An examination of procedural and object-oriented systems analysis methods:Does prior experience help or hinder performance?

Interest in object-oriented analysis (OOA) and object-oriented design (OOD) has expanded rapidly over the last several years. Proponents of OOA and OO D have called the shift to these methods "revolutionary" and have cited a n umber of impressive claims with respect to their use. However, empirical re search investigating these claims remains in its infancy. Moreover, an exam ination of the literature reveals inconclusive and often conflicting result s for OOA and OOD methods relative to traditional data and/or procedural te chniques. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that examined both ex perienced and novice systems analysts using both procedural and object-orie nted techniques. This research examined whether experience in using procedu ral methods helped or hindered performance using OOA and compared procedura l and OOA methods on the subjective mental workload induced. A human problem-solving model adopted from Newell and Simon (1972) provided the theoretical framework for this study. Dependent variables include subj ective mental workload, solution quality, time to perform task, and attitud inal measures. Although some of these dependent variables have been used in past research, we believe this is the first time that subjective mental wo rkload (SMW) has been examined in an IS context. Our results indicate that both novice and experienced subjects demonstrate higher SMW when using OOA. Tn addition, as a group, novices prefer object-oriented techniques and fin d these techniques easier as compared to experienced subjects.