Gordon B. Davis and Malcolm C. Monroe on The Problem of Information Requirements For Computer Applications.

The emphasis of computer systems has shifted to systems to support professionals in their activities. The issue of requirements determination has become more critical, because the systems are not for well structured processes such as payroll; they are oriented to analysis and decision support. Various reasons why information requirements are difficult to obtain were described. These include the nature of decision-making activities and the structure of decisions, differences in cognitive styles, inadequacy of managers' mental models, the relative difficulty of complete analysis, and the interaction of the building of the information system application and the information requirements. Four techniques for information requirements determination were explained: data analysis, decision analysis, object system analysis, and focusing frameworks. Each technique has advantages, so the best one to use (or best combination) will depend on the specific situation. Prototyping fits into the process as a method for making the information requirements more concrete during the process of discovery. Because it supports iterative discovery of requirements, prototyping is most important when requirements are difficult to determine and more than one iteration is needed.