaining—
participant is totally responsible for the
maintenance and testing of the solution and
determining if any changes need to be made
to the solution.

6. • Advantages:
• Participant development is more responsive
to participant needs
• Potential to save money
• less need for IT staff
• less time wasted on communication between
participants and IT specialists

7. • Disadvantages:
• Participants are NOT hardware experts
• Different participants within an organisation
could choose different applications
• Increased costs in terms or purchasing and
training
• Increased access to data leads to greater
security problems

8. • Design tools assist in the development of a new
system.
• They include:
• context diagrams
• data flow diagrams
• system flowcharts
• decision trees
• decision tables
• data dictionaries

9. • Context diagrams are graphical methods of
representing systems by using only a single
process together with inputs and outputs.
• The input and output sources are also called
external entities.
• The external entities are linked to the single
process through data flow arrows.
• Data flow diagrams are graphical methods of
representing a system that use a number of
processes together with inputs, outputs and
storage.

10. • DFD’s focus on the flows of data between
information processes in a system.
• They show where data is:
• collected
• organised
• analysed
• stored
• processed
• transmitted
• displayed

11. • There are four main symbols”
• process
• data flow
• data store
• external entity
• To draw a DFD, start with the processes and
use data flows to link them to data stores and
entities.
• The limitation of context diagrams and DFD’s
is that, while they identify basic structures,
they do not show sequences of operations or
decisions that are required.

12. • Many information processes that occur are
determined by various decisions.
• Two tools used to display and analyse
decisions are decision trees and decision tables.
• A decision tree is a diagrammatic way of
representing all possible combinations of
decisions and their resultant actions.
• A decision table is a table that represents all
possible conditions and actions.
• The table is divided vertically into conditions
and actions, and horizontally into rules.

13. • A data dictionary describes the data within a
system.
• A data dictionary describes each field in a
database.
• It clarifies characteristics such as:
• field name
• field size
• data type
• description
• example

14. • A system flowchart is a graphical means of
representing both the flow of data and the logic
of a system.
• It documents such things as:
• the sequence
• the processes
• the selection rules and actions
• the hardware used