Thoughts on Requirement Gathering

Requirement documents should be a recipe not a shopping list.

This metaphor is my attempt to encapsulate what a good requirements document is. Both a shopping list and a recipe are essentially lists of ingredients in various quantities. However, the recipe also includes a desired outcome and precise descriptions of how the ingredients are meant to be used.

When evaluating a requirement document ask yourself if it gives you a clear understanding of what it is you are being asked to build, and how the independent parts work together. If it doesn’t do that then, my friend, you are reading a shopping list.