Hi, I'm new to the forum and figured this would be the best place to ask my question.
I'm trying to find some metrics that I can use to determine the quality of the requirements we are creating for our customers. What measurements can we use to show our customers that we are generating quality requirements and capturing their needs effectively and efficiently?
I've done several searches online but haven't run into anything I can use yet. Any suggestions and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
It is very hard to objectively quantify and/or measure the quality of requirements upfront.
The main thing you need to do upfront is consider putting in place some guidelines and best practices for writing and capturing requirements, for example:
OK - we can you measure the quality of requirements? Probably only after the fact... The real test of good requirements if they deliver a system which fills the need the business has. Once requirements have been realized and delivered you can measure all kinds of things such as:
The one thing to keep in mind is that it is also possible that each requirement, by itself, is a "quality" requirement and still deliver a system which does not meet the business need. Why? There could be many reasons but one of the, related to requirements is: the totality of requirements don't solve the business problem. It is rare that one single requirement solves a business need. Usually it's the entire package or sets of requirements which provide value to the business.
Hope this helps!
- Adrian
I lke Guy's article on aligning requirements to project goals (or strategy).
In it he presents an ER iagram which you can use to map the alignment of your requirements to the project goals.
You can read Guy's article here.
I guess this is just one part of the puzzle - it looks at whether your requirements are the right ones. It doesn't assess whether there is anything missing. That role should probably come from the stakeholder validation.
(Added later: By the way, I forgot I had posted up this blog carnival post on requirements analysis. Much of it is focused on how to ensure your requirements are of good quality. There is no silver bulet, but there are plenty of ideas there for you. Read ther carnival on requirements analysis here.)
It's important to note that requirements elicitation is often an iterative process and that you probably won't get everything nailed down in the first iteration. In fact people quote rates of requirements change around the 5% mark per month the project is in progress.
Don't sweat it too much. The real; trick is in keeping everyone talking to each other continuously throughut the project lifecycle.
brought to you by enabling practitioners & organizations to achieve their goals using: