Create just relevant documents
In the past, many systems have been swamped by documentation, which goes
into great detail about every part of the system. The main problem with this
approach is that sheer volume makes it hard to keep track of all the issues
and also too much time is spent keeping them up to date. Requirements will
change, even over the life of a project. The documentation must be easy to
keep updated or else the changes will be lost. We make use of four main documents
in our analysis and design. They have simple diagrammatic representations
of the tasks you describe. Diagrams are then backed up by more detailed written
explanations in English (rather than "techno-babble"), so you know
if we have missed anything. The size of the project and the length of analysis
determine the detail and depth of these documents although most projects will
have at least basic versions of them. The documents usually produced for this
are Use Case documents, a Vision document, Software Architect document and
Glossary of Business Terms. By clicking on the links, you can see examples
of these.
