Requirements Engineering Pmi

Requirements Engineering

Arta Doci, Quality Assurance Manager

Judy Bennett, Business Process Manager

Ruth Dameron, Senior Instructor, CU Boulder

Agenda

• Requirements

Essentials (Ruth)

• Requirements

Management Tools

(Arta)

• Requirements

Whisperer (Judy)

Requirements Essentials

Getting on the same page

Prof. Ruth Dameron

Dept of Electrical, Computer, & Energy Engineering University of Colorado at Boulder

Working definitions for today

• What is a requirement?

• What are the categories of activities in requirements engineering?

• Systems requirements engineering life cycle

• Framework

• In this context, what is the extent of requirements traceability?

Objectively verifiable – measurable

diagram thanks to David Lamb

Visible to

user

NOT

Visible to

user

Customer has a preference

Customer has no

preference measurable

not

measurable

Requirements Goals

Implementation

constraints

Implementation

freedom

Unspecified

requirements

YET

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Elicitation Requirements Analysis

Requirements Specification Requirements Verification

Requirements Management

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Elicitation: The process through which the customers and the developer of a software system discover, review, articulate, and understand the stakeholders'

needs and the constraints on the software and the development activity.

Requirements Analysis: The process of analyzing the customers’ and stakeholders' needs to arrive at a definition of software requirements.

Requirements Specification: The development of a "document" or set of documents that clearly and precisely records each of the requirements of the software system.

Requirements Verification: The process of ensuring that the software requirements specification is in compliance with the system requirements, conforms to document standards of the requirements phase, and is an adequate basis for the architectural (preliminary) design phase.

Requirements Management: The planning and controlling of the requirements elicitation, specification, analysis, and verification process.

Systems Requirements Engineering Lifecycle

User Requirements

System Requirements

System Architecture

User Requirements

User Requirements Component Development

Integration Test

Acceptance Test

System Development

Capability Development

Component Development

Component Development Lifecycle

Software Requirements

Detailed design

& coding

Architectural

design

Integration & Verification

User Requirements User

Requirements User Requirements Component Development

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Management

Requirements Verification & Validation

Requirements Specification

Requirements Elicitation

Categories of

activities in a

framework

Not a methodology

Requirements Analysis

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements Verification & Validation

Requirements Specification

Requirements Management

Requirements Analysis

Release 1 Release 3 Release 2

Requirements Engineering III

Requirements Management

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements Verification

Requirements Specification

Requirements Management

Requirements Analysis

Foundation

Foundation

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements Verification & Validation

Requirements Specification

Requirements Management

Requirements Analysis

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements Verification & Validation

Requirements Specification

Requirements Management

Requirements Analysis

The extent of

requirements traceability Origin -- stakeholder and identified need/request

Specified Requirements

Use Cases --> SysRS --> SRS

Design

Code

Test cases What does your development environment need to trace?

Requirements Management Tools

Arta Doci, Quality Assurance Manager

As a QA Manager, Why Do I care about:

• Requirements?

• Requirements Management Tools?

Why do I care about Requirements?

• My role: Software Validation and Verification

• As defined by the FDA (Quality System Regulation –

21 CFR § 820.3)

Validation means confirmation by examination and

provision of objective evidence that the particular

requirements for a specific intended use can be

consistently fulfilled.

Verification means confirmation by examination and

provision of objective evidence that specified

requirements have been fulfilled.

Why do I care about Requirements

Management Tools?

• Need to provide Objective Evidence that: o Requirements for a specific intended use can be consistently fulfilled.

o Requirements have been Fulfilled

• Need to provide Traceability o Traceability is an essential requirement for regulatory approval of a medical device

Traceability Analysis

• Traceability is an essential requirement for regulatory approval of a

medical device

[Design Control Guidance For Medical Device Manufacturers]

• The following concepts are associated with Traceability:

o Ensure backward traceability from system requirements to the

acquisition needs

o Ensure backward traceability from system architecture, hardware, and

software requirements, and manual operations to the system

requirements.

o Ensure backward traceability from the software requirements to the

system requirements and design

o Ensure backward traceability from software detailed design and test

requirements to the software requirements

[Handbook of Medical Device Design]

Example: URS to SRS; SRS to Verification Test Cases; URS to Validation Test Cases

Requirements Management Tools

• Provide a Common Repository for the project team

• Make Traceability Analysis Easier

• Facilitate team Collaboration and Communication

• Adhere to the Change Management Requirements

• Provide Online Publishing

Example: Traceability Matrix

URS & SRS TRACEABILITY MATRIX

Project Name:

The purpose of the Requirements Traceability document is to map user requirements, functional specifications, to test cases, and illustrate the relationships between these activities and documents of the <insert computer system name>. Requirements traceability ensures that all requirements and specifications are addressed and appropriately tested according to the results of the risk assessment and ensures that design is based on predefined established requirements. The requirements traceability will also assist with determining the scope of a change of the system and with developing the regression test plans.

URS # UR Description SRS # SRS Description

Important features for the Requirements Management

tool:

Requirements Traceability

Requirements Analysis

Security and Accessibility

Change Management

Online Publishing

Usability

Portability and Backend

Compatibility

Configuration Management

Communication / Collaboration

Requirements Management Tools: Case Study

• When selecting the right tool, the following factors

are important: o Company size?

o Testing integration?

o Issue tracking integration?

o Software Development integration?

Requirements Management Tools: Survey

• Compiled a list of 30 requirement management

tools (survey) – Let’s review them together!

• What tool do you use (how/why did you select the

tool)?

Tools can Integrate Requirements-

SW Development-SW Verification,

as per the V-Model SW Lifecycle

What is your main Requirements

(Software / Hardware) Problem? • Track changes

• Difficult to write

• Feature creep

• Not well organized

• Are not always obvious and have many sources

• Are not always easy to express clearly in words

• Many different types of requirements at different levels of detail

• Number of requirements can become unmanageable if not controlled

• Can be time-sensitive

• Change

Who Makes Requirements Engineering Successful?

The Requirements Whisperer

Judy Bennett, Business Process Manager

Success Factors • Process?

• Tools?

• Standards?

• Communication?

People!

Who is the Right Person? • Analytical / Organized

o Simplify complex ideas into organized ideas

o Experience with various modeling techniques

• Translator / Communicator o Bridges the gap between business and technology

o Restructure same idea for different audiences

o Experience in different roles

Who is the Right Person? • Facilitator / Diplomat

o Helps build consensus

• Ambassador o Represents SMEs to the development team

o Represents the development team to the SMEs

• Presenter o Comfortable explaining ideas

o “Reads” their audience – do they “get it”?

What A Business Analyst Does

Takes the requirements from the customer

and gives them to the developers

What a Business Analyst Really Does

• Interact with subject matter experts o understand business processes and needs

o Set expectations

• Gather requirements (not solutions)

• Author requirement specifications

• Present requirements to … o SMEs to confirm/refine requirements

o Business leaders to facilitate decisions

o Developers to facilitate design coverage

• Verify that the solution meets requirements

• Support implementation o Demonstrate to SMEs how the solution meets requirements

o Support documentation (user guide, online help, etc.)

Finding the Right Person • Challenges

o Soft skills are rarely in a resume

o Job titles vary wildly

• Interview questions o Objective assessment for hard skills

o Subjective assessment for soft skills

Interview Questions • Give an example of when you explained the same

concept to different audiences (e.g., end user,

executive management).

• Explain how your job history led you to apply for this

position?

• What role do you typically take in meetings?

• A developer tells you “this requirement is too hard

technically”. What do you do?