2 | The Quest for Good Requirements
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Not all requirements are at the same level. Some might be high-level
requirements expressed by the business sponsor (e.g., reduce the cost
of invoicing customers), others might be very specific requirements that
describe a function needed by a particular user (e.g., allow me to click on
a customer name and then display that customer's account history).
The BABOK® defines the following requirements types: business,
stakeholder, solution (both functional and non-functional), and transition.
Note that these terms are overloaded and often have different definitions
within some organizations. For example, a stakeholder requirement is referred to as a business
requirement in some organizations, and a business requirement is sometimes called a business goal
or project objective. Functional requirements are also often called technical requirements, detailed
requirements, or system requirements. So, it is important to understand the semantics of the terms
being used. If in doubt, ask, but don't assume. In fact, publish a glossary of terms to clarify the meaning
of terms that are used by the project team.
Examples of Different Types of Requirements
To clarify the different kinds of requirements types, let's take a look at some examples for each type.
Type Example
Business Reduce incorrectly processed orders by 50% by the end of next quarter.
Increase repeat orders from customers by 10% within 6 months after deploy-
ment.
Stakeholder/User Add new customer account.
View order history.
Check order status.
Create new order.
Solution - Functional Display customer last name as a link to account history.
Allow sorting by account opening date.
Solution - Non-Functional Allow up to 200 concurrent users.
Require strong passwords of at least 8 characters in length containing a mini-
mum of one non-alphabet character.
Transition/Implementation Must run on all Java platforms, including 64-bit versions.
Users must pass an online certification before being allowed to use the system.
Table 1. Requirements Examples
Scope
The scope of a project refers to the agreed upon set of features that the final product will contain. Scope
creep is a common occurrence and it describes the propensity of scope to expand as stakeholders add
requirements during the project without regard to its impact on budget, schedule, and deliverables. The
project manager must work with the stakeholders to get agreement on the scope.
