1. BTS330: Business Requirements Analysis using OO Lecture 1: Introduction to Software Requirements

2. Agenda  What are Software Requirements?  Levels of Requirements  Development and Management  Problems with Requirements  Requirements and Customers

3. What are requirements?  It depends who you ask…  Requirements try to describe the whole system you are creating.  You need to decide on a definition with all project stakeholders…your requirements document will be based on that definition.

4. What are requirements?  Intersection of interests of stakeholders: –Customers (acquire the software) –Users –Analysts, developers, testers –Legal staff –And so on…

5. Why requirements?  Foundation for the software system  Define them well  terrific product, happy customers/stakeholders  Define them poorly  disaster

6. Agenda  What are Software Requirements?  Levels of Requirements  Development and Management  Problems with Requirements  Requirements and Customers

7. Levels of Requirements  Business Organization  vision/scope  User  use cases  Functional  software specs

8. Levels of Requirements  Nonfunctional –Business rules –Quality attributes –External interfaces –Constraints –And so on…

9. Documenting Requirements in BTS330  We will produce a Requirements Document as per a given template (posted to the bts330 site)

10. Agenda  What are Software Requirements?  Levels of Requirements  Development and Management  Problems with Requirements  Requirements and Customers

11. Development and Management  Develop Requirements –Elicitation –Analysis –Specification –Validation

12. Development and Management  Manage Requirements –Define baseline—SCOPE –Manage changes (**NOT EASY) –Manage project activity –Manage project plan

13. Agenda  What are Software Requirements?  Levels of Requirements  Development and Management  Problems with Requirements  Requirements and Customers

14. Why are there problems?  Detailed requirements are difficult!!!  “…no other part of the work so cripples the resulting system if they’re wrong. No other part is more difficult to rectify later.” –(text, p. 15)

15. Cost of Correcting Requirements RequirementsDesignCodeTestOperation 20 40 60 80 100 120 Relative Cost Source: Text, p. 17

16. Common Problems  Insufficient user involvement  Scope creep  Ambiguous requirements  Gold plating  “Paper Napkin” syndrome  Overlooked users  Inaccurate planning (bad promises)

17. The Pain Curve Pain Time Good Requirements Poor Requirements

18. Agenda  What are Software Requirements?  Levels of Requirements  Development and Management  Problems with Requirements  Requirements and Customers

19. Collaborating with Customers/Stakeholders  Take responsibility for ensuring understanding  Be respectful  Give honest/correct information See text pg 32, “bill of rights”

20. The Sign-off Myth  Signing off requirements –is NOT a weapon but a milestone –establishes a baseline –provides the basis for change management