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144 Part 2 • InformatIon requIrements analysIs

MAC APPEAL

Collecting data unobtrusively seems easy until one realizes that all the data collected must be orga-
nized, stored, and retrieved for analysis. A simple solution to this problem is software called Yojimbo
from Bare Bones software. It is inexpensive and easy to use. Just drag the items you want to collect
into Yojimbo and search for them when you want to retrieve them.
A more structured approach is to use an application like DEVONthink Professional Office. The
metaphor of an office is a bit ambitious because using the application is more like tossing all sorts of
data in a desk drawer and then figuring out how to organize it at a later date. DEVONthink accepts
Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files as well as anything from iWork. It can keep track of
bookmarks and web pages, images, and PDF files. A built-in OCR reader helps input pages directly.
When it is time to access the information, DEVONthink can help a systems analyst search,
classify, and show relationships among items with the help of artificial intelligence. DEVONthink
doesn’t help an analyst determine the sample size or keep track of errors, but it does help the analyst
collect, store, retrieve, use, and share the information gathered.

Figure 5.MAC
DEVONthink Professional Office from DEVONtechnologies. (Screenshot from
DEVONTHINK PRO OFFICE. Copyright © by DEVONtechnologies. Reprinted by
permission; Screenshot of “Mashups: The Art of Creating new Applications by Combining
Two or More Web Sites” by Kenneth E. Kendall and Allen Schmidt, from DECISION LINE,
March 2007. Copyright © 2007 by Decision Sciences Institute. Reprinted by permission.)

Summary

This chapter has covered unobtrusive methods for information gathering, including sampling, investiga-
tion of quantitative and qualitative data in current and archived forms, and the observation of the decision
maker’s activities through the use of the analyst’s playscript, as well as observation of the decision maker’s
physical environment through the use of STROBE.
The process of systematically selecting representative elements of a population is called sampling. The
purpose of sampling is to select and study documents such as invoices, sales reports, and memos, or perhaps
to select and interview, give surveys to, or observe members of the organization. Sampling can reduce cost,
speed data gathering, potentially make the study more effective, and possibly reduce the bias in the study.