User validation of information system requirements: some empirical results

While validation of user requirements has become an important goal for information system designers, little empirical research has been done in this area. Many methodologies have been presented as the best procedures for achieving user validation of design. An attempt is made to consider four of these methodologies in four different experimental settings. In the four experiments, the following treatments were examined: HIPO (hierarchy plus input, process, and output) vs. system flowcharts; DFD (data-flow diagram) narrative; DFD vs. Warnier-Orr diagrams; and DFD vs. HIPO. The main result of all four experiments was that choice of design methodology had no effect on the level of user understanding of system requirements.<>