Abstract: Traditional approaches to teaching systems analysis and design (SAD) courses present students with little opportunity to understand SAD concepts and recognize their practical value. This paper presents an alternative and innovative approach to teaching systems analysis and design. In the hands-on approach described in this paper, student groups are divided into end users and system developers. End-users are given limited access to actual business system applications. Systems developers attempt to design those systems based on end users' specifications and descriptions. In the second half of the semester, the roles are reversed, i.e. end users become developers and developers become end users, and new systems are introduced. At the conclusion of the course, students compare their designs with the actual systems that they have designed. Consequently, students get to experience and feel how end users specify their information requirements and how systems' developers perceive and integrate these requirements into a new system.

Keywords: Systems analysis & design, Applications, System developers, End users

Download this article: JISE - Volume 13 Number 1, Page 3.pdf

Recommended Citation: Hasan, B. (2002). Teaching Tip: End Users and Developers in Systems Analysis and Design. Journal of Information Systems Education, 13(1), 3-6.