Techniques For Gathering Information
So you and your client/stakeholder/end-user have met and you had asked him/her questions or observed their usage of an existing product. How can you get more information? Most likely, you’ll have to look at current products that will directly compete with you.
In past years for the IB, you’ve had big sections that looked at existing products, each one being very detailed. For the IA, you won’t need to go into such great depths. One paragraph outlining why current solutions don’t work for the user is enough (this would go in the justification section).
There are a few ways to get this information:
- Examining current systems: This includes an analysis of a current system’s business plan, system documents, logistics documents, computer systems, and procedures.
- Literature search: This refers to the finding and management of interesting studies, articles, research papers or best-practice guidelines for a particular product.
- Examining competing products: An analysis of competitive factors, benefits, vulnerabilities, successful characteristics, breakthroughs they introduce and design features that you can learn from.
You may choose to do any or all of these methods for the planning stage of this project. Just remember, you don’t have to have in-depth analysis in your write-up. One paragraph outlining your conclusions is fine. However, it is HIGHLY advisable that you do this background research before you start designing.