Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right

If the purpose is to create one of the best books on requirements yet written, the authors have succeeded.
Capers Jones
Software can solve almost any problem. The trick is knowing what the problem is. With about half of all software errors originating in the requirements activity, it is clear that a better understanding of the problem is needed.
 
Getting the requirements right is crucial if we are to build systems that best meet our needs. We know, beyond doubt, that the right requirements produce an end result that is as innovative and beneficial as it can be, and that system development is both effective and efficient.
 
Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right, Third Edition, sets out an industry-proven process for gathering and verifying requirements, regardless of whether you work in a traditional or agile development environment. In this sweeping update of the bestselling guide, the authors show how to discover precisely what the customer wants and needs, in the most efficient manner possible.
 
Features include

• The Volere requirements process for discovering requirements, for use with both traditional and iterative environments
• A specification template that can be used as the basis for your own requirements specifications
• Formality guides that help you funnel your efforts into only the requirements work needed for your particular development environment and project
• How to make requirements testable using fit criteria
• Checklists to help identify stakeholders, users, non-functional requirements, and more
• Methods for reusing requirements and requirements patterns

New features include

• Strategy guides for different environments, including outsourcing
• Strategies for gathering and implementing requirements for iterative releases
• Thinking above the line to find the real problem
• How to move from requirements to finding the right solution
• The Brown Cow model for clearer viewpoints of the system
• Using story cards as requirements
• Using the Volere Knowledge Model to help record and communicate requirements
• Fundamental truths about requirements and system development

List of contents

Preface to the Third Edition xxi
Foreword to the First Edition xxiii
Acknowledgments xxv
 
Chapter 1: Some Fundamental Truths 1
in which we consider the essential contribution of requirements
Truth 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? 9
The Volere Requirements Process 11
 
Chapter 2: The Requirements Process 13
in which we present a process for discovering requirements and discuss how you might use it
The Requirements Process in Context 14
A Case Study 15
Project Blastoff 15
Trawling for Requirements 17
Quick and Dirty Modeling 19
Scenarios 20
Writing the Requirements 20
Quality 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 33
 
Chapter 3: Scoping the Business Problem 35
in which we establish a definition of the business area to be changed, thereby ensuring that the project team has a clear vision of what their project is meant to achieve
Project Blastoff 35
Formality Guide 38
Setting the Scope 38
IceBreaker 41
Scope, Stakeholders, and Goals 43
Stakeholders 44
Other Stakeholders 50
Finding the Stakeholders 54
Goals: What Do You Want to Achieve? 54
Constraints 59
Naming Conventions and Definitions 60
How Much Is This Going to Cost? 61
Risks 62
To Go or Not to Go 63
Blastoff Meetings 64
Summary 65
 
Chapter 4: Business Use Cases 67
in which we discuss a fail-safe way of partitioning the work and so smooth the way for your requirements investigation
Understanding the Work 67
Formality Guide 69
Use Cases and Their Scope 69
The Scope of the Work 70
Business Events 73
Why Business Events and Business Use Cases Are a Good Idea 75
Finding the Business Events 78
Business Use Cases 80
B

About the author

Suzanne Robertson and James Robertson have, over many years, helped hundreds of companies improve their requirements techniques and move into the fast lane of system development. Their courses and seminars on requirements, analysis, and design are widely praised for their innovative approach. The Robertsons are principals of the Atlantic Systems Guild, a well-known consultancy specializing in the human dimensions of complex system building. They are also the coauthors of Requirements-Led Project Management (Addison-Wesley, 2005).
 
James Robertson and Suzanne Robertson have, over many years, helped hundreds of companies improve their requirements techniques and move into the fast lane of system development. Their courses and seminars on requirements, analysis, and design are widely praised for their innovative approach. The Robertsons are principals of the Atlantic Systems Guild, a well-known consultancy specializing in the human dimensions of complex system building. They are also the coauthors of Requirements-Led Project Management (Addison-Wesley, 2005).

Summary

“If the purpose is to create one of the best books on requirements yet written, the authors have succeeded.”

—Capers Jones

Software can solve almost any problem. The trick is knowing what the problem is. With about half of all software errors originating in the requirements activity, it is clear that a better understanding of the problem is needed.

 

Getting the requirements right is crucial if we are to build systems that best meet our needs. We know, beyond doubt, that the right requirements produce an end result that is as innovative and beneficial as it can be, and that system development is both effective and efficient.

 

Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right, Third Edition, sets out an industry-proven process for gathering and verifying requirements, regardless of whether you work in a traditional or agile development environment. In this sweeping update of the bestselling guide, the authors show how to discover precisely what the customer wants and needs, in the most efficient manner possible.

 

Features include

• The Volere requirements process for discovering requirements, for use with both traditional and iterative environments
• A specification template that can be used as the basis for your own requirements specifications
• Formality guides that help you funnel your efforts into only the requirements work needed for your particular development environment and project
• How to make requirements testable using fit criteria
• Checklists to help identify stakeholders, users, non-functional requirements, and more
• Methods for reusing requirements and requirements patterns

New features include

• Strategy guides for different environments, including outsourcing
• Strategies for gathering and implementing requirements for iterative releases
• “Thinking above the line” to find the real problem
• How to move from requirements to finding the right solution
• The Brown Cow model for clearer viewpoints of the system
• Using story cards as requirements
• Using the Volere Knowledge Model to help record and communicate requirements
• Fundamental truths about requirements and system development

Product details

• Authors: James Robertson, Suzanne Robertson
• Publisher: Pearson Education
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.08.2012
• EAN: 9780321815743
• ISBN: 978-0-321-81574-3
• No. of pages: 576
• Dimensions: 202 mm x 35 mm x 250 mm
• Weight: 1168 g
• Illustrations: w. figs.
• Series: Addison-Wesley; Addison-Wesley
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > IT, data processing > Programming languages; Social sciences, law, business > Business > Management