The Rules of Requirements - April 2012
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Austin IIBA 20 April, 2012 The Rules of Requirements International Institute of Business Analysis
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Presentation delivered to the Austin, TX IIBA chapter on 20 Apr 2012. Thanks again to everyone who attended, engaged, and provided great feedback and contributed to the discussion!
Transcript of The Rules of Requirements - April 2012
Austin IIBA20 April, 2012The Rules of Requirements
International Institute of Business Analysis
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Scott Sehlhorst
Product management & strategy consultant
8 Years electromechanical design engineering (1990-1997)
IBM, Texas Instruments, Eaton
8 Years software development & requirements (1997-2005)
> 20 clients in Telecom, Computer HW, Heavy Eq., Consumer Durables
7 Years product management consulting (2005-????)
>20 clients in B2B, B2C, B2B2C, ecommerce, global, mobile
Agile since 2001Started Tyner Blain in 2005
Helping companiesBuild the right thing, right
Why Do We Care…
…About Writing Good Requirements?
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Track Record (Standish Group CHAOS Report)
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Root Cause Analysis
Failure reasons
What have you seen?
Success factors
What have you seen?
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Root Cause Analysis
Failure reasons
Lack of user inputIncomplete requirementsChanging requirementsLack of exec supportTech. incompetence
Success factors
User involvementExec supportClear requirementsProper planningRealistic expectations
Rules of Requirements
1. Valuable2. Concise3. Design Free4. Attainable5. Complete6. Consistent
7. Unambiguous8. Verifiable9. Atomic10. Passionate11. Correct12. Stylish
1. Valuable Requirements
2. Concise Requirements
3. Design-Free RequirementsThis is really about trust.The “stack” of problem decomposition alternates between requirements and design.
A business is designed to focus on solving particular problems.A user designs an approach to solving problems.A product manager designs a set of target capabilities that (should) help the user and business.The engineering team designs solutions that embody those capabilities
4. Attainable Requirements
Can You Build It?Existing TeamAvailable TechnologyInternal Political Environment
Can You Launch It?Organizational DependenciesLegal Restrictions (National, Local, IP)
5. Complete Requirements
You Cannot Absolutely Determine Completeness
Objective AssessmentHave you identified all of the problems to succeed in the market?
Heuristic AssessmentHave you identified how to completely solve the problems?
6. Consistent Requirements
Strategic ConsistencyDoes this requirement work in concert with others to achieve our strategic goals?
Logical ConsistencyA requires BMust have AMust not have B
Grammatical ConsistencyWriting with the same tone, structure, phrasing…
7. Unambiguous Requirements
Language Introduces AmbiguityWhen Writing
Identify the user, the context, the goalBe precise in language (avoid jargon, symbols)
When ReadingShared language (e.g. “must” vs. “shall”)Read The Ambiguity Handbook and you’ll be forever paranoid about misinterpretation of everything you ever write again. Ever.
8. Verifiable Requirements
Does it Have a Measurable Aspect?If not, how do you know if you delivered?
Do You Know the Measure of Success?If not, how do you know what you need to deliver?
Do You Have the Ability to Measure It?Aha! Time to write another requirement.
9. Atomic Requirements
Every Requirement Stands on its Own
The Defining Characteristic:A Requirement Cannot Be Half-Done. It is Either Done, or Not Done.
10. Passionate Requirements
Be Excited. Be Committed.Care About
Your Customers & Their ProblemsYour Company & Its StrategyYour Team & Their EnrichmentYour Work & Its Quality
Have Passion…It Will Show in Your Requirements
11. Correct Requirements
Are You Focusing on the Correct
Market Segments, Customers, Problems?
Do You Know That These Are the Right Requirements?
Can We Achieve Our Goals Without These Requirements?
12. Stylish Requirements
Write Consistently And With Good Style->
Prioritize Explicitly Ordered Backlog, not MoSCoW
Write for Your Audience
Use Good StyleThe System Must…Intentional PerspectiveNon-NegativeReference, Don’t RepeatGender IndifferenceSyntactic Parallelism
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Thank You!
Scott Sehlhorsthttp://twitter.com/#!/sehlhorst Twitter
https://plus.google.com/110352820346292209511 Google +
http://go.tynerblain.com/sehlhorst About Me
http://www.slideshare.net/ssehlhorst Slideshare
http://tynerblain.com/blog Blog
[email protected] Email
scott.sehlhorst Skype
Agile since 2001Started Tyner Blain in 2005
Helping CompaniesBuild The Right Thing, Right
