Clear Project Requirements: How to Elicit and Transfer to a Dev Team

A major bank initiated a core banking system upgrade with vague requirements. The development team misinterpreted the need for real-time transaction processing. They implemented a batch processing system instead, assuming it would suffice. When the system went live, hours delayed transactions, causing customer outrage. Automated payments and transfers failed, resulting in financial penalties for customers. The bank's reputation suffered severe damage as news of the botched upgrade spread. Regulatory bodies launched investigations into the bank's operational risk management. Attempts to revert to the old system failed due to incompatible data formats and lost historical records. The bank faced massive losses from compensation claims, fines, and a class-action lawsuit. To prevent this from happening to you, read on and share your case by ordering a call.

Why Clear Project Requirements Are a Big Thing

Every software company, whether well-established or a small startup, always aims to have a professional team of in-house or outsourced developers that they can rely on to deliver a product of the highest quality that meets all company expectations. However, the importance and presence of clearly defined software requirements diminish over time, even though clear requirements, as demonstrated by practice, are crucial for effective task execution and project management. Very often, clients' requirements come in the form of general demands that reflect the project's main goal; still, when it comes to requirements, clients sometimes have difficulties following structure and have too many unnecessary requests. Certainly, writing clear requirements requires effort, a clear understanding of what the end product will look like, and, most importantly, the presence of human resources who will act as knowledge keepers for the development team. If you believe that this sounds a bit complicated, let's break it down in detail. So, what are the precise requirements, and how do you elicit and write them?

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Types Of Requirements

Everything should start with business requirements. A business requirement should explain why the project is being started and what business value that product will bring. It describes the key benefits the organization or its clients can anticipate when the product enters the market. Understanding needs is a basis for successful project execution. To felicitate business requirements is one thing, but structuring and writing them is another challenge. Good business requirements are written according to SMART criteria, which stands for: 

• specific - must say exactly what is needed by the business, 
• measurable - must be possible to verify that the requirement has been met
• achievable - must be implementable within the constraints of the project and existing systems
• relevant - must be aligned with overall business objectives
• timely - must have a realistic deadline. 

Based on the business requirements, stakeholder and solution requirements can be elicited. A stakeholder is a person or group with a vested interest or stake in the decision-making and activities of a business, organization, or project. Their input will be taken into consideration while eliciting and writing requirements. Every stakeholder needs to always keep in mind the project's main goal when adding their requirements. There should be no requirements for the sake of personal demands or willingness; everything should have a real need behind it.

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The Balance of Functional and Non-Functional Specifications

Solution requirements that describe a product's specific characteristics are crucial for development. They fall into two large groups: Functional requirements—which define what a product must do and its features and functions, and Non-functional requirements, which are about understanding the qualities you want your system to have rather than just what it does. It includes things like reliability, performance, usability, security, and many others. Very often, only functional requirements are discussed, and non-functional requirements are not considered as stakeholders lack technical knowledge. Usually, it requires someone with expertise to elicit and suggest what future development will require for non-functional requirements. These requirements have to be accepted by the project sponsors and all key stakeholders. You should not underestimate the process of eliciting, documenting, and prioritizing the product requirements—it requires time, knowledge, and effort. In the majority of projects, to make the developer's life easier and increase the quality of the requirements, Product Owners or Business Analysts usually use such methods as creating user story maps for scope decomposition, writing user stories (every User story can be more specified by writing Acceptance criteria) and Use Cases; preparing Diagrams and Prototypes. For the same purpose, you can book a call to us.

The Role of Clear Requirements and Business Analysts in Software Development

The absence of clear requirements and a person responsible for eliciting and clarifying these requirements is like playing a broken telephone game with the development team. The result of this game is unpredictable, and there is a high chance of not receiving the product planned at the beginning. The software development team must know what they are building. 

A good practice for the past decade is to involve a specialist who will be assisting with eliciting requirements and product scope. Usually, it’s the role of a Business Analyst —a person who can take some of the responsibilities from the Product Owner on gathering requirements, ensuring that key requirements are not missed, documenting requirements, decomposing features into user stories, managing a backlog according to priorities set by PO, offering solutions based on previous project experience and market trends. In such a scenario, a Product Owner will have more time to concentrate on strategic tasks such as setting strategic product goals and defining key performance indicators (KPIs), leading market research and competitive analysis to inform product strategy, and creating a high-level view of the product's direction and a long-term vision.

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The Importance of Eliciting Clear Requirements for Project Success

There are reasons why eliciting clear requirements is crucial and an integral component of a successful project. Here are some of them:

1. Reduced project failure risks and consistency in the project delivery approach. Clear, validated, and augmented requirements elicited by a Business Analyst from clients at the beginning of software development, along with ongoing communication, reduce the possibility of serious project failures or increase the estimated cost. Since Business Analysts communicate with developers daily, they can identify any technical constraints of the solution before development, which will reduce rework.
2. Well-gathered requirements from the Product Owner or Subject Matter Experts, written down or presented in schemas or diagrams, will keep the focus of all stakeholders on the desired outcome and predict the scope of work more accurately (usually, a user story map or feature list will form the basis for the project estimate). Based on that, composing an effective project team will be easier.
3. Creating a single source of truth leads to better team collaboration. In this case, when requirements are elicited and documented in detail, the decomposition of features into user stories with Acceptance Criteria, schemas, and wireframes will allow for avoiding repeated communication. It also prevents miscommunication if any requirements are just said during a meeting and are not processed properly, as some can be forgotten or interpreted differently from the original idea. In case of additional or disputed queries arising during the implementation of the task, the development team can always refer to the documentation.
4. Better testing and change scope management process. Having complete requirements elicited at the early beginning is needed to verify that the end product meets the initial stakeholders' needs. Moreover, when changes are requested, it would be easier to conduct an impact analysis and identify which parts of the system are affected by the change. 
5. Requirements reuse. Some organizations start improving processes gradually. They start with a small project for one unit and, in case of a successful execution, can decide to expand an initiative. Having all documentation ready will save time and budget since there will be no need to start everything from scratch.

A Business Analyst Is Your Project's Best Friend

As you see, eliciting clear requirements is crucial in project development, and they are vital to receiving the desired product at the right time. If you believe that your daily operation will not allow you to spare time to write down all details, draw schemes or diagrams, think of alternative solutions, and regularly communicate with developers to clarify all additional questions. Adding a business analyst to the development team would be a good idea. Please complete the form to continue the discussion of this topic.

FAQ

What does the development team do that makes it essential to know Clear Project Requirements?

The development team interprets and implements the project requirements to build the software or system. Without clear requirements, they may make incorrect assumptions or misinterpret the project's needs, leading to features that don't align with the client's expectations or business goals. Clear requirements help the development team create accurate technical specifications, plan their work effectively, and deliver a product that meets the client's needs and functions as intended.

What do we mean by the Clear Project Requirements?

Clear project requirements refer to the detailed and well-defined specifications that outline what a project is expected to achieve. This includes understanding the project's objectives, scope, deliverables, timelines, and constraints, ensuring all stakeholders are on the same page. Well-articulated requirements help avoid misunderstandings, minimize risks, and provide a clear direction for successful project execution.

Is there a real case where having Clear Project Requirements saved a company?

NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter mission is a classic example of how clear project requirements could have saved the project. The mission failed because one team used metric units while another used imperial, leading to a costly loss of the spacecraft—this miscommunication was due to unclear requirements and assumptions. In contrast, the Apollo program’s success is often attributed to its stringent, clear requirements and rigorous cross-team validation, highlighting how well-defined guidelines can save projects and prevent catastrophic failures.