Rich Pictures - Article Example

It was developed by Peter Checkland as a Soft Systems Methodology for gathering information about a complex situation (Checkland 1981, p. 37). Structure, processes and concerns are the main components of any Rich Picture diagram. Use Case method analyses the expectation of a primary actor with the proposed system. Actors are the stakeholders of the system, e.g. end users and other systems that are supposed to use the system. They are not considered as a part of the system, only their interaction with the system is taken in to consideration while developing the system.

Use Case modeling is extensively used in software application modeling process and object oriented programming. A clear understanding of Use Case is necessary for using UML and other modern software development process. This dissertation will critically evaluate Rich Pictures and Use Cases as a requirements analysis tool. It will also compare and contrast adoptability, advantages and shortcomings of these analysis methods. With the help of a case study based on a Children Support Agency and analysis of its requirement using both methodologies it will highlight the usability of these methods to different situations.

Soft System Methodology (SSM) deals with problem situations in which there is a high social, political, and human activity component (Checkland, 90). The SSM is effective in dealing with "soft problems" that are difficult to define but comparatively easier to solve as presented in Children Support Agency case study. Examples of problem situations where SSM is more effective includes socially more complex but technically easier problems such as dealing with homelessness, illiteracy and distressed young people.

SSM as defined by Checkland (1990) is composed of seven stages from, finding out the problem situation, expressing the problem situation through Rich Pictures (i.e., representations of organizational structure and processes pertinent to the problem situation), viewing the situation and produce root definitions, building conceptual models of what the system must do for each root definition, comparing the conceptual models with the real world, identifying feasible and desirable changes, to making recommendations to improve the problem situation.

Expressing the problem situation through Rich Pictures is a major phase of Soft System Analysis. Rich Pictures are most effective in analyzing the complex organizational structures, functions and processes. Rich Picture diagrams as illustrated by following figure are one of the best and most flexible ways for communicating systematic planning process. Following Rich Picture for the complete Children Support Agency environment outlines all major structures, processes, different stakeholders and their concerns.

Figure 1: Rich Picture Diagram for CSA Management Information System.The above rich picture modelling gives a broad picture of the situation. It shows clearly the expectations of different stakeholders from proposed Management Information System. Development of rich pictures gives a systematic understanding of all questions and observations about the problem situation. The above representation of the scenario can be very helpful in identifying