Gathering Good Requirements for Developers

Gathering Good Requirements for Developers
Module 00: Requirements Gathering for Development
Introduction
Goals
  Common general goals: 
    performance 
    scalibility 
    reiability 
    adaptability 
    cost-effectiveness 
  Correct system behaviors come from well-understood user requirements 
  Software requirements aim to create better understanding of the business

Audience
  developer 
    who needs requirement himself 
    who support / work with BA to get requirements done
  part-time BA with other duties, like project management 
  How does dev think about requirement process?
  What is the group size? 
  What kind of project and how much details are needed?
  
Methodology
  Waterfall Methodology:
    essential to get started right
    requirement skill are often lacking
    requirement often seen as barrier to get start 
  
  Agile Methodology:
    Requirements 
      some front work still required 
      seen as being done in cycle / iterative process
      often take the form of use cases / user stories
      considered very fluid
      starting as business objective, refine through process

  Requirement is both agile and waterfall
  The objective at the begining of a project is to get:
    Basic understanding
    Scope
    Sense of direction of project 
    List of things we will need
  so that we are aligned with what user want
  Make small course adjustment early on, then refine and iterate through SDLC 
  See from external that all of the work for requirements is done inside the process

  Two end of spectrum 
    agile: fluid use cases
    waterfall / waterfall-like: controlled and regid requirements

One vs. Many
  Write individual requirement / tools and deliverables
    Skills
    Techniques
  vs. 
  Put requirements into larger package for specifications 
    Tools
    Deliverables
    Managing relationships

Course Outline
  The Big picture - where we are
  A few good requirements
  Requirements skills and techniques - do your own requirements
  Requirements Activities - how to get requirements
  When Requirements Get Together - how to get requirements into specifications
  Getting Exhaustive - how to get the hard-to-get requirement details
  Scope and Requirements Validation 
  Requirements Prioritization
  Issues and Resolutions - what are the common issues?

Module 2: The Big Picture
  Project Lifecycles  
  Software Development Roles
  Requirements Tools - in terms of deliverables and techniques
  Stakeholders - who is involved
  Operating Environment - how people can share requirements
  Time-Cost-Quality Triangle 

  Module 3: A Few Good Requirements
    Why We Do Requirements
    Defining Requirements
    Requirement Types - from business objective to details
    Exercise: Makeing an Omelet 
    A Good Requirement
    A SMART Requirement - technique 
  
  Module 4: Requirements Skills and Techniques (soft skills)
    Elicitation - how to get people to tell you
    Facilitation - facilitate effective meetings
    Evangelism - how to get people involved wanting to build the solution 
    Engagement - how to get people on board
    People Integration - how to get people to work together
    Mental Modeling - how to get people to understand the solution before it's built 

  Module 5: Requirements Activities
    How to do ...
    Meetings
      1 on 1
        interview 
        observation
      Focus Groups
        Attendance (who?)
        Roles
    Questionnaires (when are they not useful?)
      Open / Close
      Who to Survey
    Writing 
      Text 
      Diagrams

  Module 6: When Requirements Get Together (into document / specifications)
    Goals
      Agreement
      Complete Enough - but we will never completely in alignment
    Grouping
      Unique ID - for reference later
      Relationships
    Requirements Forms
      Document
      Specification
      Package
    MECE 
      - mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive
      - none of the requirements should conflict
    Inclusion by Reference - only include when necessary 
    Assumptions and Risks
    Requirements Traceability
      we want to get requirements traceable through design and testing 
      so that we can ensure quality

  Module 7: Getting Exhaustive
    Put together Components
    Create Visuals to go with text requirement
    Filling Gaps 
  
  Module 8: Scope and Requirements Validation
    Scope
      Product Vision Statement & Business Objectives
        - measureable in Success Metrics
      What are Acceptance Criteria for the project
      To Know if the project is built successfully according to requirements
      Diagrams
    Validation (walk trhough items in requirement one by one)
      Checklist
      Pre and Post Conditions
      Security
      Imprecise Words - what else are we missing 
  
  Module 9: Requirements Prioritization
    Techniques
    Key Questions
    Workarounds
    Sanity Checks - does the project make sense
  
  Module 10: Issues and Resolutions - challenges in developing requirements
    Requirements Issues
    Emotional Intelligence
    Difficult People
    Conflict Management
    Whining
    Pitfalls
    
Summary
  Requirements is not straight forward, linear process
  Process to deliverables - a package works for unique situation
  Create requirements - one way or another

Module 02: The Big Picture
  Introduction
    How do software requirement fit in software development lifecycle?
    Agenda
      Project Lifecycles 
        - where is start and end
      Software Development Roles 
        - who is involved in process 
        - what role they have to play in requirements
      Requirements Tools
        Conversation about Stakeholders
        Operating Environment - what to do to get requirement
      Time Cost Quality Triangle 

  Project Lifecycles
    
  Software Development Roles
  Requirement Tools
  Stakeholders
  Operating Environment
  Time Cost Quality Triangle
  Summary

Module 03: A Few Good Requirements
Introduction
Why We Do Requirements
Defining Requirements
Requirement Types
Exercise: Making an Omelet
A Good Requirement
A SMART Requirement
Summary

Module 04: Requirement Skills and Techniques
Introduction
Elicitation
Facilitation
Evangelism
Engagement
People Integration
Mental Modeling
Summary

Module 05: Requirement Activities
Introduction
Meetings
Questionnaires
Writing
Summary

Module 06: When Requirements Get Together
Introduction
Goals
Grouping
Requirements Forms
MECE
Inclusion by Reference
Assumptions and Risks
Requirements Traceability
Summary

Module 07: Getting Exhaustive
Introduction
Components
Visuals
Filling Gaps
Summary

Module 08: Scope and Requirements Validation
Introduction
Scope
Validation
Summary

Module 09: Requirements Prioritization
Introduction
Techniques
Key Questions
Workarounds
Sanity Checks
Summary

Module 10: Issues and Resolutions
Introduction
Requirements Issues
Emotional Intelligence
Difficult People
Conflict Management
Whining
Pitfalls
Summary