Per the Nicholas and Steyn text, the basic life cycle of human-designed systems is the series of logical, structured steps called the systems development cycle. The following figure shows the four-phase of the system development cycle.

Focuses on the solution and defines what to build and how to build it (master plan). ______

From an idea, build a physical end item. ________

Focus on problem and define what is needed. _______

Phase A: Conception phase Phase B: Definition phase Phase D: Operation phase Phase C: Execution phase System Improvement System termination (To Phase A: repeat cycle)