A practice-based journey through the SDLC - from project pitch to working prototype
System Analysis and Design for System Development
A hands-on, 12-week course that walks you through every phase of the Systems Development Life Cycle - planning, analysis, design, and implementation - using real techniques practiced by systems analysts: SDLC and Agile/Scrum methodologies, project feasibility and scheduling (Gantt, PERT, critical path), requirements gathering, Data Flow Diagrams, Entity-Relationship modeling, database normalization, and interface/dialogue design. Rather than studying these concepts in isolation, you apply each one to a single running course project: pick a real or fictional organization in Week 3 and carry it through 8 milestone deliverables - from an initial System Service Request to a normalized database design and a full interface specification - culminating in a working prototype you build and pitch like a real project sponsor presentation.
12 weeks
12 classes
5 phases
0 resources
👥 For: Undergraduate or early-career learners studying information systems, computer science, or business technology who want practical, portfolio-ready experience with the systems analysis and design process.
📋 Prerequisites: No prior systems analysis experience required. Basic familiarity with how software applications work as a user is helpful.
Explain the SDLC and contrast Waterfall, Evolutionary, and Agile approaches
Describe the six sources of software and how to evaluate off-the-shelf options
Apply Gantt charts, PERT, and critical path analysis to a project schedule
Identify and rank candidate systems projects using value chain analysis
Produce a Baseline Project Plan with a documented feasibility assessment
Gather and document functional requirements using interviews, observation, and prototyping
Build and decompose Data Flow Diagrams that balance correctly across levels
Construct an Entity-Relationship diagram with correctly typed relationships and business rules
Normalize a set of relations to third normal form (3NF) and choose appropriate indexes
Apply UX and formatting guidelines to design usable forms and reports
Design a dialogue diagram describing screen-to-screen navigation
Select and justify an installation strategy and maintenance plan
Course Curriculum
Complete Course Structure
12 classes across 5 phases, spread over 12 weeks. Each class has readings, exercises and hands-on activities. Capstone projects give you something concrete to show at the end.
Phase Learning Objectives
Explain the SDLC and contrast Waterfall, Evolutionary, and Agile approaches
Describe the six sources of software and how to evaluate off-the-shelf options
Apply Gantt charts, PERT, and critical path analysis to a project schedule
1
The Systems Development Environment
⏱ 60 min🛠 3 exercises
Every information system you've ever used - your university's enrollment portal, a hospital's patient records system, th…
2
The Origins of Software
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises
In the past, software development for organizations was done mostly in-house and from scratch. Today there are many diff…
3
Managing the Information Systems Project
⏱ 75 min🛠 3 exercises
Meet Pine Valley Furniture (PVF), the fictional company we return to throughout this course. PVF manufactures high-quali…
Phase Learning Objectives
Identify and rank candidate systems projects using value chain analysis
Produce a Baseline Project Plan with a documented feasibility assessment
Gather and document functional requirements using interviews, observation, and prototyping
1
Identifying and Selecting Systems Development Projects
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
Welcome to Phase 2 of the course - and Phase 1 (Planning) of the SDLC. Obtaining integrated, enterprise-wide computing p…
2
Initiating and Planning Systems Development Projects
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
A project just got selected - now what? Project initiation and planning is where projects are accepted for development, …
3
Determining System Requirements
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
We've now crossed from Planning into Analysis - the SDLC phase where the actual detective work begins. There are two sub…
Phase Learning Objectives
Build and decompose Data Flow Diagrams that balance correctly across levels
Construct an Entity-Relationship diagram with correctly typed relationships and business rules
1
Structuring System Process Requirements
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
Last week you collected a pile of raw material - interview notes, observed workflows, sample documents. Now we structure…
2
Structuring System Data Requirements
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
DFDs model what happens to data as it moves through a system. This week's tool, the Conceptual Data Model, models what t…
Phase Learning Objectives
Normalize a set of relations to third normal form (3NF) and choose appropriate indexes
Apply UX and formatting guidelines to design usable forms and reports
Design a dialogue diagram describing screen-to-screen navigation
1
Designing Databases
⏱ 65 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
We're now in Phase 4 of the course - and Phase 3 (Design) of the SDLC. Database design serves five purposes: structuring…
2
Designing Forms and Reports
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
Your database now has solid bones. This week we start putting a face on the system - what users actually look at every d…
3
Designing Interfaces and Dialogues
⏱ 60 min🛠 2 exercises⭐ Capstone
Forms and reports are individual screens. This week zooms out to the bigger question: how does a user move between them,…
Phase Learning Objectives
Select and justify an installation strategy and maintenance plan
Build a working prototype implementing core CRUD functionality
Assemble and present a complete System Proposal Package
1
System Implementation and Maintenance
⏱ 90 min🛠 3 exercises⭐ Capstone
Everything up to this point has been planning, analysis, and design - documents, diagrams, mockups. System Implementatio…
Your Instructor
Meet Dr. Joshua Sopuru
👨🏫
Dr. Joshua Sopuru
Associate Professor of Cyber Security · Kyrenia, Cyprus
Associate Professor, published researcher with 87+ citations, and practising software engineer. Dr. Sopuru built these courses from his own research and industry work. You talk to him directly, not a TA or a pre-recorded screen.
📚 Published author🔬 Active researcher💻 Software engineer🎓 Associate Professor
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