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114 Part 2 • InformatIon requIrements analysIs

Potential Benefits of Using JAD in Place of Traditional Interviewing
There are four major potential benefits that you, the users, and your systems analysis team should
consider when you weigh the possibilities of using joint application design. The first potential
benefit is time savings over traditional one-on-one interviews. Some organizations have esti-
mated that JAD sessions have provided a 15 percent time savings over the traditional approach.
Hand-in-hand with time savings is the rapid development possible via JAD. Because user
interviews are not accomplished serially over a period of weeks or months, the development can
proceed much more quickly.
A third benefit to weigh is the possibility of improved ownership of the information system.
Analysts are always striving to involve users in meaningful ways and to encourage users to take
early ownership of the systems being designed. Due to its interactive nature and high visibility,
JAD helps users become involved early in systems projects and treats their feedback seriously.
Working through a JAD session eventually helps reflect user ideas in the final design.
A final benefit of participating in joint application design sessions is the creative development of
designs. The interactive character of JAD has a great deal in common with brainstorming techniques
that generate new ideas and new combinations of ideas because of the dynamic and stimulating
environment. Designs can evolve through facilitated interactions, rather than in relative isolation.
Potential Drawbacks of Using JAD
There are three drawbacks or pitfalls that you should weigh when making a decision on whether
to do traditional one-on-one interviews or to use joint application design. The first drawback is
that JAD requires the commitment of a large block of time from all participants. Because JAD
requires a two- to four-day commitment, it is not possible to do any other activities concurrently
or to time-shift any activities, as is typically done in one-on-one interviewing.
A second pitfall occurs if preparation for the JAD sessions is inadequate in any regard or if
the follow-up report and documentation of specifications is incomplete. In these instances resulting
designs could be less than satisfactory. Many variables need to come together correctly for joint
application design to be successful. Conversely, many things can go wrong. The success of designs
resulting from JAD sessions is less predictable than that achieved through standard interviews.
Finally, the necessary organizational skills and organizational culture may not be sufficiently
developed to enable the concerted effort required to be productive in a JAD setting. In the end you
will have to judge whether the organization is truly committed to, and prepared for, this approach.

Using Questionnaires

The use of questionnaires is an information-gathering technique that allows systems analysts to
study attitudes, beliefs, behavior, and characteristics of several key people in the organization
who may be affected by the current and proposed systems. Attitudes are what people in the orga-
nization say they want (in a new system, for instance); beliefs are what people think is actually
true; behavior is what organizational members do; and characteristics are properties of people
or things.
Responses gained through questionnaires (also called surveys) using closed questions can
be quantified. If you are surveying people via email or the Web, you can use software to turn
electronic responses directly into data tables for analysis using a spreadsheet application or sta-
tistical software packages. Responses to questionnaires using open-ended questions are analyzed
and interpreted in other ways. Answers to questions on attitudes and beliefs are sensitive to the
wording chosen by the systems analyst.
Through the use of questionnaires, the analyst may be seeking to quantify what was found
in interviews. In addition, questionnaires may be used to determine how widespread or limited a
sentiment expressed in an interview really is. Conversely, questionnaires can be used to survey
a large sample of system users to sense problems or raise important issues before interviews are
scheduled.
Throughout this chapter, we compare and contrast questionnaires with interviews. There
are many similarities between the two techniques, and perhaps the ideal would be to use them in
conjunction with each other, either following up unclear questionnaire responses with an interview
or designing the questionnaire based on what is discovered in the interview. Each technique,
however, has its own specific functions, and it is not always necessary or desirable to use both.