UNIT-2

Feasibility Study
A feasibility study is a preliminary exploration of a proposed project or undertaking to
determine its merits and viability. A feasibility study aims to provide an independent
assessment that examines all aspects of a proposed project, including technical, economic,
financial, legal, and environmental considerations.

It identifies the possibility of improving an existing system, developing a new system,

and produce refined estimates for further development of system. It is used to obtain the
outline of the problem and decide whether feasible or appropriate solution exists or not.

Types of Feasibility Study

The feasibility study mainly concentrates on below five mentioned areas. Among these
Economic Feasibility Study is most important part of the feasibility analysis and Legal
Feasibility Study is less considered feasibility analysis.

Technical Feasibility –
In Technical Feasibility current resources both hardware software along with required
technology are analyzed/assessed to develop project. This technical feasibility study gives
report whether there exists correct required resources and technologies which will be used
for project development. Along with this, feasibility study also analyzes technical skills and
capabilities of technical team, existing technology can be used or not, maintenance and up-
gradation is easy or not for chosen technology etc.

Operational Feasibility –
In Operational Feasibility degree of providing service to requirements is analyzed along
with how much easy product will be to operate and maintenance after deployment. Along
with this other operational scopes are determining usability of product, Determining
suggested solution by software development team is acceptable or not etc.
Economic Feasibility –
In Economic Feasibility study cost and benefit of the project is analyzed. Means under this
feasibility study a detail analysis is carried out what will be cost of the project for
 development which includes all required cost for final development like hardware and
software resource required, design and development cost and operational cost and so on.
After that it is analyzed whether project will be beneficial in terms of finance for
organization or not.

Legal Feasibility –
In Legal Feasibility study project is analyzed in legality point of view. This includes
analyzing barriers of legal implementation of project, data protection acts or social media
laws, project certificate, license, copyright etc. Overall it can be said that Legal Feasibility
Study is study to know if proposed project conform legal and ethical requirements.

Schedule Feasibility –
In Schedule Feasibility Study mainly timelines/deadlines is analyzed for proposed project
which includes how many times teams will take to complete final project which has a great
impact on the organization as purpose of project may fail if it can’t be completed on time.

Feasibility Study Process :

The below steps are carried out during entire feasibility analysis.

1. Information assessment
2. Information collection
3. Report writing
4. General information

Need of Feasibility Study:

Feasibility study is so important stage of Software Project Management Process as after
completion of feasibility study it gives a conclusion of whether to go ahead with proposed
project as it is practically feasible or to stop proposed project here as it is not right/feasible to
develop or to think/analyze about proposed project again.
Along with this Feasibility study helps in identifying risk factors involved in developing and
deploying system and planning for risk analysis also narrows the business alternatives and
enhance success rate analyzing different parameters associated with proposed project
development.
Fact finding techniques
The formal process of using techniques such as interviews and questionnaires to collect facts
about systems, requirements, and preferences is termed as fact-finding.
Accurate information can be collected with help of certain methods/ techniques. These specific
methods for finding information of the system are termed as fact finding techniques. Interview,
Questionnaire, Record View and Observations are the different fact finding techniques used by
the analyst.

Fact finding is process of collection of data and information based on techniques which contain
sampling of existing documents, research, observation, questionnaires, interviews, prototyping
and joint requirements planning. System analyst uses suitable fact-finding techniques to develop
and implement the current existing system.
Fact-finding techniques are used in the early stage of System Development Life Cycle including
system analysis phase, design and post implementation review. Facts included in any information
system can be tested based on three steps: data- facts used to create useful information, process-
functions to perform the objectives and interface- designs to interact with users.

There are seven common fact-finding techniques

1. Sampling of existing documentation, forms and databases
2. Research and Site visits
3. Observation of the work environment
4. Questionnaires
5. Interviews
6. Prototyping
7. Joint requirements planning

Sampling of existing documentation, forms and databases

The best way to analyse the existing system is to collect facts from existing documentation rather
than from human sources.

There are various kinds of documents to collect facts from existing documents. These include:

 e-mails, customer complaints, suggestion box notes and reports that document the
problem area
 problem performance reviews, samples of completed manual forms and reports and
samples of completed computerized forms and reports
 various types of flowcharts and diagrams, program documentation and user training
manuals

Research and Site visits

Research and site visits, second technique, is the process of examining the problems which had
previously solved by other sources that can be either human or documents. To solve the
requirements of problem, the analyst visits to other organization that had previously experienced
for similar problems. In addition, the analyst can also find the information from database,
reference books, case studies and Internet.
Advantages of Research and Site visits
It can save the time if the problem is already solved. Researcher can know how different person
previously solved the same problems. Researchers always know the details information about the
current development system.

Disadvantages of Research and Site visits

Need authority to access the appropriate source of information. As documentation of problem is
not recorded, there is difficult to solve the problem.

Observation of the work environment

Another fact finding technique is observation. In this technique, system analyst participates in
the organization, studies the flow of documents, applies the existing system, and interacts with
the users. Observation can be a useful technique when the system analyst have user point of
view. Sampling technique called work sampling is useful for observation. By using this
technique, system analyst can know how employees spend their days.

Questionnaires
Questionnaires are also one of useful fact-finding technique to collect information from large
number of users. Users fill up the questions which are given by the system analyst and then give
the answers back to the system analyst. Questionnaires can save time because system analyst
does not need to interview each of users and if the time of interview is short, questionnaires are
more useful. To fulfil the requirements of the system objective, system analyst should have the
ability to clearly define the design and frame of questionnaires.

Output Design

The design of output is the most important task of any system. During output design, developers
identify the type of outputs needed, and consider the necessary output controls and prototype
report layouts.

Objectives of Output Design

The objectives of input design are −

 To develop output design that serves the intended purpose and eliminates the production
of unwanted output.
 To develop the output design that meets the end users requirements.
 To deliver the appropriate quantity of output.
 To form the output in appropriate format and direct it to the right person.
 To make the output available on time for making good decisions.
Let us now go through various types of outputs –
External Outputs
Manufacturers create and design external outputs for printers. External outputs enable the system
to leave the trigger actions on the part of their recipients or confirm actions to their recipients.
Some of the external outputs are designed as turnaround outputs, which are implemented as a
form and re-enter the system as an input.
Internal outputs
Internal outputs are present inside the system, and used by end-users and managers. They support
the management in decision making and reporting.
Reports
Report is the most widely used in any form as output. Report is a business document that
contains only predefined data. It can be two approaches of report; printed report or viewed on
screen report. Today, most organization chooses to prepare a report by viewing it on a screen and
users can choose either to print it or not. Printed reports are convenient and sometimes are
necessary in some situation. Sometimes, printed form also used in turnaround documents.
Whether printed or viewed on screen, reports should be attractive and easy to understand.
Sometimes, management used reports prepared to make a judgment or decision based on the
reports. A report should provide information needed by a user. When designing report, it’s
important to make sure that it contains the user’s specific information needs. There are three
types of reports. All this three types of report are under internal reports.
There are three types of reports produced by management information −
 Detailed Reports − They contain present information which has almost no filtering or
restriction generated to assist management planning and control.
 Summary Reports − They contain trends and potential problems which are categorized
and summarized that are generated for managers who do not want details.
 Exception Reports − They contain exceptions, filtered data to some condition or
standard before presenting it to the manager, as information.

Screen Design
Screen design refers to the graphic design and layout of user interfaces on displays. It is a sub-
area of user interface design but is limited to monitors and displays.
In screen design, the focus is on maximizing usability and user experience by making user
interaction as simple and efficient as possible. Technical background functions do not matter in
screen design. Web design, on the other hand, is the process of creating websites that implement
the functions not considered in screen design. You could say that screen design thus makes the
functionality specified in the context of web design applicable to users.

A central approach in screen design is orientation to the target group’s needs and abilities. This
means that designers must know and understand the skills and habits as well as the senses of
users. Screen design will typically differ depending on whether it is designed for older people,
children, or adults. Someone who deals with a particular device on a daily basis will have less
difficulty using complicated screens than someone who is less familiar with them.

Screen design is about making interaction easier for users through a functional yet aesthetic
arrangement of all screen elements, whether it is the display of a smartphone or the touch screen
of a car navigation system.

Applications of screen design

Screen design is used in mobile and desktop versions of websites, apps, and any graphical user
interface displayed on monitors or displays that enable users to interact with electronic devices.
This includes computers, portable media players, gaming devices, smartphones, and household,
office, or industrial controls.