What is JAD? How is it better than traditional information-gathering techniques? What are its weaknesses?

JAD stands for joint application development, and it is better than traditional information gathering techniques, namely waterfall methodologies, because it allows for more communication between developers and the client. That is, in JAD the client works with the developers throughout the life cycle of the system to guide development and provide instant feedback. This saves the time and money of having to fix problems later that were not discovered in the initial requirement gathering.

Some weaknesses include having more meetings, contradictory opinions regarding the requirements, and end users/stakeholders not understanding technical roadblocks. When working with JAD, developers will have to meet with the client regularly to keep them informed on progress so that use cases can be altered/approved. Also, with non-technical persons in the meeting, disagreements may come up regarding the best way to do something. While a feature might be extremely beneficial to one user, it may not be feasible considering available equipment/time/budget/knowledge.