The Design of Software System - Report Example

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System Design and Critical Analysis A possible set of rules that will form the system’s knowledge base would be If conditions ok and calculation ok then job seeker’s allowance ok If savings ok then calculations ok If savings below ?16000 then savings ok If contributions ok then savings ok If making Full-rate class1 insurance contributions then savings ok If paid 80 National Insurance Contribution or accumulated class 1 National Insurance in the last two complete tax years then Full-rate class 1 insurance contribution ok If nationality ok, age ok, education ok, employment ok, sign on ok and agreement ok then condition ok If living in Great Britain then nationality ok If exempted from immigration policies then leaving in Great Britain If submitted National Insurance Number and P45 tax form or visited a career office then sign on ok If not involved in a full time education program then education ok If meeting Job Centre plus adviser ok then agreement ok If able to start work, doing the things in the job seeker’s agreement and looking for job then meeting Job Centre Plus career adviser ok If attending a restart course or attending job interviews then looking for job ok. Here below is And/Or to represent the reasoning the system may go through in order to arrive at a decision about the user's entitlement to the benefit Abstract The society plus the industry at large are getting knowledge oriented and they do rely upon the decision made by different experts. Introduction of a knowledge based system presents us with an expert on demand available at any time and in any place and is able to process information within the shortest time possible. (Tuthhill, S and Levy, 1991)The step to introduce such a system greatly promotes consistency and gives the intended usershighnction at a relatively higher level. The knowledge based approach takes into consideration the varied techniques and methodologies for re-use and capture of process and product engineering knowledge. This process is intended to reduce the cost plus time taken during software production, which is in real sense attained through the automation of every repetitive design activity whilst we capture, retain and re-use design knowledge. This paper examines the procedures of selecting a suitable design approach for a prototype of a system that will automate the processes involved in checking and validating the eligibility of the persons entitle to job seekers allowance. It justifies the need for using a knowledge based approach during the software development process, accesses the possible advantages associated with this given design choice and gives suggestion on the extra steps to be taken during the approach to ensure that it remains economically feasible. Introduction Expert systems are the system types intended to solve real life problems that would usually require some specialized human effort like a real estate consultant or a doctor. Prior to building an expert system, there is a need that the relevant knowledge be extracted from the given human expert. Such knowledge is based on important rules of thumb rather than the absolute uncertainties. A knowledge engineer has the duty of extracting such type of knowledge then using the same to build a knowledge base. The building of an expert system has lower chances of being successful when performed for the first time for the reason that the expert finds it hard expressing with preciseness what rules and knowledge they use in solving a problem. (Benefits and Risks of Knowledge Based Systems, 2004)The knowledge based design approach never follows the conventional method because of the complexity of the human knowledge. Knowledge elicitation has been never easy and turns to be more challenging in case the exercise entails some uncertainties. This method entails an understanding of expert system design plus the psychology associated with knowledge gathering. The skills involved include conducting interviews with the experts and assembling the components of a simple system so as to put to test the garnered ideas and observe the reactions of the experts. A detailed analysis of the processes is then developed by the expert. (Barros, 1997) The expert also develops a representation of the domain plus the associated knowledge alongside a set of rules within which the intended system will operate. From these facts, a software prototype is designed and the engineer and the expert get to time to establish whether the designed system has some inconsistencies. The system is then tested using real data and fine tuning can be done if there be need after which the system is deployed in case the intended users and the developer find it satisfactory. The stated problem in this particular case study would need an expert system for the reasons discussed here below: Need for solution justifies the cost The state has a large number of people who are on the job search and eligible to Fanfare Jobseeker’s allowance. Guidelines for validation of the eligibility of such people can be obtained from professionals who might be unavailable at certain instance or whose efficiency is questionable. Investing in an expert system will therefore help solve such problems. Use of symbolic techniques The stated problem does not require physical skill or manual dexterity so use of the symbolic techniques will just do. Problem Size and Scope From the drawn decision tree, it is evident the problem will be revolving around solving validation issues about the eligibility of the jobless to the state’s allowance. The problem size and scope being definite necessitates the need for an expert system. Structure of the Problem The problem stated here is properly structured and needs not much of the common sense knowledge hence the need for an expert system. Efficiency It will provide solutions to problems in a better way compared to the human experts. Human beings are at times biased and if they were to be involved in the evaluations of the eligibility of those to benefit from this Jobseeker’s allowance a lot of discrepancies are likely to result and the non-deserving lot might end up benefit from the scheme. The systems tend to be more accurate compared to an employee who might be hired by a competitor. (Brachman, 1985) (Benjamins, 1995) (Klinker, 1993)Again inman beings have several factors that determine whether or not they will be efficient at the work place. The different channels through which the state is exploited should be constantly monitored then corrected otherwise the state might end up being drained economically. Cost Effectiveness Algorithm design in the knowledge based approach is simpler compared to the other conventional approaches of software development. The expert will not be required to have gone through a formal training in the varied computing fields to be able to design the system. A technical expertise, if hired, is more likely to demand for higher wages which will at times be unavailable. This has the implication that the system development cost might end up being low and this is to the advantage of the state and the extra funds that would have otherwise been used to pay for the expensive experts’ service can be channelled to other sectors of the economy with the final effect of a national growth. Improved Output Systems designed and developed using the knowledge based approach have the ability to understand whatever type of information they process and the decisions they take is based on the knowledge or piece of information resident in the knowledge base unlike the traditional computer systems never know or understand anything concerning the type of data that they process. This will be beneficial in that it will cater for most of the unseen conditions which have always caused the traditional computer systems to crash. (Akerkar, R. A and Sajja, 2009) Error Tolerance The system can work with data that contains errors and in such situations an error message will be displayed for the user to take an appropriate action. In case of the human experts there is the possibility of a person taking advantage of the erroneous data to make inappropriate conclusion and this might be in favor some specific people and working against other people. The expert system will therefore be helpful in making conclusions that are not in any way biased. Scalability This design approach will be scalable because any changes identified within the intended operation of the final knowledge base system are always taken into account and changes made in the design followed by the implementation of the same. This has the overall effect of reducing the system cost unlike the traditional approach where changes occurring in the deployment environment of a given system can only be effected after incurring very huge costs. The approach is reiterative. New observations will certainly necessitate the need to refine, modify or even complete the design choice that the knowledge engineer has settled for. However, there is a need for the developer to be careful so that numerous changes are not made to the final system because a lot of cost is likely to be incurred despite of the end users desiring the changes. Again, the system owners might not be willing to give any extra payment but will continue presenting the developer with a list of changes which they desire to be implemented. The user enjoys using the inbuilt features Use of the knowledge base approach to design the job seeker allowance application will give the users an opportunity to enjoy the various features in the system. An example of such is an explanation subsystem which is found in nearly all the expert systems. This feature allows the program to explain its reasoning to the user. This in some way will leave the user more persuaded especially on matters Pedagogy The expert systems are capable of offering explanations in a plain language their reason for asking a given question and their means of arrival to a particular deduction. They are also able to provide a stepwise communication regarding their deductions. The users are therefore enriched with the information concerning their problems even before the presentation of the final decision. Knowledge preservation Incidences like death or ailments or retirement of an expert can make knowledge to fade away. If recorded in the knowledge base of an expert system, the knowledge will be there for eternity. Time Saving Decision making takes a shorter time because the system is capable of making routine decisions rapidly. Consistency An expert system provides consistent answers for repetitive tasks and decision because it is constantly based on the answers that the user provides plus the information existing in the knowledge base. Multiuser Support The system is able to serve more than a single user at the same time thus making it more beneficial compared to the other traditional methods of information processing. (Borst, 1997) Improved Reliability If properly designed and implemented, the approach is likely to result in a single expert system representing a set of expertise available at whatever time and in whichever places their services might be required. Better Decision Making The expert system being fast can help a manager to quickly obtain advice from it. More time will therefore be left for the manager weight between the generated results before choosing on a given line of action. The organization using the system will therefore limit its chances of engaging in wrong decisions and so might have a competitive advantage over other organizations in terms of the service for which the system was procured. Discussed here below are some of the disadvantages of the expert system in this case study Difficulty in Programming and Code Maintenance It is a quite difficult programming or maintaining the code for an expert system. Even in situations where the expert is capable of offering an explanation regarding the entire reasoning process, automation of the same might turn to be impossible. (Weilenga, 1996)The process could require a large set of rules, imprecise, very vague or too complex. Non Adaptability The expert system best works under the problem situations for which it was designed. It never deals with a newly occurring problem situation or inconsistency. The system is not capable of learning from the previous experience problems already solved and can never apply previously acquired expertise to new problems than human beings can. Lack of Common Sense Expert systems usually need large databases of information elicited from identified experts within a specific field. The user is then asked questions by the system then the later deduces an answer based on the response provided by the user and the pieces of information resident inside the database. These answers do not have to be correct but are always logical conclusions based on the end user-provided information. (Kowalski, 1998) Possibilities of Unemployment One major fear of the introduction of this knowledge based system is the possibility of unemployment. The system seeks to bring together information from varied places pertaining to a particular person. This has the advantage of efficiency in terms of time taken to process the data. However, it has the disadvantage that a piece of task previously done by a set of employers gets to be done by a single person seated at a computer. If unemployment results, then the state in spite of having advanced in technology will be presented with yet another Need for Additional Skills After the design analysis is the implementation stage, a step that may require a person’s knowledge in computer science. Use the knowledge based approach especially the knowledge elicitation stage may require additional skills that may not be related to computing. There will be a need for a person to properly understand the human behavior, interviewing techniques along with the ability to employ the formal knowledge acquisition techniques. Such skills can be obtained from fields like anthropology, linguistics and semantics, psychology or management sciences and it is possible that the persons involved in knowledge elicitation is in professions that are non-related to the aforementioned fields is likely to result in wrong findings which will lead to inappropriate design choices and implementation finally resulting into end user dissatisfaction. A system that does not leave the end user satisfied will need to be changed every moment and again and this will turn to be expensive. A continued encounter of such will lead to a higher overall cost and so it will be hard evaluating whether the replacement of the manual method with the automated method is being beneficial in any way. Misunderstandings The approach depends upon the personal interpretations of the knowledge engineer. Misunderstandings are likely in conditions whereby the experts are unwilling to deliver information or whenever they feel that their positions would be threatened by the embarrassment of technology. It is possible that the knowledge engineers meet experts who are non-cooperative or who intentionally give faulty information. Any of these will result into a set of rules that are contradictory or erroneous. This will finally affect the system’s reliability and the stakeholders of the project may not witness any benefit of automating the eligibility validation criteria regarding the jobseekers allowance scheme. And as mentioned before, any fault that occurs during the knowledge elicitation stage will be propagated up to the implementation stage leaving us with a system that will not serve intended. Narrow Scope They are mostly restricted to narrower domains and might encounter difficulty trying to cope with knowledge decisions entailing broad discipline. This is a feature that compromises on the system’s adaptability making it less desirable in continually changing deployment conditions Flexibility The system if designed using the knowledge based approach will fail to adapt to a continually changing user environment Conclusion Despite the knowledge based approach towards the design of software system has the advantage of a simplified process of software development plus end user involvement during requirement elicitation, there is need to take caution about factors like the feasibility, problem size and scope or possible alternatives before employing this approach. Again, the end users also need to tell of the need to take advantage of the advancement in technology and to get rid of the feelings that the introduction of an automated system automatically leads to unemployment. Bibliography Akerkar, R. A and Sajja. (2009). Knowledge-based systems. MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Barros, L. N. (1997). A knowledge application tool for building practical planning system. In V. benjamins, Proc. 15th Int Joint Conf on Aartificial Intelligence (pp. 1245-1251). Japan: Morgan Kaufmann. Benefits and Risks of Knowledge Based Systems. (2004, June). Retrieved November 13, 2013, from /www.scism.lsbu.ac.uk: http://www.scism.lsbu.ac.uk/inmandw/review/ai/review/rev11454.html Benjamins, V. (1995). Problem Solving in Knowledge Acquisition. Borst, W. (1997). Human Computer Studies. In J. Akkemans, Engineering Ontologies (pp. 365-406). Brachman, R. (1985). Knowledge Representation System. Klinker, G. (1993). The Knowledge Engineering Review. NewYork. Kowalski. (1998). The early years of logic programming. Tuthhill, S and Levy. (1991). Knowledge based system: A manager perspective. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. Weilenga, B. (1996). Advances in Knowledge Acquisition. Berlin: 1996. Read More