Requirements Gathering Approaches

Why gather requirements? Requirements gathering is crucial to project success because it ensures that a project has an accurate understand of what the user want and need. It also helps increase the level of stakeholder involvement on a project. In short:

Requirements clearly define the business need
Requirements form the basis for development, testing and training
Requirements reduce rework and revisions

Steps:

Gather: communicate with stakeholders (customers and users) to determine what their requirements are. This is also called elicitation.
Analyze: determine whether the stated requirements are unclear, incomplete, ambiguous, or contradictory, and then resolve these issues.
Document: scribe final requirements in various forms, such as word documents, use cases, user stories or process specifications.

The approaches and techniques you employ to gather requirements are equally as important as gathering the requirements themselves. Certain approaches are more successful and produce more accurate requirements when used at the right time and under the right circumstances. Always make sure that there is enough time to plan and conduct the desired approach.

Below is a matrix to help you determine what approach or combination of approaches to use and when.*

Approach	Description	Audience	Skill Set	Time	Best To Use When…
Surveys	Questionnaires (paper or electronic)	Large number of stakeholders	Interviewing skills Technical writing skills Usability Team as additional resource	Weeks	Type of project: enhancements or need to cover large or diverse group of stakeholders High level understanding of stakeholder needs is required Before interviews and workshops are conducted After interviews to validate assumptions
Focus Groups	Moderated discussion of selected group of participants	10-12 stakeholders across the business	Facilitation Interpersonal skills Interviewing skills Observation and listening skills Usability Team as additional resource	Days to weeks	Type of project: focused line of business, standard use case or group of end users Analysts are trained in both design and moderation of focus groups Stakeholders are available and willing to collaborate
Interviews	Information collected by asking questions and documenting responses	Individuals or groups of stakeholders	Interpersonal skills Interviewing skills Observation and listening skills	Days to weeks	Type of project: generally all Follow up on surveys Analysts are trained in interviewing techniques Stakeholders are knowledgeable and available
Brainstorming	Process for generating, validating and prioritizing ideas	Group environment where all stakeholders have the opportunity to participate	Facilitation Interpersonal skills Organizational skills	Days to weeks	Type of project: requirements are relatively unknown and participation, collaboration and consensus between stakeholders is key Done in conjunction with prototyping and workshops Stakeholders are committed to the process
Prototyping	Storyboards and mock ups used to build a model of the desired service Focus is on what and when	Stakeholders, customers and end users	Facilitation skills Technical skills	Weeks to months	Type of project: requirements are relatively unknown and incremental models will help discovery Visual representation will help clarify stakeholder understanding An experimental method must be validated Expectations are clear and understood
Workshops	Sessions in which participants jointly analyze the problem and contribute to the solution	All stakeholders	Facilitation skills Interpersonal skills Observation and listening skills	Weeks	Type of project: Stakeholders are committed to the process Consensus about requirements and prioritization is needed Skilled facilitators are available
Job Shadowing	First hand observation of performance of routine tasks and daily activities	Individual stakeholders	Interpersonal skills Observation and listening skills	Days to weeks	Type of project: user needs are undocumented and insight into stakeholder environment is needed Stakeholders are committed to the process
Business Process Flow Diagrams	Graphic representation of a collection of related, structured activities tasks	Subject matter experts across the business	Interviewing skills Technical documentation skills	Days to weeks	Type of project: current process needs to be analyzed, improved and/or automated Insight into stakeholder environment is needed
Help Desk Comments	Customer feedback and/or input	Customer Support staff	Research skills Interviewing skills	Days to weeks	Type of project: information regarding current or similar services is available Help desk staff are available to provide context
Analytics	Measurement, collection, and analysis of user interaction with existing applications	N/A	Research skills Observation skills	Days	Type of project: web application development Understanding of usage and trends is needed and accessible Existing problems need to be identified
Document Analysis	Review of existing documentation	N/A	Research skills	Days	Type of project: existing documentation is available, accurate and current
Interface Analysis	Identification, analysis and management of external interfaces	Primary providers and receivers of system information	Research skills Technical skills	Days to weeks	Type of project: existing web applications Scope of project includes several external interfaces Accurate documentation is available or can be readily compiled
Reverse Engineering	Analysis of current system to determine requirements or design on which it was based	N/A	Research skills Technical skills	Weeks to months	Type of project: proposed system is not significantly different from current or existing system Copyright laws do not prohibit reverse engineering Insight is needed into proposed requirements Automated tools are available to facilitate the analysis

*Based on the Business Analysis Book of Knowledge (“BABOK”) and Boston University Corporate Education Center “Core Competencies for the Business Analyst”

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