Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives At the completion of this subject students should know the activities involved in the systems design, implementation and maintenance phases of the systems development cycle; understand the place of systems design and implementation in systems development; be able to use suitable design methods and techniques to design system modules; and appreciate the value of a systematic approach to systems design, implementation and maintenance.
Synopsis Systems design: the need for good system design, collecting statistics and constraints for partitioning and packaging, development of systems architecture, transaction-centred design, coupling and cohesion, system structure chart design heuristics, design of security and backup. Physical systems design. Software ergonomics: the need for user-friendly software, screen and dialogue design, report design, user documentation. Implementation: conversion, file creation, parallel running, system testing, acceptance testing, post-implementation actions, efficiency, tuning maintenance, documentation to be maintained during design and implementation, user training. Alternative methods of development, prototyping and system design techniques, other design approaches. Developing and achieving quality systems: quality assurance (QA) techniques, reviews, standards, project control methodologies, organisation and management culture.
Assessment Examination (3 hours): 60% + Practical work: 40%