Hi Guys,
Here's some feedback/answers related to your questions and Level 1 diagrams (not necessarily in same order):
- Adrian
Adrian:
Data Flow Diagrams or Use Cases?
It has always been my experience that , especially for larger scale efforts, proceeding in a pure top-down fashion (i.e., STARTING with a Context diagram that is anywhere near adequate and then proceeding to lower level diagrams) is not possible. If an analyst is on a larger scale project where someone, anyone, has, at the start fo the project, an adequate top-down understanding of the essential functionality within the scope of the system, I would say that analyst is in a very rare situation. Recognizing this unfortunate but typical reality is key, as it helps explain why good Context diagrams, especially for larger scale efforts, are so rare in the business world.
It has always been my experience that the analyst(s) need to proceed from somewhere in the middle and then go up levels of abstraction. In other words, we must first create some lower level data flow diagrams and then summarize them upwards into a Context diagram.. I know, if we could start from a context diagram, analysis would be alot easier.
At what point can we switch to use cases? That point is debatable. However, for larger scale projects, the required need for data flow diagrams often extends well beyond the Context diagram.
Tony
Hi Tony,
I would argue that it is up to the Business Analyst to ensure that they have all they need in order to start with a top-down approach. Every project should have some sort of charter and problem statement or list of needed features. I realize that the business analysis process is an iterative one and that not all info gets discovered upfront. As new info is discovered the models should be updated.
Hello Adrian and team members
Thanks for the reply and the feedback. I have gone ahead and modified the diagrams . I have tried to keep in mind the data flow rules. I have given both the level 1 diagram and the level 2 diagrams. Adrain, would be great if you can tell me whether I am going in the right direction and where I am going wrong. Once this is done, I would like to go ahead and create use case diagrams .
Would like other team members to participate and give their views and opinions and guide us where we are going wrong.
Thanks :- Jay
Im really struggling with these Dataflow Diagrams.
Iva attached my level 0 and 1. Level 1 is incomplete as I got so muddled!
Ive kind of got muddled with what i do and dont need.
How in depth do you go, that kind of thing?
Ive moved onto Use cases till Someone can tell me to Bin my WFD!!!!!
Ok scrap that work firewall wont allow me to upload docs? Can I email them to somebody (and thus lkeep them private! LOL ;0) _
brought to you by enabling practitioners & organizations to achieve their goals using: