The Process of Soft Systems Methodology
Stage 5: Comparing Conceptual Models With The "Real World"

One of the best things about SSM is that you are never allowed to forget that your model does not represent the "real world". So what does your model represent?

Best case: 
your model represents a more effective way of achieving the desired work goals, based on how the core stakeholders perceive that the system of human activity should take place.

Worst case: 
your model automates what's there now - the manual system, or worse still, the current computer system (if the current computer system is so effective, why do you think they called you in to investigate how it could be replaced?).

Consider how far your model lies between either of these extremes (nobody's perfect). Validate your conceptual models by presenting them to stakeholders and asking for feedback. Once you are happy with them ...

...  The purpose of all this activity is not to just draw pretty pictures, but to provide a solid set of prioritized recommendations for what changes need to be made to existing activity systems (which is a prerequisite for defining what information systems are needed to support those changed systems!). Therefore, for example, just taking system transformation (7), we can observe that:

1.  Driving is less expensive that public transport. Action = determine the extent of cross-subsidy required and implement it.

2.  There is no road rationing system in place. Action = implement a road rationing system.

3.  We have no effective way of gathering statistics on road use vs. use of public transport. Action =  put information gathering mechanisms in place.

You're probably thinking - OK, I got this far, but how does this relate to computer system requirements? These are just the initial actions for change. Once these mechanisms are in place, we can start to determine a set of detailed requirements for computer support. But unless we understand the details of all this stuff - the multiple purposes that the work-systems (the various human-activity systems represented by each conceptual model) exists to fulfill, the rationale behind these work-systems and the ways in which performance and success are measured, there is no way that we could define requirements for a computer system to support these work activities. 

Now let us consider a more functional transformation - we will model transformation 2.

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