Rapid application development (RAD) is an object-oriented approach to systems development that includes a method of development as well as software tools. It makes sense to discuss RAD and prototyping in the same chapter, because they are conceptually very close. Both have as their goal the shortening of time typically needed in a traditional SDLC between the design and implementation of the information system. Ultimately, both RAD and prototyping are trying to meet rapidly changing business requirements more closely. Once you have learned the concepts of prototyping, it is much easier to grasp the essentials of RAD, which can be thought of as a specific implementation of prototyping.
Some developers are looking at RAD as a helpful approach in new ecommerce, Web-based environments in which so-called first-mover status of a business might be important. In other words, to deliver an application to the Web before their competitors, businesses may want their development team to experiment with RAD.
Phases of RAD
There are three broad phases to RAD that engage both users and analysts in assessment, design, and implementation. Figure illustrated below depicts these three phases. Notice that RAD involves users in each part of the development effort, with intense participation in the business part of the design.
Requirements Planning Phase
In the requirements planning phase, users and analysts meet to identify objectives of the application or system and to identify information requirements arising from those objectives. This phase requires intense involvement from both groups; it is not just signing off on a proposal or document. In addition, it may involve users from different levels of the organization (as covered in Chapter 2). In the requirements planning phase, when information requirements are still being addressed, you may be working with the CIO (if it is a large organization) as well as with strategic planners, especially if you are working with an ecommerce application that is meant to further the strategic aims of the organization. The orientation in this phase is toward solving business problems. Although information technology and systems may even drive some of the solutions proposed, the focus will always remain on reaching business goals.
RAD Design Workshop
The RAD design workshop phase is a design-and-refine phase that can best be characterized as a workshop. When you imagine a workshop, you know that participation is intense, not passive, and that it is typically hands on. Usually participants are seated at round tables or in a U-shaped configuration of chairs with attached desks where each person can see the other and where there is space to work on a notebook computer. If you are fortunate enough to have a group decision support systems (GDSS) room available at the company or through a local university, use it to conduct at least part of your RAD design workshop.
During the RAD design workshop, users respond to actual working prototypes and analysts refine designed modules (using some of the software tools mentioned later) based on user responses. The workshop format is very exciting and stimulating, and if experienced users and analysts are present, there is no question that this creative endeavor can propel development forward at an accelerated rate.
Implementation Phase
In the previous figure shown in “Users’ Role in Prototyping“, you can see that analysts are working with users intensely during the workshop to design the business or nontechnical aspects of the system. As soon as these aspects are agreed on and the systems are built and refined, the new systems or part of systems are tested and then introduced to the organization. Because RAD can be used to create new ecommerce applications for which there is no old system, there is often no need to (and no real way to) run the old and new systems in parallel before implementation.
By this time, the RAD design workshop will have generated excitement, user ownership, and acceptance of the new application. Typically, change brought about in this manner is far less wrenching than when a system is delivered with little or no user participation.
Contents
- Prototyping: Kinds of Prototypes
- Developing a Prototype: Guidelines
- Users’ Role in Prototyping
- Rapid Application Development (RAD)
- Comparing RAD to the SDLC
- Agile Modeling : Values and Principles of Agile Modeling
- Activities, Resources, and Practices of Agile Modeling
- The Agile Development Process
- Lessons Learned from Agile Modeling
- Improving Efficiency in Knowledge Work: SDLC Vs Agile
- Risks Inherent in Organizational Innovation
