Mastering the Requirements Process

One of the joys of product development, whether it be software, service, or hardware, is getting it right. The way to get it right is to uncover the real business problem, and to write the requirements for the solution that best solves that problem.

Without the right requirements it is impossible to build the right solution. Mastering the Requirements Process, Fourth Edition, gives you an industry-proven process for getting to the essence of the business problem and then writing unambiguous and testable requirements for its solution.

This fourth edition is an almost complete rewrite that brings requirements discovery into today’s world--it is the book for today’s business analyst. Product owners and project leaders will also find it valuable as it explains how to discover precisely what the customer needs and wants, and to do it effectively in any business or project environment.

The book tells you how to:

• Use the Volere requirements process to discover requirements in both traditional and agile environments
• Incorporate off-the-shelf (OTS) solutions into your requirements discovery
• Use artificial intelligence (AI) as part of your requirements discovery, and as part of your business solution
• Use quickly sketched prototypes to explore the problem space
• Understand functional and non-functional requirements
• Write better agile stories
• Make your requirements and stories measurable and testable using fit criteria
• Use business events as the heartbeat of business analysis
• Discover requirements in agile, commercial, and milspec project environments
• Find and prioritize your customer segments
• Leverage systems thinking when discovering requirements
• Use story maps and other requirements repository techniques
• Know which trawling techniques are the most effective for requirements discovery
• Synchronize your requirements discovery with agile development teams
• Make better decisions in the early days of a project to increase your chances of success
• Employ the Volere requirements specification template (downloaded 10,000+ times) as the basis for your own requirement specifications

＂One of the most valuable things about this book is that it provides a process to follow that will get people asking the right questions and expand their perspective on the problem.＂
--Kevin Brennan

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James Robertson and Suzanne Robertson are two of the most respected names in business analysis and requirements discovery. During the Robertsons’ careers, their books, templates, training, and consulting have helped hundreds of companies to upgrade their requirements discovery process. The Robertsons have written numerous books, among others the three previous editions of this book, Business Analysis Agility, and with their co-authors at the Atlantic Systems Guild, the acclaimed Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies. James and Suzanne live in London and France.