Requirements definition: example process

This topic presents an example of a typical process for a business analyst who must assess a business problem and develop requirements for a proposed solution. The process is represented here in outline form. Your process will vary depending on the state of the subject system, your stakeholders, and your team structure.

The following diagram presents an example of the requirements definition process. Click on any box for more information. Each section of the diagram is explained in more detail below.

The image
shows the process flow, as outlined by the sections in this topic. Click this area for more information about setting up the project Click this area to get information about assessing the problem Click this area to get information about documenting the assessment Click this area to get information about creating requirements Click this area to get information about creating documents Click this area to get information about creating requirements Click this area to get information about reviewing the assessment Click this area to get information about managing requirements

1. Setting up the project

The business analyst sets up a project in Rational® Requirements Composer by completing these tasks:

  1. Create a project.
  2. Create folders for project artifacts.
See Creating projects, folders, and artifacts.

2. Assessing the problem

The business analyst collects input regarding the business problem by completing these tasks:

  1. Interview stakeholders and users of the system.
  2. Create documents offline and interview sites.
  3. Gather documentation on the current system.
  4. Import documents into Rational Requirements Composer.
See Uploading files to a repository.

3. Documenting the assessment

The business analyst creates a series of documents and other artifacts to express the current system and the proposed solution. Artifact types can include:

See Creating artifacts to support requirements.

4. Creating requirements

The business analyst creates requirements from text and other elements in the artifacts by completing these tasks:

  1. Highlight text within documents or select elements within diagrams to create requirements from artifacts.
  2. Review requirements in the project Requirements page.
See Creating requirements and Project Requirements page.

5. Reviewing requirements and related artifacts

The business analyst invites other team members to review the assessment documentation and any supporting artifacts by completing the following tasks:

  1. Create a review.
    1. Add artifacts and participants to the review.
    2. Participants add comments as they approve or disapprove artifacts.
    3. Revise artifacts to incorporate review comments.
    4. Participant review revised artifacts and approve.
    5. Review is finalized.
  2. Create a collection from the finalized review to capture the reviewed artifacts.
  3. Create a report from the review.
See Creating reviews, Creating collections, and Creating reports.

6. Managing requirements

To manage requirements, the business analyst adds the requirements to Rational RequisitePro® or Rational DOORS®. The analyst can also import requirements from Rational RequisitePro.

See Managing requirements with Rational RequisitePro and Managing artifacts with Rational DOORS.

After requirements are defined, you can use Collaborative Application Lifecycle Management (C/ALM) integrations to link requirements to development work items and test artifacts in other products based on Jazz technology. See Collaborative Application Lifecycle Management (C/ALM).

Requirements Management practice links on IBM developerWorks


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