17spm_L07
Domain Description
SPM 2017 © Ron Poet Lecture 7 1
Contents of Domain Analysis Document
� Introduction
� Glossary
� Domain Knowledge
� Customers and Users
� Environment
� Existing Procedures
� Competing Systems
� Similarities with Other Organisations and Domains
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Domain Analysis
� The problem domain is the field of business activity within which the
problem is located.
� Introduction
o Name the domain.
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o Identify the problem to be solved.
� Glossary
o Define any specialised terminology used within the domain.
o If a glossary already exists, just refer to it.
o This terminology that must be understood by developers to
communicate effectively with customer’s domain experts.
o This terminology will crop up in the system’s user interface.
Domain Description (2)
� Domain knowledge
o Summarise domain facts and rules familiar to domain experts.
o If domain knowledge is already documented, just refer to it.
o Examples: scientific principles; business processes; analysis
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o
techniques; specialised technology.
� Customers and users
o Identify the customer(s).
o Identify the users (by category).
o Show how they relate to one another (e.g., organisation chart).
Domain Description (3)
� Environment
o Describe existing systems (equipment, software, …)
o Any new system must work with existing systems.
� Existing procedures
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o Define existing procedures: who does what; how the work flows.
o Discover shortcuts used in practice: undocumented procedures.
o Identify opportunities for automation
Domain Description (4)
� Competing systems
o Identify systems already in use. What are their strengths and
weaknesses? Can they be adapted?
o Identify systems already on the market. What are their strengths
and weaknesses? Can they be acquired? If necessary, can they be
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and weaknesses? Can they be acquired? If necessary, can they be
adapted?
� Similarities with other organisations and domains
o Identify any similarities between this domain and other domains.
o Identify similarities between different organisations within this
domain.
o Consider whether any such similarities could be exploited to
develop a generic system that is more widely marketable.
Example: Part Time Teachers
Introduction
Part time teachers staff the labs of the School of Computing Science at
Gaelic University. They are not university employees but are
employed when needed and paid an hourly rate.
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employed when needed and paid an hourly rate.
The current system for managing them is ad-hoc, being based partly on
paper records and partly on spread sheets. This has proved to be time
consuming and error prone. Academics given this responsibility take
some time to learn how it operates.
A computer based solution would take less time to learn, less time to
operate and make fewer mistakes.
Part Time Teachers (2)
Glossary
Tutor: In charge of a lab and responsible for helping students with
problems and marking assignments.
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Demonstrator: Assists a tutor in helping students during a lab.
Academic: Has overall responsibility for a class and associated labs.
Administrator: Assists academics in running classes.
This is a consistent terminology across the university sector.
Part Time Teachers (3)
Domain knowledge
Summary of GU’s grading system: grades, GPAs.
Summary of how GU modules are structured: lectures, tutorials and labs.
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Summary of responsibilities of academics, tutors, demonstrators and
administrators.
Profile of GU’s student population (full-time/part-time;
undergraduate/postgraduate; UK/EU/international).
References to GU’s academic regulations, assessment code, programme
specifications, etc
Part Time Teachers (4)
Customers and users
The customer for the proposed student record system is the School of
Computing Science (SOCS) at Gaelic University.
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The users will be academics, administrators, tutors and demonstrators.
Part Time Teachers (5)
Environment
SOCS has an extensive collection of computers and servers maintained by
its own technical staff.
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Most staff use Windows computers, although a substantial minority prefer
to use Linux machines. All the servers run Linux.
The main means of communication between staff is email.
Part Time Teachers (6)
Existing procedures
Details of how the current system works . . . .
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Part Time Teachers (7)
Competing systems
Within its limited scope, the existing system works reasonably well. All
labs end up being staffed and part time teachers end up being paid.
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A replacement system would be welcomed by the school management
since it should be more efficient. It would be less welcome by the
current PTT administrator because he anticipates a lot of extra work to
set it up.
Other universities have probably developed their own systems, since
staffing labs is a common problem.
Part Time Teachers (8)
Similarities with other domains and organisations
The university sector is different to any other domain.
Most universities within the UK are broadly similar to one another in
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terms of their requirements for staffing labs, but there are many
differences in the details. There are even greater differences between
universities in different countries.
Development of a generic system suitable for most UK universities would
be technically feasible. However, several competing systems probably
already exist, and development of a competing system would probably
not be economically feasible.