How can one minimize or control communication problems in systems design and analysis?

To help minimize or control communication problems with clients, I typically deploy various methods of communication. For instance, when describing a system or getting the user to tell me what exactly they need in a system, I talk to them but I also draw something out on a whiteboard real quick, take notes and read them back to the user, ask them the same questions with slightly different angles to make sure they are giving me the same answers, and recite a lot of what they tell me back to them in a form of a summary.





Then when designing the actual application I typically construct a quick demo that puts the basics in place, ask them to take a look at it and play with it, and see what they think. Typically after seeing something in a bit of solid form it jogs their memory and they will say ';Oh yeah I forgot to mention, we need a button here for xyz';.





A lot of these tactics are the central piece to various design/analysis methodologies like Rapid Application Design (RAD), Agile Methdologies, and Prototyping. I recommend you look up a few of these methodologies on wikipedia or something where it will tell you a bit more about how some kind of visual demo is usually presented and built upon.





Using various visual as well as theoretical explanations, you can typically get the user on the same page with you very quickly and create some solid understanding.





Hope this helps your understanding. :)