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System Analysis
and Design
Great technology starts with understanding what people actually need. Learn to analyze systems, define requirements, and design solutions that deliver.
What You'll Learn
A full semester of system analysis and design — completed at your own pace, with no deadlines or fixed class times.
What You'll Be Able to Do
- Apply systems analysis and design principles across software engineering and business domains, identifying and addressing problems through systematic analysis
- Recognize the iterative nature of systems analysis and design lifecycles and implement theoretical knowledge in real-world business environments
- Utilize tools and techniques for effective business analysis, including the roles and responsibilities of systems analysts within organizations
- Assess and compare methodologies used in systems development — including Agile, iterative, spiral, and V-shaped models — and integrate them into the SDLC
- Model system development processes using UML diagrams, data flow diagrams, use case diagrams, and object-oriented analysis and design techniques
- Evaluate risk management, security management, and project management components including scheduling, quality assurance, and capacity planning in systems design
Major Course Topics
Course chapters and lessons
System Analysis and Design has 9 chapters across 44.5 instructional hours, as listed in the course syllabus. Expand any chapter to see the lessons inside it.
- Chapters
- 9
- Lessons
- 69
- Instructional hours
- 44.5 hrs
- Semester hours
- 3
Chapter 1
Introduction to Systems Analysis and the Analyst's Role
- 1.1 What Is Systems Analysis? Key Ideas and Real-World Examples
- 1.2 Why Systems Analysis Matters
- 1.3 Where Systems Analysis Fits in Software Engineering
- 1.4 The Five Core Phases of the Systems Analysis and Design Lifecycle
- 1.5 Why the Lifecycle Is Iterative: Feedback Loops, Phase Revisits, and Continuous Refinement
- 1.6 The Systems Analyst: What They Do and Why It Matters
Chapter 2
Business Analysis Tools and Development Methods
- 2.1 Applying Systems Analysis and Design in Business Settings
- 2.2 Essential Tools, Methods, and Software for Business Analysis
- 2.3 Tools and Approaches for Building Systems
- 2.4 How Software Development Fits Into the Systems Lifecycle
- 2.5 Collecting User Needs: Interviews, Observation, and Surveys
- 2.6 Getting Started with Analysis Tools: Definitions and Flowcharts
- 2.7 Incremental Development Models: The Iterative Approach and the Risk-Driven Spiral Model Compared
- 2.8 Verification at Every Stage: The V-Shaped Model in the SDLC
Chapter 3
Agile Methods and Rapid Development
- 3.1 Agile Thinking: Core Definitions, Concepts, and Steps
- 3.2 Blending Agile with the Systems Development Lifecycle
- 3.3 Agile vs. Traditional SDLC: A Side-by-Side Comparison
- 3.4 How Requirements Are Gathered and Analyzed in the SDLC
- 3.5 Joint Application Development: Strengths and Limitations
- 3.6 Inside JAD: Definitions, Stages, and Techniques
- 3.7 Rapid Application Development: Definitions, Toolkits, and Frameworks
- 3.8 What Business Process Modeling Is and Why Organizations Use It to Optimize Workflows
- 3.9 BPMN in Practice: Symbols, Swimlanes, Gateways, and Event Notation for Mapping Processes
Chapter 4
Requirements Validation, Modeling, and UML
- 4.1 Validation in Practice: Prototyping, Surveys, Document Reviews, and User Analysis
- 4.2 Defining System Boundaries with Context Diagrams
- 4.3 UML Models Unpacked: Design Patterns and Practical Cases
- 4.4 Getting Started with Use Case Diagrams, Documents, and Templates
- 4.5 Data Flow Diagrams: How Data Moves Through a System
- 4.6 Logical vs. Physical Data Flow Diagrams: What Sets Them Apart
- 4.7 Designing with Objects: The OOAD Approach
- 4.8 UML Structural Diagrams: Object Diagrams and Class Diagrams Compared and Applied
- 4.9 The Design Phase Within the Software Development Lifecycle
- 4.10 Universal Design: Seven Principles for Inclusive Software
Chapter 5
Interface Design and Systems Architecture
- 5.1 Rules and Guidelines for Human-Centered Interface Design
- 5.2 User Interface Design: What It Means and How It Looks
- 5.3 Building Effective Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)
- 5.4 What Is Systems Architecture? Key Traits and Building Blocks
- 5.5 Service-Oriented vs. Client-Server Architecture: A Comparison
Chapter 6
Database Design, Normalization, and Business Intelligence
- 6.1 Core Concepts and Structures in Database Design
- 6.2 Database Management Systems: Purpose, Functions, and Scope
- 6.3 Approaches to Designing Database Schemas
- 6.4 The Entity-Relationship Model: Diagrams Made Simple
- 6.5 Normalization in Databases: Types and Practical Illustrations
- 6.6 Turning Data into Decisions: Warehousing and Mining for Business Intelligence
- 6.7 The Implementation and Coding Phase in the SDLC
Chapter 7
Implementation, Testing, and Maintenance
- 7.1 Inside Application Development: Internal and External Workflows
- 7.2 Writing It Down: Documentation and Communication Best Practices
- 7.3 Programming Essentials: Writing, Testing, and Debugging Code
- 7.4 Integration Testing: Combining Modules and Validating Their Interactions Step by Step
- 7.5 Verification in the SDLC: Confirming the System Meets Requirements and Design Specifications
- 7.6 Exploring the Different Types of Software Testing
- 7.7 Dry Run Testing: Simulating Before Shipping
Chapter 8
Maintenance, Risk, and Security
- 8.1 Keeping Software Alive: The Maintenance Phase
- 8.2 Understanding Risk: Insurable vs. Uninsurable Categories
- 8.3 Security Management: Systems, Tools, and Applications
- 8.4 Types of Information Security Protocols
- 8.5 Defending the Network: Security Strategies and Techniques
- 8.6 Multi-Layered Systems Security: Firewalls, Encryption, Authentication, and Data Center Protection Strategies
- 8.7 Tackling Security Challenges in Cloud Computing
Chapter 9
Project Management, Scheduling, and Quality
- 9.1 What Makes Up Project Management? Components and Characteristics
- 9.2 Defining the Project Management System: Examples and Applications
- 9.3 Project Planning: Procedures, Processes, and Toolkits
- 9.4 Project Scheduling Mastery: Techniques, Critical Path Analysis, Total Slack, and Free Slack
- 9.5 Feasibility Studies, Team Dynamics, and Building the Work Breakdown Structure
- 9.6 Project Management Tools for Systems Development Work
- 9.7 Ensuring Delivery Standards: Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Capacity Planning Strategies
- 9.8 Gantt Charts: Definitions, Uses, and Practical Examples
- 9.9 Performance Tracking, Monitoring, and Controlling: Keeping Projects on Course
- 9.10 Risk Management and Post-Project Reviews: Planning for Uncertainty and Learning from Experience
These chapters come straight from the official course syllabus, which also sets out the graded assignment and the proctored final exam.
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Great technology starts with understanding what people actually need. Learn to analyze systems, define requirements, and design solutions that deliver.
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Quizzes & Final Exam
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Structured College-Level Course
Structured lessons covering every topic — designed as a standard System Analysis and Design college-level course.
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