Module 10 Establishing Requirements Flashcards
What is a a requirement
Feature requested by a stakeholder and may form part of a solution
The requirements engineering framework
Requirements elicitation- this stage is concerned with drawing out requirements from stakeholders that perform the work of the organisation or of the intended users of software product
Requirements analysis- intended for reviewing and analysing the elicited requirements to remove duplication and error, negotiate conflicts and contradictions, evaluate feasibility and allocate priorities
Requirements validation- concerned with reviewing requirements in order to assure that they are defined at the required level of quality
Requirements documentation - concerned with producing narrative and diagrammatic definitions of the requirements at varying levels of accuracy and completeness
Requirements management- stage concerned with managing changes to he defined requirements and ensuring the desired level of traceability is achieved
Actors in requirements engineering
What is an actor
An actor is an individual or group who fulfils a specific role
Stake holder groups for business representatives
Project sponsor
Product owner
Subject matter expert - may possess specific knowledge about the domain your working in
Business staff-n possess knowledge about the processes of the organisation
Stakeholder groups for the project team
Project manager
Business analsyst
developer
Software tester
Types of requirements
BUSINESS requiremtns - business and technical
solution requirements- functional and non-functional
General
Business contraints
Business policies
Legal
Branding
Cultural
Language
Technical requirements
Hardware
Software
Interface
Internet
Functional requirements
Data entry
Data maintenance
Procedural
Retrieval requirements
Non functional requirements
Performance
Security and access
Backup and recovery
Availability
Usability
Accessibility
Requirements elicitation
Most requirements based on explicit knowledge and stakeholders are able to articulate them.
Techniques in eliciting workshops:
Visualisation- rich pictures, mind maps
Modelling- business process models
CSF analysis- provide insight into measures used in organisation
Scenario analysis- talking through a step-by-step enactment of a transaction helps to uncover exceptions to standard process flow and thereby identify alternate pathways and outcomes
Prototyping- prototypes and wireframes may be used in two ways in a workshop- may be constructed during a workshop as part of an activity to visualise a screen, report or scenario
Requirements elicitation
Interviews and document analysis
Interviews provide a structural discussion forum for d=identifying features and characteristics business mangers require. Often, the requirements elicited during interviews are at an overview level and reflect general business needs.
Document analysis- explore stakeholders’ specific knowledge of business area, processes and systems. If project is to enhance existing process/system, analysing current documentation helps to uncover information about actor responsibilities, process flow, requirements and business rules
These techniques work well when eliciting requirements that relate to stakeholders’ explicit knowledge
Knowledge of categories where tacit knowledge is embedded in an organisation
Norms of behaviour and communication- evolve over time in every organisation- any new process that threatens to conflict with these norms may face resistance
Organisational culture- culture of an organisation can be seen through behaviour of their management and staff. Analyst needa take into account the behaviour/culture when an Lansing business changes
Organisational stories- in an organisation, typically history of events in their past- could relate to failed/succeeded projects. Could be lots of lessons to learn from these stories, but since they are told verbally and assumed to be known, a BA may not be told and may lack pertinent knowledge, resulting in errors. A storytelling session can be fruitful but needs to happen when situation investigation is under way and before any detailed requirements work is undertaken
Formal/informal networks- discrete group fo workers who may be related by task, department,, geographical location or an other factor. Have their own sets of experience and norms/practises. May be distinct from other groups within organisation, not reflected in the organisation as a whole. A network is likely to have its own tacit knowledge, which members may not share.
