Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design

Module Overview Module 3: A Services-Based Approach to Solution Design Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design Module 5: Business Solution Logical Design Module 6: Beginning Physic

Module 4: Business Solution

Conceptual Design

Module Overview

Module 3: A Services-Based Approach to Solution Design Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design Module 5: Business Solution Logical Design Module 6: Beginning Physical Design

Module 1: Course Overview Module 2: Solution Design Using the MSF

Module 7: Selecting Solution

Technologies

Module 8: Solution Design and the

Component Object Model

Module 9: Designing Solutions with

Conceptual DesignBasics

Activity 4.2:Inputs to Conceptual

Design

Conceptual DesignAnalysis

Conceptual DesignProcess

Conceptual DesignResearch

Activity 4.3: Value of Information Models

Conceptual Design

Optimization

Activity 4.4: Creating a

Future-State Usage Scenario

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual

Design

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 79

Usage Scenario

You have already learned that there are three phases of design — conceptual, logical, and physical — in the Microsoft® Solutions Framework (MSF) Process Model The first phase of the MSF Process Model is conceptual design

Conceptual design starts during the Envisioning Phase of the MSF Process Model, and continues through most of the Planning Phase Since the MSF Design Process is an evolutionary, as well as iterative, process, conceptual design clearly sets the tone for both logical and physical design

In this module, you will learn about the conceptual design phase of the MSF Process Model First, you will learn the basics of conceptual design — where it fits into the MSF Process Model, its steps, and the tasks and outputs of the conceptual design phase Then you will learn about conceptual design in greater detail through the use of examples and activities based on the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc case study

After completing this module, you will be able to:

" Explain the need for conceptual design in the process of designing a business solution

" Describe the role of conceptual design in the MSF Design Process Model

" Describe the steps of conceptual design

" Develop a future-state description of a business solution created through the conceptual design process

" Develop a conceptual design for a business solution from the gathered and analyzed information

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

the module topics and

objectives

! Conceptual Design Basics

In this section

Although conceptual design is crucial to the solution design process, often it is not performed, or performed improperly Learning the basics of the process of conceptual design will help you understand why it is a necessary part of the design process

In this section, you will learn the basic concepts and terminology of conceptual design including its purpose and value during solution design

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

this section

Lead-in

In this section, you will learn

about the basics of

conceptual design process

at a high level with the

following sections providing

more detail

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 81

Conceptual Design in the Design Process

Conceptual Design

Logical Design

Physical Design

Components, User Interface, and Physical Database

Services and Objects, User Interface, and Logical Database

Scenarios

Conceptual design is the first phase of the MSF Design Process Model Much

of conceptual design involves researching and analyzing information; however,

it also starts the design process During conceptual design, you will determine which business processes and activities are required and will be included in the solution you are designing

Slide Objective

To reinforce conceptual

design’s position in the

solution design process

Lead-in

As you learned in Module 2,

conceptual design is the first

phase in the MSF Design

Process

Conceptual Design: The Search for Meaning

" Definition

The process of acquiring, documenting,validating, and optimizing business anduser perspectives of the problem and thesolution

" Purpose

To capture, understand, and prioritizebusiness and user requirements in theirproper context

" Output

A set of information models and usagescenarios that document current andfuture states of the system

Conceptual Design Scenarios

Conceptual design requires that an effective method of understanding and communicating with the users be established This is accomplished by generating scenarios

Consider how an architect determines the needs of a client When designing a house, an architect will ask the client how the house will be used In answering this question, the client will consider the various day-to-day activities as well as special events, such as hosting a house full of relatives Each of the activities the client describes might generate a scenario

In a similar way, conceptual design is a forum in which the business and the users present their visions and collaborate on the solution The project team creates scenarios to document and discuss the form of that vision These scenarios, in turn, verify that the project team, the business, and the users share

a common understanding that embodies the functional and informational requirements of the system

process to determine what

is wrong with the current

situation and what is needed

in a future solution

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 83

Goals of Conceptual Design

customer, and the users

processes and activities

enable the redesigned processes and activities

Conceptual design is about clearly understanding the problem to be solved and framing a solution to that problem in terms that both management and users can understand It embodies a process for creating (or acquiring), evaluating, documenting, and then validating what the users and business envision to be the solution This process embraces a set of principles and activities that provides the basic rationale and motivation for creating (or not creating) a new system Conceptual design helps determine a project’s needs in context, resulting in a view of the solution that is both process-focused and user-centric The view is not limited to a list of desirable functions but includes the broader context of business processes and activities as well

Conceptual design also formalizes the desired future state of the business processes and activities This future state becomes the basis for the next phases

of the design process

Keep in mind that conceptual design does not always result in a future state for

a new solution Often, conceptual design leads to the determination that developing a new solution for a specific business problem is not feasible or cost-effective

Slide Objective

Identify and describe the

goals of the conceptual

design phase

Delivery Tip

Without a good conceptual

design, you may end up with

a wonderful solution to the

wrong problem

Perspective of Conceptual Design

The conceptual design perspective is from the point of view of the user

Business Solution

What the users are really looking for is a solution that does the following:

" Addresses their real day-to-day needs

" Allows them to perform their tasks and work in a natural way

" Contains the key features that they need to get the job done

" Keeps simple tasks simple and makes complex tasks possible Being user-centric might sound like a trivial issue, but it is critical in system design and development It not only means that the project team is able to plan and develop systems that are tuned to the requirements of the users, but it also means having an awareness of how the users view the current environment and what they would like to see in a new system

Whereas gathering requirements has traditionally meant compiling a list of desirable features, in conceptual design the aim is to understand and document the relationships between user, system, and business

Slide Objective

To highlight that the

conceptual design of the

solution is based on the

users’ perspective of the

solution

Lead-in

Each phase in the design

process represents a

different stage in the

evolution of the design

Each phase also represents

stakeholders in the project

The stakeholders

represented in conceptual

design are the users

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 85

Perspective Captured in Usage Scenarios

textual format

" Provides:

$ A context for the requirements

$ Details about the business and users

$ Common views and a common vocabulary

$ Design opportunities, independent of the physical implementation

One of the methods of understanding and communicating with the users is through usage scenarios Usage scenarios not only enable you to document the current state of the business process, they are also used to document the desired solution, or future state

The purpose of usage scenarios is to view the solution in the business context in which it will be used and to answer the basic questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how The conceptual design produces a set of scenarios that describe the necessary requirements for the proposed solution During later stages of development, when development and testing become entrenched in the details of coding, these scenarios help the development team maintain focus on the real problem to be solved

Usage scenarios also serve to facilitate effective communications Users, individuals representing business processes, and the project team must develop

a shared understanding of the work problems and the impact of possible solutions on that work Finally, all team members need to reach agreement on both the problem and the solution, and all should be able to understand and communicate the implications for their individual team responsibilities

Conceptual design is independent of development and implementation technologies, and therefore so are usage scenarios The primary focus is on what the users want to do and what the business requirements do, explained in the context of how they want to do it (but not how it might be implemented — that comes later) Any system-related issues should be addressed from the point

of view of the business purpose

Slide Objective

To introduce usage

scenarios and their use

during conceptual design

Lead-in

Conceptual design is

primarily about information

models, such as usage

scenarios These scenarios

are used to capture not only

how the necessary business

processes are being

completed now, but also

how the business and the

users want those processes

to be completed in the

future

Delivery Tip

Usage scenarios are part of

course 1585, Gathering and

Analyzing Business

Requirements If many

students are not familiar

with usage scenarios, spend

a few minutes explaining the

concept and assure them

that they will see an

example in an activity later

in this module

Clarifying Conceptual Design

Conceptual design is NOT

The complete functionalspecification

Details of the user interface

A definition of system components

A technology solution

But it enables you to

Develop part of the functionalspecification

Design an effective user interfaceSee how things should worktogether

Design a solution that solves thebusiness problem

In conceptual design, the project team attempts to understand the entire scope of the project by identifying the proposed solution and the context in which it will operate The conceptual design process alone does not create the entire

functional specification, but it does provide a tremendous advantage in constructing the functional specification by affording an opportunity to fully understand the context of the problem to be solved

Slide Objective

To clarify what conceptual

design really is and to

dismiss some possible

assumptions

Lead-in

The following table should

help clarify what conceptual

design is and what it is not

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 87

Value of Conceptual Design

optimization

Although the techniques employed during conceptual design may differ from project to project, the end result is the same: an understanding of the true requirements of the business and users, and a description of a future state of the solution in the business context

The most critical success factor in system development is user involvement Because conceptual design includes users as project participants, all of the participants arrive at a consensus on the proposed system

Along with expressing the requirements of the users, conceptual design uncovers information about the business itself Understanding the users and their requirements in the context of business activities eliminates unnecessary

or extraneous requirements and increases the awareness of the remaining requirements

As mentioned previously, another important aspect of conceptual design is consensus building Everyone involved in the project should be striving toward

a unidirectional solution Conceptual design helps to create a common set of expectations for the project team and other stakeholders

Finally, conceptual design enables effective communications Conceptual design effectively communicates its outputs by using several types of models Effective communication is key in developing a good solution with which everyone agrees

Slide Objective

To explain the benefits of a

good conceptual design and

how it helps the overall

success of the project

Lead-in

A good conceptual design is

important to the success of

the project The following

are some of the benefits

gained by having a good

conceptual design

Activity 4.1: Risks of Skipping Conceptual Design

In this activity, you will take part in a class discussion to identify the possible risks of not completing a conceptual design

After completing this activity, you will be able to:

" Articulate the value of conceptual design and the risks of not completing conceptual design

Slide Objective

To introduce the activity

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 89

In this section, you will learn

about the conceptual design

process and how it relates

to the MSF Process Model

for Application

Development

Conceptual Design and the MSF Process Model

Conceptual design begins before the team reaches the VisionApproved Milestone and baselines before the team reaches theProject Plan Approved Milestone

Conceptual Design

Logical Design Physical Design

Baseline

Vision Approved

Vision Approved

Project Plan Approved

Project Plan Approved

Conceptual design is the first of the three phases of design Although no formal starting point exists for conceptual design; it typically begins in the Envisioning Phase, prior to the Vision Approved Milestone

As the conceptual design process drives the business solution design, scenarios are produced and then extended into logical design The products of logical design become the basis for performing physical design Though this may imply conducting the three phases of design in strict sequence, the phases actually overlap This provides greater flexibility in the design process By using a concurrent approach, products of one phase of design flow smoothly into the next phase and influence the previous phase

The conceptual design may go through several iterations while details are being added to the functional specification through logical and physical design As long as crucial aspects of the business and user requirements are being discovered, the conceptual design should be revisited Iteration occurs until there is consensus that the conceptual design is sufficiently developed to be baselined The baseline is an interim milestone and serves as a reference point for change management

Slide Objective

To show where conceptual

design fits in the project life

cycle

Lead-in

As you can see from the

graphic, conceptual design

can begin prior to the Vision

Approved Milestone, during

the Envisioning Phase, and

continues through most of

the Planning Phase

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 91

Conceptual Design Steps

Conceptual Design

Although portrayed sequentially, these steps are iterative and

overlapping

Conceptual Design Baseline

• Obtaining answers to key questions

• Identifying key business processes and activities

• Prioritizing processes and activities

• Identifying users and creating profiles

" Analysis

• Reviewing in-depth user and business research

• Creating scenarios to depict context, workflow, task sequence, and environmental relationships

" Optimization

• Improving the business process

• Validating and testing the work redesign The optimization baseline leads to the baseline of the conceptual design

Slide Objective

To introduce the three

activities that make up

conceptual design

Lead-in

There are three distinct

steps in conceptual design

Deliverables of Conceptual Design

At the conceptual design baseline, the project team will have the following information: business and user requirements, solution constraints, information models, user profiles, current-state usage scenarios, and future-state usage scenarios

" The project team gathers information concerning business and user requirements, which provides the basis for designing a solution to the business challenge

" This proposed solution must work within the boundaries of the solution constraints By referring to these constraints, the project team can identify potential risks that might impact the solution design One way of identifying risks is by detecting conflicts between requirements and constraints

" Information models enable the project team to present visual and narrative versions of potentially complex business processes These models help identify gaps in both the information gathered and in the current workflow

" By creating user profiles, the project team can describe the roles and responsibilities of the users

" To ensure that critical business processes are incorporated into the solution, the project team should create current-state usage scenarios These scenarios describe the current interactions between users and systems

" The design of the business solution truly begins when the project team starts developing the scenarios of the desired future state These scenarios

describe the desired interactions between users and systems

Each of these deliverables, and the process of creating them, is described in the remainder of this module

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 93

In this section, you will learn about the research step of conceptual design You will learn how to identify and prioritize business processes and activities, how

to identify business systems and users, and how to gather business and user requirements and system constraints

The information presented in this section is covered in greater detail in Course

1585: Gathering and Analyzing Business Requirements

Slide Objective

To provide an overview of

this section

Lead-in

In this section, you will learn

about the research activity

portion of conceptual

design

Deliverables of the Research Baseline

" Business processes and activities

Business and user requirementsSolution constraints

Research

Research Baseline

Identify the inputs to conceptual design before gathering data, so that the project team can prioritize the sources of information This will also make the gathered data easier to structure and document

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 95

Researching the Enterprise Architecture

$ The organization’s business activities

$ The applications that support those activities

$ The information required to do those activities

$ The technology and infrastructure used to provide those applications and information

even if it has not been documented

At this stage in design, the enterprise architecture can contribute the business perspective, which:

" Identifies the organization’s goals and objectives

" Describes the organizational structure

" Describes the key business processes and activities

" Identifies relationships with customers

" Identifies relationships with suppliers

The enterprise architecture, however, may often not be fully documented or even accurate This provides an opportunity for the project team to update the enterprise architecture after gathering and validating the aforementioned data

A key source of information

that will contribute to

conceptual design is the

enterprise architecture

Researching Business Processes and Activities

Almost all business systems ultimately succeed or fail based on how well people can work together

Manufacturing Distribution Service Sales

Customer

When researching business processes and activities, the project team should conduct a high-level evaluation of these existing processes and activities in the context of enterprise strategy, goals, and objectives Major corporate processes that support the objectives and goals of the business are considered core processes and should be identified These processes may be product, service, or managerial processes In most cases, they are cross-functional in nature and move horizontally across the organization, rather than vertically, within the traditional departments of the business

For example, in an attempt to reduce the cost of selling a component, a project team may examine all business activities involved with that component throughout the company — regardless of where they occur in the organization The result can be a flow chart or a “process map” that not only assists in identifying redundant or non-value-adding activities but also shows where quantifiable improvements can be made to core processes

A core process:

" Runs the business

" Directly addresses strategic directions and competitiveness

" Has identifiable owners and customers

" Has a definition that makes as much sense to external customers or suppliers

as it does to internal staff

" Has a discrete and minimal dependency with other core processes The project team must also determine the artifacts that are involved in the processes The artifacts with which a business process deals may be physical or informational, or they may contain elements of both

Slide Objective

To highlight the need for

identifying the key business

processes and their

activities

Lead-in

The goal of the future

solution is to solve the

business problem As such,

it is important to understand

how the business works and

what processes and

activities can be supported

by technology

Delivery Tip

Students should be familiar

with the term artifacts, but it

may need elaboration

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 97

Prioritizing Business Processes and Activities

" Rank them by a set of criteria

$ Criticality to business mission

$ Political and organizational issues

$ Degree of difficulty

$ Frequency and volume

The team should complete a list of business activities, including a preliminary analysis of each process, to identify the processes that most need improvement This preliminary effort need not be overly precise or detailed, and senior managers can usually provide enough information to assist team members in understanding the performance levels of various business processes

The processes should be evaluated with respect to conformance to the enterprise architecture, corporate goals and objectives, availability of enabling technology, and level of difficulty and risk By using this prioritization, the project team can select the most critical processes in need of improvement Upon selection of a process, the team should delineate the definition and boundary of the process to remove any ambiguity as to what constitutes the process

As a start, the team needs to do the following to ensure that certain areas receive priority and are done well:

" Determine how critical the activities are by identifying how they map to the business mission and goals If the activities do not map well, either the particular activity has a lower priority or the mission does not parallel the activity What is the impact of a change? Can the project team justify the costs and implications? These questions determine each activity’s priorities

" Determine the visibility of the activity Who owns it? The analysis determines who will be affected by the change and why Account for the political and organizational issues to ensure success

" Determine the frequency of the activity and the reasons behind it How often certain tasks are performed is not a sufficient basis for assigning priority; the project team also needs to determine why a task is performed After the purpose and frequency of the activities have been established, a priority can

be assigned

Slide Objective

To highlight that processes

need to be prioritized so that

the team and its solution are

both focused on the most

important areas of the

business

Lead-in

Researching the business

processes and activities is

not enough These

processes and activities

must be prioritized so that

the team and the solution

remain focused on the most

important areas of the

business

Researching Business Systems and Users

automation that support the business processes

systems to accomplish the business activities

processes and activities

It is not possible to understand the users without knowing whom the users are The term “user” includes the end user and other constituencies in the business The traditional user is the person who interacts directly with a computer system through some type of interface

Although this is an important constituency, this end user is only one of several types of users that need to be considered in conceptual design Systems in which the requirements are driven exclusively by the end users may score high

in the usability category, but they may not necessarily meet the strategic, or even tactical, needs of the business itself

For this reason, the definition of a user here is considerably broader A user can

be a customer, supplier, or supporter who has a definable stake in solving the business problem This approach recognizes that, among the different users, conflicting views can exist concerning what the new system should look like (In addition, each of these user groups has expectations that need to be effectively managed.) By taking all perspectives into account early on, the project team can help to successfully facilitate negotiations and resolve these differences

As the project team examines the processes and activities of the business, the team can usually identify the system’s necessary dedicated or direct users However, indirect users of a system and users whose involvement is hidden in the organizational hierarchy or downstream information flow may not be so readily apparent You should identify as many of these indirect and hidden users as is practical

Slide Objective

To emphasize that the

business systems and the

users of those systems must

be identified and prioritized

Lead-in

In addition to determining

the key business processes,

you must identify the key

systems and users that

support those processes

Module 4: Business Solution Conceptual Design 99

Gathering Requirements and Constraints

a single source will provide each from its own perspective

Consider both business and user perspectives when gathering this information Gathering information from several sources enables the project team to identify conflicts between the requirements and constraints

information about the

current business processes

and activities, the team will

be gathering requirements

and constraints for the new

solution

Activity 4.2: Inputs to Conceptual Design

In this activity, you will participate in a class discussion to identify the various inputs into the conceptual design process

After completing this activity, you will be able to:

" Identify the types of information (and their sources) that feed into the conceptual design process

Slide Objective

To introduce the activity