Page 300 - Mechanical Engineers' Handbook (Volume 2)

5 System Design 291

3. To document computer software
4. To integrate these effectively
5. To prepare a user’s guide to the system and the process in which the system is
embedded
6. To prepare a leader’s guide for the system and the associated process
7. To conduct control group or operational (simulated operational) tests of the system
and make minor changes in the aid as a result of the tests
8. To complete detailed design and associated testing of a prototype system based on
the results of the previous phase
9. To implement the prototype system in the operational environment as a process
The products of this phase are detailed guides to use of the system as well as, of course,
the prototype system itself. It is very important that the user’s guide and the leader’s guide
address, at levels appropriate for the parties interested in the effort, the way in which the
performance objectives identified in Section 5.3 are satisfied. The description of system usage
and leadership topics should be addressed in terms of the analytic and behavioral constructs
of the system and the resulting process as well as in terms of operational environment
situation concerns. These concerns include the following:
1. Frequency of occurrence of need for the system or process
2. Time available from recognition of need for a plan, design, or decision to identifi-
cation of an appropriate plan, design, or decision
3. Time available from determination of an appropriate plan, design, or decision to
implementation of the plan, design, or decision
4. Value of time
5. Possible interactions with the plans, designs, or decisions of others
6. Information base characteristics
7. Organizational structure
8. Top-management support for the resulting system or process
It is especially important that the portion of this phase that concerns implementation of the
prototype system specifically address important questions concerning cognitive style and
organizational differences among parties at interest and institutions associated with the design
effort. Stakeholder understanding of environmental changes and side effects that will result
from use of the system is critical for ultimate success. This need must be addressed. Eval-
uation specification and operational deployment specifications will be further refined as a
result of this phase.

Evaluation Phase
Evaluation of the system in accordance with evaluation criteria, determined in the require-
ments specification phase and modified in the subsequent two design phases, is accomplished
in the fourth phase of systems development. This evaluation should always be assisted to
the extent possible by all parties at interest to the systems design effort and the resultant
systemic process. The evaluation effort must be adapted to other phases of the design effort
so that it becomes an integral functional part of the overall design process. As noted, eval-
uation may well be an effort distinct from design that is used to determine usefulness or
appropriateness for specified purposes of one or more previously designed systems. Among
the objectives of system or process evaluation are the following: