I know the book definition - but as I am transitioning and pivoting in my career; I was hoping to get some REAL WORLD examples of Requirements Documentation to assist me in fully grasping it when I am asked about it.
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
First of all, as project manager, you are accountable for project requirements. Is not about requirements documentation. Is about requirements specification. Requirements scpecification is a document. Saving Changes...
Cheryl LeeBusiness Analysis and Project Management Consultant and Instructor| Knowledge AdaptersThornhill, Ontario, Canada
As a business analyst, a large part of my role is eliciting product requirements and being able to articulate them to those who will go on to build the product (whether through documentation, or other formats). This is how I usually describe what I do.
Consider an online shopping site. I'm a shoe-aholic, so suppose you're on a department store website to purchase a new pair of shoes. You click on shoes, enter payment details, receive confirmation these shoes will be delivered in 2-4 business days. A really large pair of floppy clown shoes arrive at your door. Was it what you were looking for? Likely not. Where did I go wrong? I obviously didn't elicit enough requirements to accurately understand the customer's needs.
Your experience probably looks a bit more like this:
1. You navigate to look at shoes.
2. The site prompts you to describe who the shoes are for (ladies, mens, kids)
3. The site prompts for your size.
4. The site may prompt you to describe what you're using the shoes for (active, dress, etc).
5. The site demos/prototypes shoes that meets the criteria (shows you a picture)
6. Upon confirmation, the site prompts you for payment info
7. The site provides confirmation of purchase and indicates it will be delivered in 2-4 business days.
So I'm kind of like an online shopping site prompting the customer for (eliciting) requirements. I know I did a good job eliciting and articulating the requirements if once the shoes are delivered, the customer says "YES, that's EXACTLY what I was looking for!" How detailed do your requirements need to be? Enough detail so the customer decides to keep the product (pass the acceptance criteria) and actually use it (meets business needs). Saving Changes...
