‘CATWOE’ is a mnemonic for a checklist for
problem or goal definition . CATWOE is applied to the system which contains
the problem, issue or solution, rather than to the problem or goal itself
– i.e. to: ‘A system to ...’ ‘A system for ...’;
or ‘A system that ...’. Such a definition should include:
- The ‘customers of the system’. In this context,
‘customers’ means those who are on the receiving end
of whatever it is that the system does. Is it clear from your definition
who will gain or lose?
- The ‘actors’, meaning those who would actually
carry out the activities envisaged in the notional system being
defined.
- The ‘transformation process’. What does
the system do to the inputs to convert them into the outputs.
- The ‘world view’ that lies behind the root
definition. Putting the system into it's wider context can highlight
the consequences of the overall system. For example the system may
be in place to assist in making the world environmentally safer,
and the consequences of system failure could be significant pollution.
- The ‘owner(s)’ – i.e. those who have
sufficient formal power over the system to stop it existing if they
so wished (though they won’t usually want to do this).
- The ‘environmental constraints’. These include
things such as ethical limits, regulations, financial constraints,
resource limitations, limits set by terms of reference, and so on.
Just working through CATWOE, adding each element as
you go, can lead to an unwieldy definition. It may be better to look
at which are the important elements of CATWOE for any given system and
use the relevant sub-set.
[Source:
www.mycoted.com]
