Projects / How AI Reshapes Systems Analysis & Design — ISCAP 2026
How AI Reshapes Systems Analysis & Design — ISCAP 2026
A case study of AI in the systems analysis & design curriculum: 43 students built client-evaluated prototypes with AI tools, and we measured what changed.
Lead: Gary Yu Zhao, Cindy Tu, Joni Adkins
The problem
Systems analysis and design courses were designed for a world where analysts wrote every diagram and document by hand. Generative AI changed what students produce, how fast they produce it, and what instructors should actually teach and assess.
Approach
We redesigned course projects around AI-assisted analysis: students used AI tools for requirements elicitation, use-case and class modeling, and prototyping, then defended their design decisions in client-style reviews. Client evaluators scored the prototypes, and pre/post surveys captured how students' trust and verification habits evolved.
Results
43 students completed client-evaluated prototypes. The study documents where AI accelerated the work, where it quietly introduced errors, and which verification practices separated strong teams from weak ones. Presented at the ISCAP Conference 2026 (Asheville, NC).