Skip to main content
 
Tying a Sensible Knot: A Practical Guide to State-Local Information Systems

Abstract

Acknowledgments

Executive Summary

Chapter 1. Understanding the State-Local Environment

Chapter 2. Principles for Working in the State-Local Environment

Chapter 3. Best Practices

Appendices
print html versionPrint Chapter (html)
print pdf versionPrint Chapter (pdf)
Chapter 3. Best Practices

Use prototypes to ensure understanding and agreement about design


Prototyping your system as you develop it offers an excellent way for the project team and customers to see the design-in-progress and help refine and improve the system as it evolves.

The development environment for state-local information system projects is typically complex, due to the large number of project stakeholders, the need to consider numerous system requirements of each, and the demand from all stakeholders for rapid development and deployment. Creating systems in this kind of environment demands a system development method (SDM) that lends itself to rapid design and development. Often, the SDM best suited to this environment is prototyping.

Prototyping differs from the classic system development methods in that it allows for the building of the system to begin much earlier in the development process, and allows customers to see and influence the system as it is being built. The philosophy behind prototyping is that system development is more effective when customers are partners in the design process. The prototype makes tangible all the ideas that both designers and customers usually try to communicate to one another in words. The prototype makes it possible for both to see and understand the needs, functionality, and limitations of the design and to alter it as needed. Most of the projects we reviewed used prototyping to develop their systems and reported satisfaction with the results.


Aging Services System: Prototype your way to a final design

When considering what type of system development method to use for its Aging Network Client Based Service Management System, the NYS Office for the Aging (SOFA) identified two criteria that the method would need to accommodate: (1) it would need to support a rapid development cycle, and (2) it would need to facilitate convenient modification of the system as it was being developed. These criteria were not selected by whim. Because of the large number of project stakeholders, which consisted of local administrators in all of the State’s 57 counties plus New York City, and some complex system requirements that included the integration of several different kinds of technologies, the project team realized that it would need to use a development method that would allow for a working version of the system to be developed very early so it could be shown to the various project stakeholders and modified according to their needs. Based on these factors, the team selected prototyping as the system development method that would be used.

The prototyping method produced positive results. The early system demonstrations showed the county level administrators the potential of the system and how it could support locally administered, cost effective, flexible services, while simultaneously supporting clients™ most important needs. These early demonstrations of the system created an enthusiastic response among local governments and generated positive interest in the system among the user community.


Social Services Imaging Project: Generate bigger and better ideas

The NYS Department of Social Services (DSS) found that prototyping method provided more than just a way to rapidly and effectively develop a computer system. When working on its local DSS imaging project, the team used prototyping to build a system that was more comprehensive than the original design.

The developers used the prototyping method to demonstrate the system as it was being built. As each iteration of the system was developed and presented to the full team, suggestions were made for modifications and enhancements. As the system grew and began to make more sense to the team members, suggestions were made to accommodate an increasingly larger number of processes and system features. In short, the increased exposure to and use of imaging technology acted as a stimulant for expanding the scope of the entire project. For example, the initial goal of the system was to construct an imaging system that would capture information vital to a DSS client case. The use of prototyping also encouraged the evaluation and expansion of related business processes. As the prototype version of the system progressed through various iterations, the focus of the project team moved to other scenarios such as "electronic case foldering" (i.e., how to electronically share all case information among geographically dispersed DSS employees) that offered expanded benefits to both clients and caseworkers.

"With prototyping, customers become partners in the design process."