Capturing User Requirements

How to improve the quality of project requirements

Course contents:

Course benefits

Who should attend

Prerequisites

What you will learn

What you will cover

How you will learn

Duration and availability

Course of the month

Course directory

Public schedule and prices

Terms of business

Course benefits:

Applications are successful when they address agreed requirements, but experience indicates that this is one of the least well-conducted aspects of developments. All too often requirements are incomplete or ambiguous, or miss essential quantification. Such failings lead to higher costs and to delayed or failed implementations.

Planning and executing a requirements capture exercise is difficult. Users may not be able to articulate their requirements and analysis staff may not be able to estimate accurately how much time will be needed. The quality of user requirements can however be improved when analysts know which techniques will provide the best results.

This course is aimed at providing attendees with a range of techniques for capturing and confirming requirements from which they can select as necessary for a specific project. Hints and tips from experience complement 'text book' descriptions of the techniques.

Who should attend:

This course is appropriate for anyone whose role includes the identification and confirmation of requirements. Typical job titles of attendees will include:

• Business Analyst
• Systems Analyst
• Analyst / Programmer

Prerequisites:

Previous experience of requirements gathering would be an advantage on this course.

What you will learn:

On successful completion of the course, attendees will be able to:

• describe various alternative and complementary methods to elicit user requirements and state the benefits and problems of these
• apply the techniques in practice
• capture both functional and non-functional requirements
• confirm requirements through reviews

What you will cover:

• Introduction to Requirements Capture - The intention of Analysis; qualified and quantified analysis; logical and physical views; what we mean by requirements; needs and wants; functional and non-functional requirements
• Working with Users - What we mean by users; why users find it difficult to articulate requirements; what we need to know in advance of soliciting requirements from them; the User Profile form
• Requirements Capture Techniques - The range of alternative techniques; pro's and con's; the need to take samples and to obtain timings and volumes, the need for a defined target to aim at; practical hints and tips - use of flip charts and whiteboards, post-it notes, etc.
• Interviews - Planning and conducting; preparation before the interview; the interview process; questioning styles; recording the interview; handling the interviewee; do's and don'ts; note-taking techniques; formal confirmation of findings; obtaining samples
• Listening and Handling Objections - Exploring the methods of communication; the importance of 'active listening'; why clear and precise communication is necessary; discovering how information is processed; techniques to handle ' difficult people'; techniques to develop assertiveness and confidence; the importance of asking questions; how to negotiate using variables
• Workshops - Comparison to interviews; benefits and problems; making a workshop successful - the three keys to success; how they can fail; roles and responsibilities; the need for good facilitation; planning and execution; the agenda; the need for 'empowered' attendees
• Requirements Prototyping - Eliciting requirements through examples; general types and purposes of prototypes; prototyping in analysis; benefits and problems; managing expectations; controlling iterations; scenarios; paper-based prototypes
• Reviews / Walkthroughs - The purpose of reviews; types of review; how requirements can be tested and assured; what can be reviewed; the process; roles and responsibilities; planning and execution

How you will learn:

A mixture of discussion and practical exercises re-inforce the topics covered. This is a practical course, not one where attendees sit and listen for hours on end.

Duration and availability:

Two days non-residential. In-house only.

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