The outline of a requirements specification
The sections of a requirements specification and their order: context and objectives, scope, existing situation, functional needs, non-functional requirements, constraints, schedule, budget and acceptance criteria.
- 19 cards
- 4 topics
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The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
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A few cards from the deck
Requirements specification: what is it?
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The document in which a client formalises its need, constraints and acceptance criteria, to consult suppliers and later check what they deliver.
It describes the what; the how only appears where it is a real constraint. It serves both as the basis for consulting suppliers and as the reference for acceptance.
Which of these sentences is a correctly written non-functional requirement?
- The site stays available 99.5% of the time over a month
- The site must be highly performant and always available to everybody
- A member can view their booking history
- The site is developed with the Symfony framework
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The site stays available 99.5% of the time over a month
A non-functional requirement carries a quantified, verifiable quality. The vague sentence is not testable, viewing history is functional, and picking Symfony is a technical solution.
The … section describes the current state: tools, processes and data in place that the project must replace or coexist with.
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The existing situation section describes the current state: tools, processes and data in place that the project must replace or coexist with.
A supplier who ignores the existing situation underestimates data migration and interfaces, which are often the costliest items.
Out of scope: what is it?
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The section that writes down what the project will not do, to prevent it being demanded at delivery.
It avoids costly misunderstandings: "the online shop is not included" is better than a silence everyone reads their own way.
Two suppliers answer the same requirements specification with quotes of 8,000 and 60,000 euros. What is the most likely cause?
- The 60,000 supplier added an excessive safety margin
- The 8,000 supplier uses cheaper developers
- Scope and volumes were not specified, so each costed a different project
- One of the two suppliers made a calculation error in its quote
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Scope and volumes were not specified, so each costed a different project
A more than sevenfold gap almost always comes from different assumptions about what is included and the load (number of users, data, interfaces). Stating scope, volumes and acceptance criteria makes quotes comparable.