Getting requirements from stakeholders
Understanding what your users want is very important. Your goal is to build software which meets the needs of users. There are different, complementary ways of gathering information from stakeholders. Different ways of collecting information can include surveys, interviews, and direct observations. There are other methods of gathering information but this is what you should minimally understand. You should understand each method for gathering requirements provides a different view (or lens, if you will) of client requirements. It is critical you understand the requirements prior to building a system.
Requirements[edit]
| Method | Definition | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Surveys (questionnaires) | A survey is a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of people [2] | You can easily reach many people, good to reach people in remote locations | provides less information than direct contact or interviews. Interpreting the meaning of a question or answer can be difficult. |
| Interviews | An interview is a conversation where questions are asked and answers are given. In common parlance, the word "interview" refers to a one-on-one conversation with one person acting in the role of the interviewer and the other in the role of the interviewee. The interviewer asks questions, the interviewee responds, with participants taking turns talking. Interviews usually involve a transfer of information from interviewee to interviewer, which is usually the primary purpose of the interview, although information transfers can happen in both directions simultaneously.[3] | You can gather in-depth information and explore topics which are tangentially related to the system. There is flexibility in information | You are usually limited to few people, not many people. If an interview isn't structured, you may get fragmented information. It can be harder to quantify requirements from an interview. |
| Direct observations | Direct observation is a social research technique that involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural setting. | observational research tends to be less reliable but often more valid. The main advantage of observational research is flexibility. The researchers can change their approach as needed. Also it measures behavior directly, not reports of behavior or intentions. | The problem with this approach is subjects may modify their behaviour when they know they are being watched. They portray their “ideal self” rather than their true self in what is called the Hawthorne Effect.[4] |
Real-world practical advice[edit]
Make sure you are talking to the right people about system requirements. Many software projects have been doomed to fail because they were built on faulty requirements or poorly understood requirements.
Standards[edit]
These standards are used from the IB Computer Science Subject Guide[5]
- Describe methods of obtaining requirements from stakeholders.
References[edit]
- ↑ http://www.flaticon.com/
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_(human_research)
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interview
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_techniques#Three_Approaches
- ↑ IB Diploma Programme Computer science guide (first examinations 2014). Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom: International Baccalaureate Organization. January 2012.