Achieving System Ease of Use in Upstream Processes Using Tool for Creating Screen Prototypes Without Programming
- Software Tool of Axure Software Solutions, Inc. of the U.S. to Be Made Available in Japanese Language and Marketed -
Oct. 15, 2008
NTT DATA Corporation
NTT DATA AgileNet L.L.C.
NTT DATA (President and CEO: Toru Yamashita, hereinafter “NTT DATA”) has developed a methodology for accurately pinpointing customer requirements, including ease-of-use, in system development. The new methodology entails implementation of the Japanese version of Axure RP, which is a tool developed by Axure Software Solutions, Inc. Axure RP is used for easily creating screen prototypes, without programming, in the early-stage requirements definition step of system development (the process in which the functions, performance and other properties to be included in the system are determined).
Application of the new methodology to internal NTT DATA’s projects proved that the quality of requirements identification can be improved and project time shortened by approximately 30%. Based on that success, during fiscal 2008, NTT DATA will create a development environment enabling seamless interaction between Axure RP and other production tools used in development. NTT DATA will also expand the use of its new methodology in 2009 with a target of 50 new applications.
The Japanese version of Axure RP that is to be employed with the new methodology was prepared by NTT DATA AgileNet L.L.C. (CEO: Tsuyoshi Kitani, hereinafter NTT DATA AgileNet). That organization will serve as sales agent in Japan, commencing marketing in late November with a target of 1,500 units over a period of three years.
Background to Development
NTT DATA has posed reform of the development process as one of its medium-term management policies. The company is working to standardize its operations including unification of its system development methodologies and development platforms, and it is striving to upgrade quality and productivity.
As part of that effort, NTT DATA is working to unify its system development processes. That will be accomplished through the application of MOYA®, its business modeling methodology, in the system development planning stage, and TERASOLUNA®, its comprehensive development solution, in the requirements definition and subsequent stages. In the traditional approach to requirements definition, the developer works with the customer using a mainly paper-based specification document to confirm the requirements, and the anticipated system performance cannot be tested. Because of that, the developer and the customer tend to hold mismatching concepts of how the system will be used, the upshot being frequent problems, e.g. additional requirements arise and the development has to be reworked, or issues of user-friendliness are raised after the system is already built.
New Methodology
To resolve those difficulties, NTT DATA has devised a methodology that leverages the feature of Axure RP, the screen prototyping tool of Axure Software Solutions Inc. for enabling a system to be easily conceptualized (prototyped). That is achieved by presenting to the customer a replica of the system while still in the requirements definition phase, in view of the importance of reducing the occurrence of additional requirements in later stages and demonstrating to the customer the user-friendliness of the system.
Specifically, making use of tools such as MOYA and the PEXA® methodology by Atris Co., Ltd., an overview of the business processes is determined in the planning stage, and from that, a prototype is devised using Axure RP. Based on the prototype thus created, the customer’s requirements are identified, while at the same time, the involved parties evaluate the system and reach agreement on its requirements. The prototype then passes, in the form of screen design data, to the design and production stages, and it is utilized in later stages as well.
This methodology encompasses identification of the business processes, functionality, and screen definition during the work of requirements definition (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Correspondence between the Achievements of the System Development Process and the New Methodology
Benefits of Adopting the New Methodology
Even before, there was a means of system prototyping as part of requirements definition. Yet since the effort involved was substantial, it placed a heavy burden on the development project.
The use of Axure in the new methodology greatly facilitates prototyping. Application and evaluation of the methodology in a number of projects during the first half of the current fiscal year brought an increase in the number of items cited for review in the upstream development steps with fewer new requests made in the later stages. The result was improvement in the quality of the system requirements identification, and an approximately 30 percent reduction in product duration.
Moreover, since the customer can be presented with an interactive prototype during the definition of requirements, it is easy to check and evaluate the system’s user-friendliness early in the development cycle, which leads to the creation of a system that is easy on the user.
Features of the Axure RP Screen Prototyping Tool and its Marketing
Axure RP has three outstanding features:
- 1Since it is rich in screen creation design functionality, prototypes can be created by persons not possessing technical skill.
- 2Prototypes that operate much like the actual system can be created without programming.
- 3The work of creating a screen specification document can be reduced by utilizing the function for automatically generating specification documents based on the prototype.
NTT DATA AgileNet L.L.C., which developed the Japanese version of Axure RP, will serve as sales agent, and marketing will be launched in late November. The evaluation version of the Japanese language software is available for downloading free of charge from the NTT DATA AgileNet site. The English version is currently available from Axure Software Solutions Inc.
Future Plans
NTT DATA will apply Axure RP and the new methodology in more projects going forward, and it will further deploy them in house. Also, during fiscal 2008, NTT DATA will build a development environment in which the screens developed with Axure RP are able to interact seamlessly with the development tools of NTT DATA by using APIs of Axure RP. They include TERASOLUNA IDE, Muscat, the commercially-available Adobe Dreamweaver, and others. At the same time, the set of guidelines named Customer Views Guidelines will be incorporated into this process, and consideration is being given to having them serve as a means of checking the prototypes that are created. Those guidelines were created by the Study Group on Customer Views on Specification Requirements Based on a Practical Approach, which is composed of nine domestic Japanese vendors including NTT DATA.
NTT DATA AgileNet is planning to sell 1,500 copies of the Japanese language version of Axure RP within three years.
At the ITpro EXPO 2008 Autumn conference, held between Wednesday October 15 and Friday October 17, 2008 at the Tokyo Big Site, visitors to the NTT DATA Group booth could view a demonstration of the Japanese language version of Axure RP.
Notes:
- *MOYA® is a registered trademark of NTT DATA Corporation
- *TERASOLUNA® is a registered trademark of NTT DATA Corporation
- *PEXA® is a registered trademark of Atris Co., Ltd.
- *Other names of products, services and companies mentioned in this document are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
For media inquiries:
Mr. Yoshinori Munakata, Mr. Tomohisa Sugiyama
Public Relations Department
NTT DATA Corporation
Tel: +81-3-5546-8051
Mr.Tsutsui, Mr.Honjo
NTT DATA AgileNet L.L.C.
Tel. +1-650-687-0646
For other inquiries:
Mr. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Mr. Kyoichi Kadoya
Research and Development Headquarters
NTT DATA Corporation
Tel: +81-50-5546-2303
Mr.Tsutsui, Mr.Honjo
NTT DATA AgileNet L.L.C.
Tel. +1-650-687-0646
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