Reflecting on the Efficacy of SODA and Cognitive Mapping for Problem Analysis in Information Requirements Determination

Information requirements determination (IRD) is arguably one of the most challenging and important tasks of information systems development (ISD). This paper reports on an action research study which involved the use of a soft management science/operational research approach, namely Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) and its accompanying technique, cognitive mapping, applied to the IRD task. A central aspect of the study is a set of reflections on the efficacy of SODA and cognitive mapping in helping to overcome the critical challenges of IRD. The authors believe that several significant lessons of importance for IRD have been illustrated and established. Furthermore the authors believe to have demonstrated that SODA and cognitive mapping embody a useful problem structuring and IRD process and technique that have key elements which would contribute to the work of today’s business analysts.