Requirements Elicitation 1Lecture # 9

Requirements Engineering ProcessRequirementsElicitationRequirementsAnalysis andNegotiationRequirementsSpecificationRequirementsValidationUser Needs,Domain Information,Existing SystemInformation, Regulations,Standards, Etc.RequirementsDocumentAgreedRequirements

Requirements Elicitation - 1Elicit means to gather, acquire, extract, and obtain, etc.Requirements elicitation means gathering requirements or discovering requirements

Requirements Elicitation - 2Activities involved in discovering the requirements for the system

Basics of Knowledge AcquisitionReadingListeningAskingObservingThese are the sources of knowledge acquisition

Requirements Elicitation TechniquesIndividualGroupModelingCognitive

Problems in Requirements ElicitationProblems of scopeProblems of understandingProblems of volatility

Problems of ScopeThe boundary of the system is ill-definedUnnecessary design information may be given

Problems of Understanding - 1Users have incomplete understanding of their needsUsers have poor understanding of computer capabilities and limitationsAnalysts have poor knowledge of problem domain

Problems of Understanding - 2User and analyst speak different languagesEase of omitting obvious informationConflicting views of different usersRequirements are often vague and untestable, e.g., user-friendly and robust

Problems of VolatilityRequirements evolve over time and hence there are some requirements which are bound to change during the system development process due to one reason or the other.

Contexts in Requirements Elicitation ProcessOrganizationEnvironmentProjectConstraints imposed by peopleIt is important to consider the context in which requirements are being elicited. Requirements elicitation process may be followed in the following contexts

Contexts in Requirements Elicitation Process - 1OrganizationSubmitters of inputUsers of outputWays in which the new system change the business process

Contexts in Requirements Elicitation Process - 2EnvironmentHardware and softwareMaturity of the target system domainCertainty of the target systems interfaces to the larger systemThe target systems role in the larger system

Contexts in Requirements Elicitation Process - 3ProjectThe attributes of the different stakeholder communities, such as the end users, sponsors, developers, and requirements analysts. Examples of such attributes are:Management styleManagement hierarchyDomain experienceComputer experience

Contexts in Requirements Elicitation Process - 4The constraints imposed by the people They are involved in the elicitation process, e.g., managerial constraints concerning cost, time, and desired quality in the target system

Requirements Elicitation Guidelines - 1Assess the business and technical feasibility for the proposed system

Identify the people who will help specify requirements and understand their organizational bias

Define the technical environment

Identify domain constraints that limit the functionality or performance of the system

Requirements Elicitation Guidelines - 2Define one or more requirements elicitation methods (interviews, focus groups, team meetings)Solicit participation from many people so that requirements are defined from different points of view; be sure to identify the rationale for each requirement that is recorded

Requirements Elicitation Guidelines - 3Identify ambiguous requirements as candidates for prototypingCreate usage scenarios to help customers/users better identify requirements

EthnomethodologyLooks for behaviors that may be different in a specific culture but which have the same underlying purpose or meaningConversational analysisMeasurement of body system functionsNon-verbal behavior studiesDetailed video analysis

Requirements and PsychologyErrors in statements can happen in two placesPerception of facts realityLinguistic representation of one of these perceptions personal realityTo remove these errors, requirements should be reviewed (during and after elicitation)

Use Case ModelingDefine actors and black-box use casesThe functional requirements of the system are defined in terms of use cases and actorsThe use case descriptions are a behavioral view

Summary - 1Introduced the concept of elicitation and requirements elicitation processBasics of knowledge acquisition (reading, listening, asking, & observing)Knowledge acquisition techniques (individual, group, modeling, cognitive)Elicitation problems (scope, understandability, volatility)

Summary - 2Context (organization, environment, project, constraints imposed by people)Guidelines for knowledge acquisition

ReferencesRequirements Engineering: Processes and Techniques by G. Kotonya and I. Sommerville, John Wiley & Sons, 1998