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140 Part 2 • InformatIon requIrements analysIs

POLICY HANDBOOKS. The last type of qualitative document we consider is the policy handbook.
Although these documents typically cover broad areas of employee and corporate behavior, a
systems analyst can be primarily concerned with those that address policies about computer
services, use, access, security, and charges. Examining policies allows a systems analyst to gain
awareness of the values, attitudes, and beliefs guiding the corporation.

Observing a Decision Maker’s Behavior
Observing decision makers, their physical environment, and their interaction with their physi-
cal, ergonomic environment is an important unobtrusive method for a systems analyst. Through
observing activities of decision makers, an analyst seeks to gain insight about what is actually
done, not just what is documented or explained. In addition, through observation of the decision
maker, an analyst attempts to see firsthand the relationships that exist between decision makers
and other organizational members. Observation of decision makers’ interactions with technolo-
gies can also reveal important clues regarding HCI concerns, such as how well the system fits
with the user.

Observing a Typical Manager’s Decision-Making Activities
Managers’ workdays have been described as a series of interruptions punctuated by short bursts
of work. In other words, pinning down what a manager “does” is a slippery proposition, even
under the best of circumstances. A systems analyst can grasp how managers characterize their
work by using interactive interviews and questionnaires. Observation, however, allows the ana-
lyst to see firsthand how managers gather, process, share, and use information and technology to
get work done.
Although it is possible to describe and document how managers make decisions using boxes
and arrows, we are primarily describing humans and their activities. Therefore, we suggest that
systems analysts use a more humanistic approach to describe what managers do. This method
is called the analyst’s playscript. With this technique, the “actor” is the decision maker who is
observed “acting” or making decisions. When you set up a playscript, you list the actor in the
left-hand column and all his or her actions in the right-hand column, as shown in Figure 5.7. All
activities are recorded with action verbs, so that a decision maker would be described as “talking,”
“sampling,” “corresponding,” and “deciding.”
Using a playscript is an organized and systematic approach that demands the analyst be able
to understand and articulate the action taken by each observed decision maker. This approach
eventually assists the systems analyst in determining what information is required for major
or frequent decisions made by the observed people. For instance, from the quality assurance
manager example in the playscript, it is clear that even though this decision maker is on the
middle management level, he or she requires a fair amount of external information to perform the
required activities of this specific job.

Observing the Physical Environment
Observing the activities of decision makers is just one way to assess their information require-
ments. Observing the physical environment where decision makers work also reveals much
about their human information requirements. Most often, such observing means systematically
examining the offices of decision makers because offices constitute their primary workplace.
Decision makers influence, and are in turn influenced by, their physical environments and by
their interactions with the technology that takes place there. Many HCI concerns can be identi-
fied through structured observation and confirmed with other techniques, such as interviews or
questionnaires.

Structured Observation of the Environment (STROBE)
Film critics sometimes use a structured form of criticism called mise-en-scène analysis to sys-
tematically assess what is in a single shot of the film. They look at editing, camera angle, set
decor, and the actors and their costumes to find out how they are shaping the meaning of the film
as intended by the director. Sometimes the film’s mise-en-scène will contradict what is said in