Many people ask us how to measure whether or not they have good requirements, but most of them have the question wrong. Researchers propose methods to measure quality of requirements, but the end game isn’t about requirements, or even the project deadline. The real target is the value a project actually delivers to an organization. Things like increasing revenue by a measurable amount or decreasing operational costs really are the bottom line, and ultimately the measure of success. Fortunately, people typically do what their performance is measured against, so rallying an entire organization to measure true value increases the potential for that value to be delivered. To really have a successful project, requirements engineering practices need to start with understanding the desired value of the project. Then align requirements efforts to elicit and specify only the requirements that will deliver that value. Then they work with development and test organizations to make sure the whole team maintains a razor sharp focus on delivering the desired value. 

In this talk, we’ll share our research findings that show what executives really care about (and it isn’t reducing the number of missed requirements). We’ll review our experiences with measuring value on actual projects. Finally, we’ll outline the steps you can use to create this kind of change in your organization.