Further, the level of requirements elicited through such methods is often too general to be of significant use to analysts attempting to understand behavior. Because DSS are developed to support organizational tasks that decision makers perform, it is arguable that the requirements determination for such systems should more directly address users' performance of those tasks. To shift the focus of requirements determination to task behaviors, it is useful to frame IRD in terms of inputs, techniques, methods, tools, and outputs. The framework appears in Table 1. Theoretically, any method can be used with any technique, and any tool with any method, although certain combinations may be more suitable than others from a practical standpoint.
Workflow analysis is a technique to model the user's flow of behavior in performing the task.
Methods are used to implement the techniques. Methods include structured interviews, silent and interactive observation, document analysis, and protocol analysis, among others. A particularly useful method for analyzing task behaviors is interactive observation, which consists of the analyst interacting with the user while the latter performs his or her job. This method is discussed in more detail below. Tools are specific ways of gathering requirements.