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An assessment of the prototyping approach to information systems development

Author:

Maryam AlaviAuthors Info & Claims

Communications of the ACM, Volume 27, Issue 6

Pages 556 - 563

https://doi.org/10.1145/358080.358095

Published: 01 June 1984 Publication History

Abstract

A two-phased research project comparing the prototyping approach with the more traditional life cycle approach finds that prototyping facilitates communication between users and designers during the design process. However, the findings also indicate that designers who used prototyping experienced difficulties in managing and controlling the design process.

References

[1]

Berrisford, T.R., and Wetherbe, J.C. Heuristic development: A redesign of systems design. Manage. In{. Syst. Q. 3, 1 (Mar. 1979), 11-19. Proposes a major change to the life cycle approach to information systems development. An alternative approach, the heuristic development, is presented. Several case studies of heuristic development are discussed.

[2]

Canning, R.G. Developing systems by prototyping. EDP Anal. 19, 9, (Sept. 1981), 1-14. Defines software prototypes and describes their uses. Discusses technical and organizational requirements of prototyping. The application of prototyping approach in three large corporations is described.

[3]

Dodd, W.P. Prototyping programs. Computer 13, 2 (Feb. 1980), 81. Discusses the need for software program prototypes and describes the potential benefits of the approach.

[4]

Earl, M.J. Prototype systems for accounting, information, and control. Account. Organ. Soc. 3, 2 (1978), 161-170. Argues that many "principles" of MIS design fail to accommodate the complexities of organizational environment and learning. Three case studies are described, and a prototype procedure is presented.

[5]

Groner, C., Hopwood, M.D., Palley, N.A., and Sibley, W. Requirements analysis in clinical research information processing--A case study. Computer 12, 9 (Sept. 1979), 100-108. Contains a case study describing the use of computer system prototypes during the requirements analysis phase of clinical research information systems development.

Digital Library

[6]

Henderson, J.C., and lngraham, R.S. Prototyping for DSS: A critical appraisal. In Decision Support Systems, M.J. Ginzberg, W.R. Reitman, and E.A. Stohr. Eds. Elsevier North-Holland, New York, 1982, pp. 79-96. Reviews the prototyping strategy and examines its use in the design and implementation of a model-based decision supiaort system (DSS). Information requirements generated by prototyping approach are compared with the information requirements generated by a structured group process.

[7]

Keen, P.G.W. Adaptive design for decision support systems. Database 12, 1 (Fall 1980), 15-25. Argues that decision support systems should be designed through an adaptiv e process of learning, experimentation, and evolution. A framework for adaptive design is presented. A number of case studies ore summarized in an appendix.

[8]

Keen, P.G.W. Value analysis: }ustifying decision support systems. Manage. hff. Syst. Q. 5, 1 (Mar. 1981), 1-16. Deals with justification of decision support systems, which by their very nature make traditional cost benefit analysis of little use. An alternative approach value analyms based on prototypmg and staged cost value assessment, is proposed.

Digital Library

[9]

Mason, R.E.A., and Carey, T.T. Prototyping interactive information systems. Commun. ACM 26, 5 (May 1983), 347-354. Presents a prototype methodology and development tool, which have been widely applied to the development of interactive informer!on systems in the commercial data processing setting. The effectiveness of the methodology and relationship to other applications is discussed.

Digital Library

[10]

McCracken, D.D. Software in the 80's: Perils and promises. Comput. World Extra (Sept. 17, 1980), 5-10. Describes the problems in applications software development. It is argued that the root cause is that wrong application development tools are being used. A solution consisting of use of very high-level nonprocedural languages and prototyping is suggested.

[11]

Naumann, I.D., Davis, G.B., and McKeen, I.D. Determining information system requirements: A contingency method for selection of a requirements assurance strategy. }. Syst. Softw. 1, 4 (Dec. 1980), 29- 44. Describes information requirements determination in terms of two stages: eliciting requirements and requirements assurance. The paper describes the selection of a strategy for information assurance that depends on environmental and project contingencies.

[12]

Naumann, I.D., and Jenkins, A.M. Prototyping: The new paradig m for systems development. Manage. Inf. Syst. Q. 6, 3 (Sept. 1982), 29- 44. Reviews some of the published references to prototyping and presents a discussion of the underlying design concepts. A process model for information systems prototypes is developed. A discussion of the econbmics of prototyping and several examples are presented.

[13]

Sprague, R.H., and Carlson, E.D. Building Effective Decision Support Systems. Prerltice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1982. Covers conceptual and organizational issues related to design, development, and implementation of decision support systems.

Digital Library

[14]

Zelkowitz, M.W. A case study in rapid prototyping. Soflw. Pract. Exper. 10, 12 (Dec. 1980), 1037-1042. Presents a case study in rapid prototyping using SNOBOL4. The goals of the experiment as well as some of the results are described.

[15]

Zelkowitz, M.V., Ed. Workshop notes. ACM SIGSOF T Workshop on Rapid Prototyping, Columbia, Md., Apr. 19-21, 1982. A collection of 31 papers on rapid prototyping.

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Altendeitering MGuggenberger TMöller F(2024)A design theory for data quality tools in data ecosystemsData & Knowledge Engineering10.1016/j.datak.2024.102333153:COnline publication date: 21-Nov-2024
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Index Terms

An assessment of the prototyping approach to information systems development
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Management of computing and information systems
      1. Project and people management
        Systems development
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management
    1. Software development process management
  2. Software notations and tools
    1. Software configuration management and version control systems

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Published In

cover image Communications of the ACM

Communications of the ACM Volume 27, Issue 6

June 1984

78 pages

ISSN:0001-0782

EISSN:1557-7317

DOI:10.1145/358080

Editor:
Peter J. Denning
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 1984 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Publication History

Published: 01 June 1984

Published in CACM Volume 27, Issue 6

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Steinert MAltendeitering M(2024)Data Trustees: A Whitelisting Approach for Trusted Data SharingProceedings of the 4th Eclipse Security, AI, Architecture and Modelling Conference on Data Space10.1145/3685651.3685656(86-92)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3685651.3685656
Altendeitering MGuggenberger TMöller F(2024)A design theory for data quality tools in data ecosystemsData & Knowledge Engineering10.1016/j.datak.2024.102333153:COnline publication date: 21-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.datak.2024.102333
Khalil MEbner M(2023)What Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Stakeholders Can Learn from Learning Analytics?Learning, Design, and Technology10.1007/978-3-319-17461-7_3(3731-3760)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17461-7_3
Möller NHorkoff J(2022)Requirements Engineering for Software-Enabled Art: Challenges and GuidelinesRequirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_17(219-234)Online publication date: 21-Mar-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-030-98464-9_17
AYANFEOLUWA OOLUWASEYI EMARTINS E(2020)COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURED SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE METHODOLOGIES: RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT, PROTOTYPING, AND SCRUMi-manager’s Journal on Software Engineering10.26634/jse.15.1.1793315:1(1)Online publication date: 2020
https://doi.org/10.26634/jse.15.1.17933
Spitzer MNanic IEbner M(2018)Distance Learning and Assistance Using Smart GlassesEducation Sciences10.3390/educsci80100218:1(21)Online publication date: 27-Jan-2018
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8010021
Frich JInie NHalskov KDalsgaard PMandryk RHancock MPerry MCox A(2018)A Sentiment Analysis of Design Reflections from Design ProjectsExtended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3170427.3188444(1-6)Online publication date: 20-Apr-2018
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Heil SSiegert VGaedke M(2018)ReWaMP: Rapid Web Migration Prototyping Leveraging WebAssemblyWeb Engineering10.1007/978-3-319-91662-0_6(84-92)Online publication date: 5-Jun-2018
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Hai-Jew SHai-Jew S(2018)Early Designs, Prototypes, and Learning Sequences for Exploration and Decision MakingDesigning Instruction For Open Sharing10.1007/978-3-030-02713-1_7(271-329)Online publication date: 18-Dec-2018
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Neuherz EEbner M(2017)A Math Training Platform to Foster Individual LearningDigital Tools for Seamless Learning10.4018/978-1-5225-1692-7.ch001(1-26)Online publication date: 2017
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