For a project to be successful, thorough specification of the requirements is essential. The design of the product is undertaken with a view to meeting the requirements.
A product's requirements should flow from a clear statement of need and the underlying business case. The views of the users and all stakeholders should be considered. Requirements driven development ensures that the finished product fulfils the specified need.
As a development evolves requirements will change. A record of the change process should be maintained. In many sectors such as medical devices this is mandatory: regulations exist which insist on traceability and accountability.
To ensure completeness the specifications should ideally be linked through to the actual design and implementation of the product as well as to respective hazard analysis and test definition documents. This form of linkage is known as "tracing", and is required in regulated and other sophisticated high-reliability markets.
Our paper on Requirements Management, which considers this topic in more detail, is available on request.
| Home | Tools | How we can help you |