Requirement Elicitation Techniques

Presented to Dr. Vicki Sauter Produced by: Ying Chen Date: 11-08-12 Requirements engineering is branch of software Engineering concerned with the real world goals, for Functions of and constraints on software systems. It is also concerned with the relationship of these factors to precise specifications of software behavior, and to their evolution over time and across software families [3]

Contents
Background Introduction Four Methods of ommunication on!ersational Methods

"#ser!ational Methods$ %nal&tic Methods$ '&nthetic Methods$ %d!antage and (isad!antage of Requirement Elicitation onclusion Reference

Background
)o*ada&s the usage of com+uter a++lications and soft*are is increasing da& #& da& and these s&stems +la& a !ital role in the management of #usiness e,isting toda&- Most of the soft*are +roducts de!elo+ed toda& is to e,tend the e,isting s&stem functionalities- (ue to the toda&.s commercial on the shelf +roducts de!elo+ment the !ast range of fields that uses the com+uter to da&[/0] 1 different ser!ices are e,+ected #& stakeholders1 *hich make it difficult to de!elo+ soft*are that fulfills the e,+ectations of the users- 'ince the /234.s the de!elo+ment of com+uters #ased s&stem has faced man& +ro#lems [/2] that leaded to too man& +ro5ects #eing dela&ed and o!er #udget- The s&stems that *ere deli!ered also did not meet the requirements1 or satisf& the intended +ur+ose *hich resulted in the dissatisfaction of the users- The main reason that could #e stated for this +ro#lem is difficulties faced in the gathering of requirements1 as requirements engineering is the first ste+ in the soft*are de!elo+ments- 6hene!er the requirements engineers lack the kno*ledge of the +erformance and characteristics of the different elicitation methods1 the acti!ities related to requirements *ill fail1 thus leading to *rong gathering of requirements that makes the *rong s+ecification document ne!er meets the stakeholder. e,+ectations and intended ser!ices- Moreo!er1 the change in the requirements in the middle of the +ro5ect de!elo+ments +hase *ill lead to dela& and increased costBack to To+

ntroduction
% ma5or goal of Requirements Elicitation is to a!oid the confusions #et*een stakeholders and anal&sts- This *ill often in!ol!e +utting significant sort into requirements elicitation- 7nfortunatel&1 Requirements Engineering is an immature disci+line1 +erha+s not entirel& unfairl& characteri8ed as a #attlefield occu+ied #&

com+eting commercial methods1 firing com+eting claims at each other1 and lea!ing the consumers *ear& and confused[ /]The goal of this +a+er is to anal&8e and com+are of the different methods of the requirements elicitation +rocess1 *hich *ill #e useful to com+are the different characteristics and the +erformance of the different elicitation methods- 9ence1 all the requirement elicitation techniques are !er& hand& for e,tracting the requirements and different organi8ations1 *hich can use different requirement elicitation techniques according to organi8ational culture and needs%s requirements elicitation is a +rocess in *hich intensi!e interaction #et*een stakeholders and the anal&sts1 so for finding the interaction #et*een stakeholders and anal&sts *ill #e eas& for im+ro!ing the qualit& of e,tracted requirements- It is im+ortant to distinguish different elicitation methods according to the four methods of communication [:/]$ /:3;on!ersational "#ser!ational %nal&tic '&nthetic

Each categor& +resents a s+ecific interaction model #et*een anal&sts and stakeholders- 7nderstanding the method categor& hel+s engineers understand different elicitation methods and guides them to select a++ro+riate method for requirements elicitationBack to To+

!our "ethods o# Co$$unication

Conversational Methods

The con!ersational method +ro!ides a means of !er#al communication #et*een stakeholders and %nal&sts- %s con!ersation is a natural *a& of communication and an effecti!e mean of e,+ressing needs and ideas1 and the con!ersational methods are used massi!el& to understand the +ro#lems and to elicit generic +roduct requirements- The on!ersational Methods are also kno*n as !er#al methods []1

such as Inter!ie*s1 <uestionnaire1 and BrainstormingInterviews % t&+ical con!ersational method is inter!ie*s- It is most commonl& used method in requirements elicitation- %n Inter!ie* is generall& conducted #& an e,+erienced anal&st1 *ho has some generic kno*ledge a#out the a++lication domain as *ell- In an inter!ie*1 %nal&st discusses the desired +roduct *ith different stakeholders and de!elo+s an understanding of their requirements- =enerall& Inter!ie*s are di!ided in t*o grou+s- [:] /losed Inter!ie*$ In this inter!ie* the requirements1 *e ha!e to +re+are some +redefined questions and tr& to get the ans*ers for these questions for the stakeholder:"+en>ended Inter!ie*$ In this inter!ie*1 *e do not need to +re+are an& +redefined questions1 and the information from the stakeholders in o+en discussions!uestionnaire <uestionnaires are one of the methods of gathering requirements in less cost []- <uestionnaires reach a large num#er of +eo+le1 not onl& in less time #ut also in a lesser cost- The general factors *hich affect the usage of the questionnaire are [:4] /The a!aila#le resources to gather the requirements mainl& de+ends on the a!aila#le resource :T&+e of Requirements that has to #e gathering de+ends on the le!el of the res+ondent.s kno*ledge and #ackground3%non&mit& +ro!ided to the res+ondent

"rainstorming #$$% Brainstorming is another con!ersation method- It has some similarities *ith *orksho+s and focus grou+s as in Brainstorming stakeholders are gather together for a short time +eriod #ut in this short time +eriod the& de!elo+ a large and #road list of ideas- In this meeting out >of>the>#o, thinking a++roach is encouraged- The #rainstorming in!ol!es #oth idea generation and idea reductionon!ersation is one of the most +re!alent &et in!isi#le forms of social interaction?eo+le are usuall& ha++& to descri#e their *ork and difficulties the& face- The !er#all& e,+ressi!e demands1 needs and constraints are often called non>tacit requirements [13]- on!ersational methods are !er& commonl& used in requirements de!elo+ment- 9o*e!er1 the& are la#or intensi!e [ 5]$ meeting setu+ and transcri+t +roducing and anal&8ing from records of a li!e interaction take timeBack to To+

&bservational Methods
The o#ser!ational method +ro!ides means to de!elo+ a #etter understanding a#out domain of %++lication- "#ser!ation methods *ork #& o#ser!ing human acti!ities at en!ironment *here s&stem is e,+ected to #e de+lo&ed- In addition to state a#le requirements1 some requirements are a++arent to stakeholders1 #ut stakeholders find it !er& hard to !er#ali8eThe o#ser!ation methods come into +la& *here @er#al communication #ecomes hel+less for collecting tacit requirements- Therefore1 o#ser!ing ho* +eo+le carr& out their routine *ork forms a means of acquisition of information *hich are hard to !er#ali8e- The o#ser!ational methods a++ear to #e *ell suited *hen stakeholders find it difficult to state their needs and *hen anal&sts are looking for a #etter understanding of the conte,t in *hich the desired +roduct is e,+ected to #e used"#ser!ational methods is including1 'ocial anal&sis1 "#ser!ation1 Ethnogra+hic stud&1 and +rotocol anal&sis-

'ocial analysis, &bservation, Ethnographic study#$(% %n o#ser!er s+ends some time in a societ& or culture for making detailed o#ser!ation of all their +racticesThis +ractice gi!es the initial understanding of s&stem1 *ork flo* and organi8ational culture)rotocol analysis#13]: In +rotocol anal&sis a stakeholder is o#ser!ed *hen he is engaged in some task1 and concurrentl& s+eaks out loud and e,+lains his thought6ith the +rotocol anal&sis it is eas& to identif& Interaction +ro#lems in e,isting s&stems and it gi!es #etter and closer understanding of 6ork conte,t and *ork flo*For "#ser!ational methods1 the o#ser!er must #e acce+ted #& the +eo+le #eing studied and the +eo+le #eing studied should carr& on *ith their normal acti!ities as if the o#ser!er is not thereIn #oth on!ersational and "#ser!ation methods1 requirement elicitation is done #&

stud&ing some indi!iduals #ut a !ariet& of documentation ma& +ro!e out to #e hand& for e,tracting the requirements of the desired +roduct- The documentation ma& include +ro#lem anal&sis1 organi8ational charts1 standards1 user manuals of e,isting s&stems1 sur!e& re+ort of com+etiti!e s&stems in market1 and so on- B& stud&ing these documents1 engineers ca+ture the information a#out the a++lication domain1 the *orkflo*1 the +roduct features1 and ma+ it to the requirements s+ecificationBack to To+

*nalytic Methods
on!ersational or "#ser!ational methods are used to directl& e,tracted requirements from +eo+le.s #eha!ior and their !er#ali8ed thought- But still there is a lot of kno*ledge that is not directl& e,+ressed1 for e,am+le e,+ert.s kno*ledge1 information a#out regulation and legac& +roducts are some e,am+les of such

sources- %ll the stated sources +ro!ide engineers rich information in relation to the +roduct- %nal&tic methods +ro!ide *a&s to e,+lore the e,isting documentation or kno*ledge and acquire requirements from a series of deductions-it *ill include Requirement reuse1 documentation studies1 laddering1 and re+ertor& grid [/3] Requirement reuse In this technique1 glossaries and s+ecification of legac& s&stems or s&stems *ithin the same +roduct famil& is used to identif& requirements of the desired s&stemIt has #een o#ser!ed that man& requirements in a ne* s&stem are more or less same as the& *ere in a legac& s&stem.s requirement- 'o it is not a #ad idea to reuse the details of requirements of an earlier s&stem in a ne* s&stem+ocumentation studies #,% In this technique different a!aila#le documents Ae-g"rgani8ational +olicies1 standards1 legislation1 Market information1 '+ecification of legac& s&stemsB are read and studied to find the content that can +ro!e out to #e rele!ant useful for the requirements elicitation tasks-addering This technique can #e di!ided in 3 +arts$ creation1 re!ie*ing and modification- Caddering method is a form of structured inter!ie* that is *idel& used in the field of kno*ledge elicitation acti!ities to elicit stakeholder.s goals1 aims and !alues %nal&st used laddering method to create1 re!ie* and modif& the hierarchical contents of e,+ert.s kno*ledge in the form of tree diagram- It *as first introduced #& the clinical +s&chologists in /234 to understand the +eo+le score !alues and #eliefs [0-] Its success in the fields of +s&cholog& allo*s other researchers in the industries to ada+t it in their fields- '+ecificall& soft*are de!elo+ers ha!e ada+ted the laddering techniques for gather the com+le, user tacit requirementsRepertory grid 'takeholder is asked for attri#utes a++lica#le to a set of entities and !alues for cells in entit& >attri#ute matri,- [/;]

In general1 the anal&tic methods are not !ital to requirements elicitation1 since requirements are ca+tured indirectl& from other sources1 rather than end users and customers- 9o*e!er1 the& form com+lementar& ones to im+ro!e the efficienc& and effecti!eness of requirements elicitation1 es+eciall& *hen the information from legac& or related +roducts is reusa#leBack to To+

'ynthetic Methods
'o far1 *e ha!e discussed on!ersational1 "#ser!ational and %nal&tic methods- It is

a++arent that )o single method is sufficient enough to de!elo+ all the requirement of a s&stem- %ll these methods are good and !er& hand& in some certain conte,t and circumstances- It is often a good idea to com#ine different elicitation methods for de!elo+ing requirement- The com#ination hel+s the engineer unco!er the #asic as+ects and gain a generic kno*ledge of the a++lication domain- Instead of com#ining different of indi!idual methods1 the s&nthetic method forms a coherent *hole #& s&stematicall& com#ining con!ersation1 o#ser!ation1 and anal&sis into single methods- %nal&sts and stakeholder re+resentati!es communicate and coordinate in different *a&s to reach a common understanding of the desired +roduct- '&nthetic methods are kno*n as colla#orati!e methods as the& are colla#oration of multi+le requirement elicitation methods- Requirement elicitation techniques of '&nthetic methods are including scenarios1 +assi!e stor&#oards1 +rotot&+ing1 interacti!e stor&#oards1 D%(ER%( sessions1 and onte,tual inquir& [3]-

'cenarios, passive storyboards It is an interaction session- In this session a sequence of actions and e!ents descri#ed for e,ecuting some generic task *hich the s&stem is intended to accom+lish- 6ith the hel+ of this technique1 clear requirement related to +rocedure and data flo* can #e achie!ed- 6ith this technique initial set of requirement can #e +re+ared in lesser cost-

)rototyping, Interactive storyboards In this technique1 a concrete #ut +artial s&stem is discussed *ith stakeholders- This concrete #ut +artial s&stem is e,+ected to #e deli!ered at the end of +ro5ect- The +ur+ose of sho*ing this s&stem to stakeholders is to elicit and !alidate functional requirement- The + .*+/R*+ sessions #$0% It stands for Doint %++lication (e!elo+mentERa+id %++lication (e!elo+ment and em+hasi8es user in!ol!ement through grou+ sessions *ith un#iased facilitator- D%( is conducted in the same manner as #rainstorming1 e,ce+t that the stakeholders and the users are also allo*ed to +artici+ate and discuss on the design of the +ro+osed s&stem- The discussion *ith the stakeholders and the users continues until the final requirements are gatheredConte1tual inquiry # (% this technique is a com#ination of o+en>ended inter!ie*1 *ork+lace o#ser!ation1 and +rotot&+ing- This method used for interacti!e s&stems design *here user interface design is critical%ll four requirement elicitation methods are commonl& used #ut the selection of requirement elicitation method entirel& de+ends on the needs and organi8ational structure- )o matter *hat de!elo+ment +ro5ect is1 requirements de!elo+ment nearl& al*a&s takes +lace in the conte,t of a human acti!it& s&stem1 and +ro#lem o*ners are +eo+le [16]- It is essential for requirements engineers to stud& ho* +eo+le +ercei!e1 understand1 and e,+ress the +ro#lem domain1 ho* the& interact *ith the desired +roduct1 and ho* the +h&sical and cultural en!ironments affect their actionsThe con!ersational methods +ro!ide a direct contact channel #et*een engineers and stakeholders1 and the requirements are mainl& no tacit- The o#ser!ational methods +ro!ide an indirect channel #& o#ser!ing user.s interaction *ith his *ork setting and conte,t1 and the requirements fall into tacit kno*ledge- The anal&tic methods form one com+lementar& indirect contact channel to e,tract requirements +roacti!el&- The s&nthetic methods focus more on collecti!e effort on clarif&ing the

features of desired +roducts1 and the communication channel is therefore a mi, of direct contact and indirect contact- Each t&+e of techniques has trade>offs- In realit&1 of course1 the #oundar& #et*een different t&+es of method is #lurredBack to To+

%d&antage and Disad&antage o# 'e(uire$ent )*icitation

%fter the discussion the different of the four grou+ of requirement elicitation method- In order to understand the each Requirement elicitation Methods and effecti!e use them in the real case 1*e ha!e to focus on the ad!antages and disad!antages of different requirement elicitation methods$ "#ser!ational1 %nal&tic and '&nthetic one #& one/B %s con!ersation is a natural and effecti!e *a& of communication1 that.s *h& the con!ersational methods are used massi!el&on!ersational methods include on!ersational1

techniques such as$ inter!ie*s1 <uestionnaire and Brainstorming%d!antages of on!ersational Method$ on!ersational techniques are reall&

hel+ful for collection rich information a#out the requirements- %long *ith the requirements1 con!ersational methods unco!er o+inions1 feelings and goals of different indi!iduals- 6ith the hel+ of con!ersational methods it is eas& to dig into the details *ith the hel+ of follo* u+ questions to *hat the +erson has told &ou(isad!antages of on!ersational Method$ %long *ith the num#er of

ad!antages there are certain disad!antages of con!ersational methods as this skill is !er& hard to masteron!ersational Methods for requirement

elicitation de+end a lot on the #eha!ior and attitude of conductor [ 4]- % onductor is su++osed to #e neutral- %s a result of con!ersational method1 a collection of information can #e o#tained and getting meaningful information

from gathered information *ill #e difficult- In

on!ersational Methods the

conte,ts of con!ersation +la&s a !er& im+ortant role as *ell-

:B "#ser!ational methods are hel+ful in understanding the a++lication domain #& o#ser!ing human acti!ities "#ser!ational methods are inefficient *hen the +ro5ect ha!e !er& tight schedule at requirement stages- Method like ethnogra+h& and +rotocol anal&sis methods falls under this categor& [::]- The "#ser!ational method in!ol!es$ 'ocial anal&sis1 "#ser!ation1 Ethnogra+hic stud& and ?rotocol %nal&sis%d!antages of "#ser!ational Methods$ The o#ser!ational methods are good choice for unco!ering #asic as+ects of routine order- Moreo!er the& +ro!ide !ital information for designing solution- "#ser!ational Methods are !er& hand& *hen the de!elo+ment team has lack of e,+erience a#out +roduct domain(isad!antages of "#ser!ational Methods$ %long *ith the ad!antages of o#ser!ational methods there are certain disad!antages as *ell- The Biggest disad!antage is that o#ser!ation methods need a lot of time and these techniques are not good choice *hen schedule is tight- Dust like con!ersational techniques1 o#ser!ational techniques are also hard to master [10]- Moreo!er o#ser!ational techniques require sensiti!it& and res+onsi!eness to +h&sical en!ironment3B on!ersational or "#ser!ational methods are used to directl& e,tracted

requirements from +eo+le.s #eha!ior and their !er#ali8ed thought- But still there is a lot of kno*ledge that is not directl& e,+ressed- For e,tracting this kind of kno*ledge and information anal&tical skills are used- %nal&tical 'kills include Requirement Reuse1 (ocumentation 'tudies1 Caddering and Re+ertor& =irds%d!antages of %nal&tical Methods$ %nal&tic Methods ha!e numerous ad!antages as ?eo+le are not the onl& source of information in terms of

requirements- E,+erts Fno*ledge and "+inion +la&s an im+ortant role in requirement maturit&- Moreo!er1 reuse of alread& a!aila#le information sa!es time and cost- %nal&tical methods ha!e hierarchical flo* of information as *ell(isad!antages of %nal&tical Methods$ %long ad!antages1 %nal&tical methods ha!e certain disad!antages as *ell- The #iggest disad!antage is that an anal&tical method requires some em+irical data1 documentation or e,+ert.s o+inions *ithout these it is difficult to elicit +ro+er requirements- 'imilarl& anal&tical methods can narro* the !ision of +roduct- %s anal&tical methods deal *ith some earlier kno*ledge so +ossi#ilit& of error re+lication is a serious and constant threat- %nal&tical methods are ne!er a good choice *hen &ou are going to de!elo+ an altogether ne* s&stem- [/:] Back to To+

Conc*usion
Requirements elicitation is a critical ste+ in the requirements de!elo+ment +rocessIt is consequentl& im+erati!e that requirements engineers a++l& a++ro+riate methods to +erform the +rocess sufficientl&- Based on *hich a +ractical guideline for method selection is suggested1 *e ha!e attem+ted to +resent meaningful insights into the feature of different t&+es of requirements elicitation techniquesThe classification of requirements elicitation methods is #ased on the nature of the techniques- It re!eals the different communication channels for the anal&sts to elicit requirements1 and +ro!ides the conte,tual situation for method selectionIt is *orth outlining that the techniques discussed in this +a+er are #ased on the im+licit assum+tion that the human stakeholders and the requirements anal&sts are coo+erati!e and sincere- The stakeholders are *illing to share kno*ledge *ith the anal&sts and the anal&sts +re+ared carefull& #efore conducting an elicitation

session- Requirements engineering is a com+le, social interaction +rocess1 the techniques discussed in our +a+er +ro!ide anal&sts a +ro+er and conte,tual means to +erform the +rocess- Besides1 the anal&sts should +ossess inter+ersonal skills to hel+ #uild consensus #et*een heterogeneous grou+s of stakeholders- 'uch social skills are as im+ortant as the techniques used in the engineering +rocess-

'e#erence
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