Requirements Engineering

MBIT - Lecture 2 Requirements Engineering Process

Contents

Requirements Engineering Process

Phases of Requirements Engineering Requirements Elicitation

Knowledge Acquisition
Requirements Elicitation Techniques Interviews Social and Cultural Issues Other problems

RE process maturity

Requirements Engineering Process

One of the most critical processes

Involves interaction and creativity among diverse group of people

Varies from organization to organization

Size of organization Type of organization Iterative vs Water fall

Software development life cycle

Phases of Requirements Engineering

Elicitation

Analysis & Negotiation

Specification

Validation

Management

Requirements Elicitation

Stakeholder identification Requirements discovery

Functional & Non-functional

Environment understanding
Business model People Current systems and processes

Knowledge acquisition
Reading Listening Asking Observing current system, competitor

Knowledge acquisition

Techniques for knowledge acquisition

Reading Listening

Asking
Observing current system, competitor

Requirements Elicitation Techniques

Individual

Interview, Discussion

Group

Meeting, Presentation, Demo

Prototyping, Storyboards, Wireframes
Thinking process, psychology of people

Modeling

Cognitive

Requirements Elicitation Techniques

Establish objectives Understand background Organize knowledge Collect requirements
Business goals Problem to be solved System constraints Organizational structure Application domain Existing systems Stakeholder identification Stakeholder requirements Domain requirements Organizational requirements

Goal prioritization
Domain Knowledge filtering

Interviews

Interviewing different stakeholders

Types of interviews

Closed Interview predefined set of questions

Open Interview no predefined agenda

Understanding application domain Organizational issues Some requirements may not be discussed

Less effective for

Political factors

Interviews

Interviewers must be open minded

Stakeholders must be given a starting point

Question

Requirement
Current system Competitors system

Data gathering interviews

Prepare
Define purpose and objectives Obtain background information Logistics Prepare interview guide for interviewee

Conduct
Open build trust and credibility Body question and answer Close summarize and review findings, link to objectives

Follow through

Jot down all key information and send MOMs to all stakeholders Review any documentation received Follow up on leads obtained

Social and Cultural Issues

Organizational issues

Inter-team and within a team Client and software development organization Different time zones Different languages

Geographical issues

Communication barriers

Religious differences Ethical considerations

Other Problems in Requirements Engineering

Lack of stakeholder involvement

Business need not considered Lack of requirements management

Lack of defined responsibilities

Stakeholder communication problem

RE Process Maturity

Initial Level
No defined RE process Requirements volatility problem Unsatisfied stakeholder High rework cost Dependent of individuals experience and skills

Repeatable Level

Defined standards for requirements document Defined policies and procedures Defined RE process based on good practices and techniques Active process improvement

Defined Level

RE Process Maturity
Level 1 Defined
Defined process based on best practices Process improvement in place

Level 2 Repeatable
Standardized requirements engineering Fewer requirement problems

Level 1 Initial
Ad-hoc requirements engineering Requirement problems are common

Examples of good practice guidelines

Define a standard document structure Uniquely identify each requirement

Define policies for requirements management

Use checklist for requirements analysis Use scenarios to elicit requirements

Specify requirements quantitatively

Use prototyping to animate requirements Reuse requirements

Thank you
Q&A