Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) is a software engineering approach that models systems as a collection of interacting objects to enhance communication and product quality during development. It includes two primary phases: object-oriented analysis (OOA), which identifies software requirements via object modeling, and object-oriented design (OOD), which implements the conceptual model in technology-specific ways. The benefits of OOAD include improved communication, reusability, and the ability to tackle complex problem domains.