What is the purpose of a DFD?

A Data Flow Diagram (DFD) serves a crucial role in systems analysis by visually representing how data flows through a system. It highlights the different processes that handle the data, the sources of data inputs, and where the data is stored. This visual representation makes it easier for stakeholders to understand the system’s functionality, the interactions between different components, and how data is transformed as it moves through the system.

By focusing on the processes, data stores, and external entities involved in the system, a DFD helps model the system's operations without delving into the physical aspects or implementation details.

The other responses highlight activities that are important in the systems design process but do not align with the primary objective of a DFD. Proposing new system features, documenting user feedback, and creating hardware specifications are activities related to other aspects of system development but do not fundamentally pertain to the depiction of data flow and process interactions, which is the distinct purpose of a DFD.