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156 part 2 • inforMation requireMents analysis

systems effort. The second disadvantage is that users and analysts may adopt a prototype as a
completed system when it is in fact inadequate and was never intended to serve as a finished
system. Analysts need to work to ensure that communication with users is clear regarding the
timetable for interacting with and improving the prototype.
An analyst needs to weigh these disadvantages against the known advantages when deciding
whether to prototype, when to prototype, and how much of the system to prototype.
Advantages of Prototyping
Prototyping is not necessary or appropriate in every systems project, as we have seen. The
advantages, however, should also be given consideration when deciding whether to prototype.
The three major advantages of prototyping are the potential for changing the system early in its
development, the opportunity to stop development on a system that is not working, and the pos-
sibility of developing a system that more closely addresses users’ needs and expectations.
Successful prototyping depends on early and frequent user feedback, which analysts can use
to modify the system and make it more responsive to actual needs. As with any other systems
effort, early changes are less expensive than changes made late in the project’s development. In
the later part of the chapter, you will see how the agile approach to development uses an extreme
form of prototyping that requires an on-site customer to provide feedback during all iterations.

Prototyping Using COTS Software
Sometimes the quickest way to prototype is through the modular installation of COTS soft-
ware. Although the concept of COTS software can be easily grasped by looking at familiar and
relatively inexpensive packages such as the Microsoft Office products, some COTS software is
elaborate and expensive but highly useful.

The Users’ Role in Prototyping
The users’ role in prototyping can be summed up in two words: honest involvement. Without
user involvement, there is little reason to prototype. The precise behaviors necessary for interact-
ing with a prototype can vary, but it is clear that the user is pivotal to the prototyping process.
Realizing the importance of the user to the success of the process, the members of a systems
analysis team must encourage and welcome input and guard against their own natural resistance
to changing the prototype.
There are three main ways a user can be of help in prototyping:
1. Experimenting with the prototype
2. Giving open reactions to the prototype
3. Suggesting additions to or deletions from the prototype
Users should be free to experiment with the prototype. In contrast to a mere list of systems
features, a prototype allows users the reality of hands-on interaction. Mounting a prototype on an
interactive website is one way to facilitate this interaction.
Another aspect of the users’ role in prototyping requires that they give open reactions to
the prototype. Analysts need to be present at least part of the time when experimentation is
occurring. They can then observe users’ interactions with the system, and they are bound to see
interactions they never planned. A filled-in form for observing user experimentation with the
prototype is shown in Figure 6.3. Some of the variables you should observe include user reac-
tions to the prototype, user suggestions for changing or expanding the prototype, user innova-
tions for using the system in completely new ways, and any revision plans for the prototype that
aid in setting priorities.
A third aspect of the users’ role in prototyping is their willingness to suggest additions to or
deletions from the features being tried. The analyst’s role is to elicit such suggestions by assuring
users that the feedback they provide is taken seriously, by observing users as they interact with
the system, and by conducting short, specific interviews with users concerning their experiences
with the prototype. Although users will be asked to articulate suggestions and innovations for
the prototype, in the end it is the analyst’s responsibility to weigh this feedback and translate it
into workable changes where necessary. To facilitate the prototyping process, the analyst must
clearly communicate the purposes of prototyping to users, along with the idea that prototyping is
valuable only when users are meaningfully involved.