Documentation in system development

1. Documentation in system development Student: NguyễnĐìnhThanh LêQuangHưng Class: 1C06 Teacher: BùiNgọcHoàng

2. What is Process Documentation? • The term was first used in 1978 to refer to a pilot project in Phillippines. • In this project full time social scientists stayed in project villages and made detailed observations and documented the process of user group (farmers’) formation and functioning

3. Basic Objective of Process Documentation • To learn from implementation experience and in the light of this modify the strategy and ultimately, policy(Mosse,1998) • (Ref:Mosse, David,1998,’Process documentation research and process monitoring”, in David Mosse, John Fennigton and Alan Rew (Eds) Development as Process: Concepts and Methods for working with Complexity, London: Routledge, pp 31-53).

4. Why Process Documentation? • Most of the process-oriented methodologies are meant to record programmes as they occur and feed the information back to managers, other researchers, policy makers to help them in understanding the working of the project better. • However there are several other purposes, equally important, for which processes are sought and they are…

5. Importance of Process Documentation • An important aspect of any process is the documentation that accompanies it,(such as logging trouble calls, requesting system changes, or executing disaster recovery plans).

6. Importance of Process Documentation • Many organisations or IT companies develop excellent processes but fail to document them adequately. After an initially successful implementation of the process, many of these procedures go unused due to lack of documentation, particularly as new staff members who are unfamiliar with the process attempt to use it.

7. Importance of Evaluating the Quality of Process Documentation • In IT sectors and in other organisations where the use of processes is essential • The purpose of evaluating the quality of content is important: • a.) to show to what degree the material is suitable for use.

8. Importance of Evaluating the Quality of Process Documentation • b) to show how important the documentation is to the support of the process and how important the process is to the support of the business. • The quality of the content of documentation is evaluated with 10 common characteristics of usability:

9. How is good Documentation? • Ownership. This characteristic rates the degree to which the three key ownership roles—process owner, documentation custodian, and technical writer—are clearly identified, understood, and supported. For some processes, the same individual may have all three roles.

10. How is good Documentation? • Readability :This characteristic rates the clarity and simplicity of the written documentation . This characteristic especially looks at how well the level of the material matches the skill and experience level of the audience.

11. How is good Documentation? • Accuracy. This characteristic rates the technical accuracy of the material.

12. How is good Documentation? • Format: rates the overall organization of the material; how easy it is to follow; how well it keeps a consistent level of technical depth; and to what degree it documents and describes an actual process rather than merely duplicating tables, spreadsheets, and metrics.

13. How is good Documentation? • Accessibility : rates the ease or difficulty of accessibility. • Current status : rates to what degree the current version of the documentation is up to date and the frequency with which it's kept current. • Ease of update : rates the relative ease or difficulty with which the documentation can be updated, including revision and distribution of new versions.

14. How is good Documentation? • Effectiveness: rates the overall usability of the documentation, including the use of appropriate examples, graphics, color coding, use on multiple platforms, and compliance with existing standards (if available). • Accountability: rates to what degree the documentation is being read, understood, and effectively used; all appropriate users are identified and held accountable for proper use of the documentation.

15. How to evaluate the documentation • Criticality of the process: Describes how critical is the process to the success of the organization or business of the company. • Frequency of use: Describes how frequently the documentation is used or referenced. • Number of users: Describes the approximate number of personnel who will likely want or need to use this documentation.

16. How to evaluate the documentation • Variety of users: This characteristic describes the variety of different functional areas or skill levels of personnel who will likely use this documentation. • Impact of non-use: Describes the level of adverse impact that's likely to occur if the documentation is not used properly.

17. Documentation Process • Learn how to design, write and organize your documentation to best suit your organisation or work • various documentation structures and access medium can be used. • How to pay particular attention to managing and controlling the outcome of your documentation efforts (the documentation authorities, distribution, amendments, identification,...). • Ideas that evolve from the documentation and maintaining its alignment with changing needs should be paid attention. 

18. Thanks for listening! Q&A