Chapter 17

• evaluation


  a document that considers the success of a project in relation to how to complete the solution is, how efficient it is, how well it meets the end user requirements and how well it operates on specified platforms
• qualitative user requirements


  Relate to the quality of the solution, and may be subjectively assessed, i.e. not everyone may assess them equally.
• quantitative user requirements


  Requirements which can be easily measured, for example in terms of time
• robust system


  A system can be considered to be robust if it does not crash when processing high levels of valid, invalid or exceptional data
• when should a an evaluation be carried out


  throughout the development of a system

  
  

  throughout the design process- the information gained enables changes to be made to the solution at an early stage, this is less costly than changes made at the testing stage

  
  

  when the product has been developed- the test data proposed in the test plan can be used at the different stages of testing, unexpected results can be reviewed to identify the problem components within the solution
• what is the aim of an evaluation

  improve the product being developed
• how early should the evaluation start


  the design stages in the development process
• an evaluation document should be structured and include details of:


  the purpose of the evaluation

  the date and time the evaluation started and how long it is expecting to take

  any previous evaluations of the product such as when it occurred and what the main findings were

  who was involved in the evaluation and their roles

  the stage in development process the evaluation occurred
• what should form the basis of the evaluation


  the user requirements as well as time management and cost requirements of the project
• what could be used to within an evaluation to show the user requirements and evidence to the statements made

  tables
• when an evaluation is completed at the close of a project what will the development team do


  will consider their own performance in terms of time management and team contribution
• what will the project manager do


  consider areas such as how close the final cost of the project was to the initial budget set out by the client organisation
• what may the team also review


  the solution and include areas for improvement based on feedback from the user
• what must conclusions drawn in an evaluation be supported by

  evidence
• fact finding methods


  the documented results from testing

  questionnaires, checklists or documented interviews to determine how well the user requirements have been met

  observations of end users interacting with the application or end user entries into logs documenting their initial interactions with the application
• points to consider in an evaluation


  evaluations will include feedback from the main stakeholders including members of the development team etc

  evaluation itself should be objective meaning its not biased in any way and should highlight both strengths and weaknesses

  evaluation should take into account of the outcome from user acceptance testing, when the product is tested using real data provided by the user

  actions taken should be recorded for reporting purposes
• what aspects should be considered when evaluating a software product


  identify areas of the solution which are unsatisfactory and therefore need modified

  describe whether or not it is full or complete solution, this is done by checking to see if the user requirements have been met and if additional modules or sections of code need to be added
• evaluating media and database solutions to problems


  the evaluation process can involve the client themselves, members of the development team and end users

  during this process those involved review several areas using the user requirements document
• key points to consider when evaluating media and database solutions to problems


  how robust the system is- a robust system can handle valid and exceptional data

  how closely the application meets the original design specification

  whether the system is a complete solution to the problem identified

  where the solution is efficient- an efficient solution is one which makes minimal use of resources during the operation

  whether the solution operates on the specified platforms
• presenting evidence based on user requirements


  a well written set of user requirements should contain enough detail to support a full evaluation of the application being considered

  the development team should use the user requirements document as a template for reporting back the success of the application