Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right

1 E-1E-2E-3E-4 BUCG oalsConstraintsBusiness Event ListPUCE-6E-8E-7E-5 ConceptionScopingWork InvestigationProduct DeterminationRequirements DefinitionConstructionRequirements OutsourceSupplierExternal Requirements StrategyI-1I-2I-3I-4 BUCB usiness Event ListPUCI-5I-6 ConceptionScopingWork InvestigationProduct DeterminationRequirements DefinitionConstructionStoriesDeveloperIt erative Requirements StrategyS-1S-2S-3 BUCPUCS-4S-5 ConceptionScopingWork InvestigationProduct DeterminationRequirements DefinitionConstructionDeveloperRequireme nts GoalsConstraintsBusiness Event ListSequential Requirements StrategyRequirements Strategy MapsDevelopment BacklogRequirementPrioritizedPrioritized FeedbackFeedbackPriorityThe WorkAnalyze Business NeedsDevelop ProductWrite Require-mentsAnalysis Artifactss #ONTEXTs "5#Ss $ATA $ICTIONARYs 3 TAKEHOLDERS Business Event List(Analysis Backlog)

2 PrioritizedFeedbackFeedbackWorking ProductBusiness NeedsRequirementRequirementRequirementRe quirementIterative Requirements ProcessDesign and DevelopProject BlastoffRequirements Work ScopeDomain KnowledgeStakeholders & ManagementReuse LibraryReusable RequirementsBusinessNeedsProduct Use and EvolutionRisks and CostsReviewed SpecificationStakeholdersWants and NeedsRejectsOwnerMissing RequirementsRequirements TemplateQuality GatewayStrategic Plan for ProductStakeholdersStrategic Plan for ProductNew NeedsArchitectureRequirementsReuseProtot ype the WorkTrawl for KnowledgeReview the RequirementsWrite the RequirementInitial CostsEnterprise ModelsProductProject GoalsPotential RequirementPotential RequirementFormalized RequirementAccepted RequirementRequirement for ExperimentThis page intentionally left blank Mastering the Requirements ProcessThird Edition This page intentionally left blank Mastering the Requirements ProcessGetting Requirements RightThird Edition Suzanne RobertsonJames RobertsonUpper Saddle River.

3 NJ Boston Indianapolis San FranciscoNew York Toronto Montreal London Munich Paris MadridCapetown Sydney Tokyo Singapore Mexico City Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters or in all , horse, and elephant icons courtesy of Owl icon courtesy of ; all rights authors and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or omissions.

4 No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information or programs contained publisher offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales, which may include electronic versions and/or custom covers and content particular to your business, training goals, marketing focus, and branding interests. For more information, please Corporate and Government Sales(800) sales outside the United States, please contact:International us on the Web: of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataRobertson, Suzanne.

5 Mastering the Requirements process : Getting Requirements Right / Suzanne Robertson,James Robertson. 3rd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-321-81574-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Project management. 2. Computersoftware Development. I. Robertson, James. II. Title. 2012 4 dc232012018961 Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise.

6 To obtain permission to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to (201) : 978-0-321-81574-3 ISBN-10: 0-321-81574-2 Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at Courier in Westford, printing, September 2013 For one generation, Reginald, Margaret, Nick, and Helen, and another, Carlotta, Cameron, and Louise This page intentionally left blank viiContentsPreface to the Third Edition xxiForeword to the First Edition xxiiiAcknowledgments xxv1 Some Fundamental Truths 1in which we consider the essential contribution of requirementsTruth 1 1 Truth 2 2 Truth 3 3 Truth 4 4 Truth 5 5 Truth 6 6 Truth 7 7 Truth 8 7 Truth 9 8 Truth 10 8 Truth 11 9 What Are These Requirements Anyway?

7 9 Functional Requirements 10 Non-functional Requirements 10 Constraints 11 The Volere Requirements process 112 The Requirements process 13in which we present a process for discovering Requirements and discuss how you might use itThe Requirements process in Context 14A Case Study 15 Project Blastoff 15 Trawling for Requirements 17 Quick and Dirty Modeling 19 Scenarios 20 Writing the Requirements 20viii ContentsQuality Gateway 22 Reusing Requirements 23 Reviewing the Requirements 23 Iterative and Incremental Processes 24 Requirements Retrospective 25 Evolution of Requirements 26 The Template 27 The Snow Card 29 Your Own Requirements process 31 Formality Guide 32 The Rest of This Book 333 Scoping the Business Problem 35in which we establish a definition of the business area to be changed.

8 Thereby ensuring that the project team has a clear vision of what their project is meant to achieveProject Blastoff 35 Formality Guide 38 Setting the Scope 38 Separate the Work from its Environment 40 IceBreaker 41 First-Cut Work Context 42 Scope, Stakeholders, and Goals 43 Stakeholders 44 The Sponsor 45 The Customer 47 Users: Understand Them 48 Other Stakeholders 50 Consultants 51 Management 51 Subject-Matter Experts 51 Core Team 51 Inspectors 52 Market Forces 52 Legal Experts 52 Negative Stakeholders 52 Industry Standard Setters 52 Public Opinion 53 Government 53 Special-Interest Groups 53 Technical Experts 53 Cultural Interests 53 Adjacent Systems 53 Finding the Stakeholders 54 Goals.

9 What Do You Want to Achieve? 54 Purpose 55 Advantage 56 Measurement 56 Contents ixConstraints 59 Solution Constraints 59 Project Constraints 60 Naming Conventions and Definitions 60 How Much Is This

10 Going to Cost? 61 Risks 62To Go or Not to Go 63 Blastoff Meetings 64 Summary 654 Business Use Cases 67in which we discuss a fail-safe way of partitioning the work and so smooth the way for your Requirements investigationUnderstanding the Work 67 Formality Guide 69 Use Cases and Their Scope 69 The Scope of the Work 70 The Outside World 72 Business Events 73