During a system study (requirements discovery), analysts determine managers’ information needs primarily by asking targeted questions using interviews and similar elicitation techniques.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: asking questions

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
Requirements discovery hinges on effective elicitation. For managers’ information needs—KPIs, decision cycles, exception handling—analysts rely on structured and semi-structured interviews with probing questions. This clarifies goals, constraints, and contexts that documents alone cannot reveal.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Stakeholders include managers with strategic and operational responsibilities.
  • The analyst needs to understand decisions, timing, and data granularity.
  • Interviews and workshops are available methods.


Concept / Approach:
Asking questions via interviews, workshops, and questionnaires elicits tacit knowledge—exceptions, pain points, and priorities. Demonstrations (sample reports, prototypes) can supplement, but the core discovery mechanism is targeted questioning that maps needs to measurable outputs.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Plan interview guides aligned to business goals and decisions.Conduct interviews to capture information needs (metrics, detail level, cadence).Validate findings with artifacts (sample reports) as secondary aids.


Verification / Alternative check:
Well-run analyses produce requirement statements and acceptance criteria that trace back to interview notes and workshop outcomes, confirming questioning as the primary method.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Tours of a computer center (A) do not surface managerial needs. Showing samples (C) is helpful but not primary for discovery. Teaching programming (D) is unrelated to eliciting requirements. “None of the above” is wrong because asking questions is correct.


Common Pitfalls:
Asking only leading questions; failing to probe exceptions; not involving all decision-makers. Use open-ended and scenario-based questions to uncover real needs.


Final Answer:
asking questions

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