What Activities Are Performed in the Design Phase? The design phase consists of two major activities: (1) if necessary, acquire hardware and software and (2) develop all of the details of the new or modifi ed information system. Acquiring necessary hardware and software involves identifying technical specifi cations, soliciting vendor proposals, testing and evaluating vendor proposals, and making a decision. Detailed design includes developing designs for the databases, inputs, outputs, and programs. During detailed design, many systems analysts use a prototype, which is a working model of the proposed system. Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) products are tools designed to support one or more activities of system development.