Requirements Gathering

Requirements Gathering 101 By Duncan Haughey, PMP Requirements gathering is an essential disunite of any get word and encounter management. Understanding fully what a vomit up allow for deliver is critical to its success. This may sound like green sense, but surprisingly its an area that is often given far excessively little attention. Many projects start with the barest headline list of requirements, only to fall out later the guests needs have not been properly understood. One-way to obviate this problem is by producing a narration of requirements. This document is a go to the main requirements of the project.It provides A succinct requirement specification for management purposes. A statement of key objectives a cardinal points specification. A description of the milieu in which the system will work. Background information and references to other applicable material. Information on major design constraints. The contents of the statement of requirements should be sta ble or change relatively slowly. Once you have created your statement of requirements, ensure the customer and all other stakeholders sign-up to it and understand that this and only this will be delivered.Finally, ensure you have cross-referenced the requirements in the statement of requirements with those in the project definition report to ensure there is no mismatch. 10 Rules for no-hit Requirements Gathering To be successful at requirements gathering and to give your project an increased likelihood of success follow these rules 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Dont assume you know what the customer wants, ask. Involve the users from the start. Define and agree the scope of the project. Ensure requirements are specific, realistic and measurable. Gain clarity if there is any doubt.Create a clear, concise and total requirements document and share it with the customer. Confirm your understanding of the requirements with the customer (play them back). Avoid lecture technology or s olutions until the requirements are fully understood. Get the requirements agreed with the stakeholders in the first place the project starts. Create a prototype if necessary to confirm or refine the customers requirements. Common Mistakes Basing a solution on complex or cutting edge technology and then discovering that it cannot easily be trilled out to the real world.Not prioritising the User Requirements, for example must have, should have, could have and would have, known as the MoSCoW principle. Not enough consultation with real users and practitioners. Solving the problem earlier you know what it is. Lacking a clear understanding and making assumptions quite than asking. Requirements gathering is about creating a clear, concise and agreed set of customer requirements that allow you to provide exactly what they are looking for. Project yearn 2000-2011. All rights reserved. 1