Req Anlanysis

ANDREW MONK AND STEVE HOWARD

methods & tools

The Rich Picture: A Tool for Reasoning About Work Context

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The Importance of Concerns

Have you ever observed the following situation? A computer system is built to satisfy well-specified requirements. The requirements clearly describe the task to be supported, and the system satisfies them. Despite all this care and attention, the system is universally condemned by management and users. Why does this happen? Surprisingly often, the task supported is not one that users actually perform. More likely, the model of work underlying the computer system interferes with other tasks the user wants to perform.

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Andrew Monk Department of Psychology University of York York, Y01 5DD United Kingdom AM1@york.ac.uk Steve Howard Swinburne CHI Laboratory (SCHIL) Swinburne University of Technology PO Box 218, Hawthorn, 3122 Australia SHoward@swin.edu.au

The really catastrophic side effects are those that prevent other people from doing their work. If the chief accountant can no longer get the figures she needs, the system will never see the light of day! A new computer system will affect the way people work; if it does not there is no point in introducing it in the first place. These effects will be deleterious if the developers do not consider the implications for both the system’s users and other people who may be affected by use of the system. All work has numerous, and sometimes competing, objectives. A single user may have the objectives “to complete a job well” and “to get home soon.” Management may have the objectives “to cut the head count in this department” and to “minimize the transaction times for customers.” We call these objectives “concerns.” Concerns are the high-level objectives that significantly constrain the way work is done. Effective systems can be designed only by taking into account the divergent concerns of...