What is requirement analysis in software engineering?

Requirement analysis is the first step of the software development process and software development life cycle (SDLC).

It is understanding what software is supposed to do and the constraints it must operate within.

It is usually a technical process and a team effort where stakeholders and software developers determine the needs and conditions that a software product must meet.

This process involves identifying, documenting, and analyzing these business requirements to ensure that they are clearly understood and feasible.

This prevents costly mistakes later on. If the foundation is weak or misaligned, everything built on it can crumble.

In requirements analysis, teams lay out the blueprint that guides every step that follows.

The requirements gathering and analysis process is typically led by a dedicated team, usually consisting of:

• business analysts
• project managers
• lead developers.

Their role is to systematically uncover and define the needs and conditions for the software project, ensuring alignment with business goals and user requirements.

To gain comprehensive insight into what the software must do, This team engages with various stakeholders, which may include:

• customers
• end users
• internal team members

They do interviews, surveys, workshops, and document analysis to gather detailed information about user needs, business processes, business process documentation, and system requirements.

They can develop a proof of concept POC project to test the feasibility of the initial assumptions.

Steps in Requirement Analysis

Step 1: Stakeholder Identification

Who has a stake in the success of the software being developed? Stakeholders are not just the customers who commission the software. They include the end users who will interact with the software daily and who may have valuable insight into what features are essential.

Step 2: Elicitation of Requirements

The team actively gathers detailed information about what the software needs to do from the identified stakeholders. It’s like gathering pieces of a puzzle from different sources to see the whole picture.

The team uses a variety of methods to do this:

• interviews
• questionnaires
• workshops or group sessions

Step 3: Documentation of Requirements

The goal of this step is to create a clear, detailed Software Requirements Specification (SRS) of what the software needs to do and the constraints within which it must operate. The SRS serves as a guide for everyone involved in the project. This document includes everything from the specific features the software must have, to the performance levels required, to the standards it must meet.

Step 4: Analysis and Negotiation

The team examines each requirement to understand its implications:

• How difficult will it be to implement?
• Does it conflict with any other requirements?
• Is it actually necessary for the software’s success?

This is a bit like solving a puzzle, making sure all the pieces fit together in the right way.

Negotiation comes into play when there are conflicting requirements or limitations in resources like time or budget.

Sometimes, what the stakeholders want might not be feasible, or different stakeholders might have different priorities. In such cases, the team needs to discuss these issues with the stakeholders to reach a common ground. This could mean adjusting some requirements, removing others, or finding a middle path that satisfies the most critical needs without overstretching resources.

The goal here is to finalize a set of requirements that is achievable and aligns with the overall objectives of the project. It’s a balancing act, ensuring that the software will fulfill its intended purpose while staying within practical limits.

Step 5: Validation and Verification

Validation is about confirming that the requirements actually meet the needs of the stakeholders and the goals of the project.

It’s like asking, “Are we building the right thing?” Here, the team reviews the requirements with the stakeholders to make sure they are in line with their expectations and the goals of the project.

In addition to the validation aspect of the final step in the requirements analysis process, there’s an important component known as the proof of concept (PoC). A proof of concept is a small project or experiment conducted to test whether a particular idea or aspect of the software is technically feasible.

It allows the development team to explore whether the ambitious goals can actually be achieved with current technology and within the constraints of the project, such as time and budget.

Verification, on the other hand, is about making sure that the requirements are documented correctly and consistently. It’s like proofreading and quality checking the requirements document. The team reviews the document to ensure that all requirements are clear, unambiguous, and consistent.

Together, validation and verification serve as a double check to ensure that the software development process is built on a solid foundation of well-defined, agreed-upon, and accurately recorded requirements.