20 Best Practices for Developing and Managing Requirements on Any Project.
Software Requirements Essentials presents 20 core practices for successful requirements planning, elicitation, analysis, specification, validation, and management. Leading requirements experts Karl Wiegers and Candase Hokanson focus on the practices most likely to deliver superior value for both traditional and agile projects, in any application domain. These core practices help teams understand business problems, engage the right participants, articulate better solutions, improve communication, implement the most valuable functionality in the right sequence, and adapt to change and growth.
Concise and tightly focused, this book offers just enough pragmatic "how-to" detail for you to apply the core practices with confidence, whether you're a business analyst, requirements engineer, product manager, product owner, or developer. Using it, your entire team can build a shared understanding of key concepts, terminology, techniques, and rationales--and work together more effectively on every project.
This book describes the twenty most important practices that help software teams create a set of requirements to serve as the foundation for the subsequent development work. These practices broadly apply regardless of the type of product the team is creating or their development approach. Some software teams work not on discrete development projects but on existing products that demand ongoing modifications and new functionality. The people who are responsible for requirements work on product teams like those will find the practices in this book equally applicable to their work.
This is the CliffsNotes version of many software requirements books, rolled into one. By nature of it being consciously focused and condensed, you should not expect massive details or full examples of every topic in Software Requirements Essentials. For each of the many techniques presented, you’ll get a little what, a little why, and a little how—enough to get you started and motivated. When you want more, follow the numerous links provided to reference materials.
Learn how to:
Clarify problems, define business objectives, and set solution boundaries
Identify stakeholders and decision makers
Explore user tasks, events, and responses
Assess data concepts and relationships
Elicit and evaluate quality attributes
Analyze requirements and requirement sets, create models and prototypes, and set priorities
Specify requirements in a consistent, structured, and well-documented fashion
Review, test, and manage change to requirements
"I once read the ten best-selling requirements engineering books of the prior ten years. This one book succinctly presents more useful information than those ten books combined."
--Mike Cohn, author of User Stories Applied and co-founder, Scrum Alliance
"Diamonds come about when a huge amount of carbon atoms are compressed. Karl and Candase have done something very similar: they have compressed their vast requirements knowledge into 20 gems they call 'core practices.' These practices are potent stuff, and I recommend that they become part of everyone's requirements arsenal."
--James Robertson, author of Mastering the Requirements Process and Business Analysis Agility
"Long story short: if you are going to read only one requirements book, this is it. Software Requirements Essentials distills the wealth of information found in Software Requirements and many other texts down to twenty of the most important requirements activities that apply on nearly all projects. Today's busy BA simply doesn't have the time to read a lengthy instructive guide front-to-back. But they should find the time to read this book."
--From the Foreword by Joy Beatty, COO, ArgonDigital
"Software Requirements Essentials will be a high-value addition to your business analysis library. Anyone looking to improve their business analysis practices will find great practical advice they'll be able to apply immediately."
--Laura Paton, Principal Consultant, BA Academy, Inc.
Author(s): Karl Wiegers; Candase Hokanson
Publisher: Addison-Wesley/Pearson Education
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 350
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Essentials of Software Requirements
Requirements Defined
Good Practices for Requirements Engineering
Who Does All This Stuff?
Some Recurrent Themes
The Life and Times of Requirements
Getting Started
Chapter 2: Laying the Foundation
Practice #1: Understand the problem before converging on a solution.
Business Problems
Eliciting the Real Problems
Keeping the Business Problem in Focus
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #2: Define business objectives.
Business Requirements
Business Objectives
Success Metrics
Product Vision
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #3: Define the solution’s boundaries.
Refining the Solution Concept
Setting the Context
Expanding the Ecosystem
Applying the Solution’s Boundaries
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #4: Identify and characterize stakeholders.
The Quest for Stakeholders
Stakeholders, Customers, and User Classes
Characterizing Stakeholders
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #5: Identify empowered decision makers.
Who Makes the Call?
How Do They Decide?
What Happens Following the Decision?
Related Practices
Next Steps
Chapter 3: Requirements Elicitation
Practice #6: Understand what users need to do with the solution.
Focusing on Usage
Eliciting User Requirements
Anatomy of a Use Case
Applying Usage-centric Requirements Information
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #7: Identify events and responses.
Types of Events
Specifying Events
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #8: Assess data concepts and relationships.
Understanding Data Objects and Their Relationships
Refining the Data Understanding
Data Details Determine Success
Find Data Requirements Wherever They Are Hiding
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #9: Elicit and evaluate quality attributes.
Eliciting Quality Attributes
Quality Attribute Implications
Quality Attribute Trade-offs
Specifying Quality Attributes
Related Practices
Next Steps
Chapter 4: Requirements Analysis
Practice #10: Analyze requirements and requirement sets.
Analyzing Individual Requirements
Analyzing Sets of Requirements
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #11: Create requirements models.
Selecting the Right Models
Using Models to Refine Understanding
Iterative Modeling
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #12: Create and evaluate prototypes.
Reasons to Prototype
How to Prototype
The Prototype’s Fate
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #13: Prioritize the requirements.
The Prioritization Challenge
Factors That Influence Priority
Prioritization Techniques
Pairwise Comparison for Prioritizing Quality Attributes
Analytical Prioritization Methods
Related Practices
Next Steps
Chapter 5: Requirements Specification
Practice #14: Write requirements in consistent ways.
Some Common Requirement Patterns
Levels of Abstraction
Requirement Attributes
Nonfunctional Requirements
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #15: Organize requirements in a structured fashion.
Requirements Templates
The Software Requirements Specification
Requirements Management Tools
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #16: Identify and document business rules.
Business Rules Defined
Discovering Business Rules
Documenting Business Rules
Applying Business Rules
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #17: Create a glossary.
Synchronizing Communication
Related Practices
Next Steps
Chapter 6: Requirements Validation
Practice #18: Review and test the requirements.
Requirements Reviews
Testing the Requirements
Acceptance Criteria
Testing Analysis Models
Testing Requirements Efficiently
Pushing Quality to the Front
Related Practices
Next Steps
Chapter 7: Requirements Management
Practice #19: Establish and manage requirements baselines.
Requirements Baseline Defined
Two Baselining Strategies
Identifying Which Requirements Are Included in a Baseline
Getting Agreement on the Baseline
Managing Multiple Baselines and Changes to Them
Related Practices
Next Steps
Practice #20: Manage changes to requirements effectively.
Anticipating Requirement Changes
Defining the Change Control Process
Assessing Changes for Impacts
After a Decision Is Made
In Search of Less Change
Related Practices
Next Steps
Appendix: Summary of Practices
References
Index
