Application prototyping: A case study

Abstract

Accurate specification of user requirements for interactive systems is especially difficult in an environment where the demand for information is intense, short-fused and largely unpredictable. The Congressional Budget Office was created in 1975 by an Act of Congress. Its primary mandate is to serve the Budget and Appropriation committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Act also defined a Congressional Budget process specifying a calendar of events and specific completion dates for major activities. This placing of budgetary actions produces a highly charged environment in which CBO must be able to respond immediately to information needs with information that is both accurate and consistent.