Requirements Engineering Processes
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 1
Objectives
To describe the principal requirements engineering activities and their relationships To introduce techniques for requirements elicitation and analysis To describe requirements validation and the role of requirements reviews To discuss the role of requirements management in support of other requirements engineering processes
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 2
Topics covered
Feasibility studies Requirements elicitation and analysis Requirements validation Requirements management
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 3
Requirements engineering processes
The processes used for RE vary widely depending on the application domain, the people involved and the organisation developing the requirements. However, there are a number of generic activities common to all processes
Requirements elicitation; Requirements analysis; Requirements validation; Requirements management.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 4
The requirements engineering process
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 5
Requirements engineering
Requ iremen ts s pecif ication Sys tem req uirements s pecif ication and mo deling Us er requ iremen ts s pecif ication Bu siness requ irements s pecif ication
Sys tem req uirements elicitation
Us er req uirements elicitation
Feas ib ility s tu dy Prototy ping
Requ iremen ts elicitation
Review s
Requ iremen ts valid ation
Sys tem requirements do cument
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 6
Feasibility studies
A feasibility study decides whether or not the proposed system is worthwhile. A short focused study that checks
If the system contributes to organisational objectives; If the system can be engineered using current technology and within budget; If the system can be integrated with other systems that are used.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 7
Feasibility study implementation
Based on information assessment (what is required), information collection and report writing. Questions for people in the organisation
What if the system wasnt implemented? What are current process problems? How will the proposed system help? What will be the integration problems? Is new technology needed? What skills? What facilities must be supported by the proposed system?
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 8
Elicitation and analysis
Sometimes called requirements elicitation or requirements discovery. Involves technical staff working with customers to find out about the application domain, the services that the system should provide and the systems operational constraints. May involve end-users, managers, engineers involved in maintenance, domain experts, trade unions, etc. These are called stakeholders.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 9
Problems of requirements analysis
Stakeholders dont know what they really want. Stakeholders express requirements in their own terms. Different stakeholders may have conflicting requirements. Organisational and political factors may influence the system requirements. The requirements change during the analysis process. New stakeholders may emerge and the business environment change.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 10
The requirements spiral
Requ iremen ts class ificatio n an d org anis ation
Requ iremen ts prioritizatio n an d nego tiation
Requ iremen ts dis co very
Requ iremen ts do cu mentation
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 11
Process activities
Requirements discovery
Interacting with stakeholders to discover their requirements. Domain requirements are also discovered at this stage. Groups related requirements and organises them into coherent clusters. Prioritising requirements and resolving requirements conflicts. Requirements are documented and input into the next round of the spiral.
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7 Slide 12
Requirements classification and organisation
Prioritisation and negotiation
Requirements documentation
Ian Sommerville 2004
Requirements discovery
The process of gathering information about the proposed and existing systems and distilling the user and system requirements from this information. Sources of information include documentation, system stakeholders and the specifications of similar systems.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 13
ATM stakeholders
Bank customers Representatives of other banks Bank managers Counter staff Database administrators Security managers Marketing department Hardware and software maintenance engineers Banking regulators
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 14
Viewpoints
Viewpoints are a way of structuring the requirements to represent the perspectives of different stakeholders. Stakeholders may be classified under different viewpoints. This multi-perspective analysis is important as there is no single correct way to analyse system requirements.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 15
Types of viewpoint
Interactor viewpoints
People or other systems that interact directly with the system. In an ATM, the customers and the account database are interactor VPs. Stakeholders who do not use the system themselves but who influence the requirements. In an ATM, management and security staff are indirect viewpoints. Domain characteristics and constraints that influence the requirements. In an ATM, an example would be standards for inter-bank communications.
Indirect viewpoints
Domain viewpoints
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 16
Viewpoint identification
Identify viewpoints using
Providers and receivers of system services; Systems that interact directly with the system being specified; Regulations and standards; Sources of business and non-functional requirements. Engineers who have to develop and maintain the system; Marketing and other business viewpoints.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 17
LIBSYS viewpoint hierarchy
All VPs
Ind irect
Interactor
Do main
Library manager
Fin ance
Ar ticle pr oviders
Us ers
Library s taff
UI s tand ards
Class ificatio n s ys tem
Stu den ts
Staf f
External
Sys tem managers
Catalog uers
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 18
Interviewing
In formal or informal interviewing, the RE team puts questions to stakeholders about the system that they use and the system to be developed. There are two types of interview
Closed interviews where a pre-defined set of questions are answered. Open interviews where there is no pre-defined agenda and a range of issues are explored with stakeholders.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 19
Interviews in practice
Normally a mix of closed and open-ended interviewing. Interviews are good for getting an overall understanding of what stakeholders do and how they might interact with the system. Interviews are not good for understanding domain requirements
Requirements engineers cannot understand specific domain terminology; Some domain knowledge is so familiar that people find it hard to articulate or think that it isnt worth articulating.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 20
Effective interviewers
Interviewers should be open-minded, willing to listen to stakeholders and should not have pre-conceived ideas about the requirements. They should prompt the interviewee with a question or a proposal and should not simply expect them to respond to a question such as what do you want.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 21
Scenarios
Scenarios are real-life examples of how a system can be used. They should include
A description of the starting situation; A description of the normal flow of events; A description of what can go wrong; Information about other concurrent activities; A description of the state when the scenario finishes.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 22
LIBSYS scenario (1)
Initial assumption: T he user has logged on to the LIBSYS system and has located the journal containing the copy of the article. Normal: T he user selects the article to be copied. He or she is then prompted by the system to ei ther provide subscriber information for the journal or to indicate how they will pay for the article. Alternative payment methods are by credit card or by quoting an organisational account number. The user is then asked to fill in a copyright form that maintains details of the transaction and they then submit this to the LIBSYS sys tem. The copyright form is c hecked and, if OK, the PDF version of the article is downloaded to the LIBSY S working area on the userscomputer and the user is informed that it is available. T he user is asked to select a printer and a copy of the article is printed. If the article has been flagged as print-onlyit is deleted from the user s system once the user has confirmed that printing is complete.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 23
LIBSYS scenario (2)
What can go wrong: T he user may fail to fill in the copyright form correctly. In this case, the form should be re-presented to the user for correction. If the resubmitted form is s till incorrect then the usersrequest for the article is rejected. The payment may be rejected by the system. The users e r quest for the article is rejected. The article download may fail. Retry until successful or the user terminates the session. It may not be possible to print the article. If the article is not flagged as print-onlythen it is held in the LIBSYS workspace. Otherwise, the article is deleted and the user s account credited with the cost of the article. O ther activities: Simultaneous downloads of other articles. System state on completion: User is logged on. The downloaded article has been deleted from LIBSYS workspace if it has been flagged as print-only.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 24
Use cases
Use-cases are a scenario based technique in the UML which identify the actors in an interaction and which describe the interaction itself. A set of use cases should describe all possible interactions with the system. Sequence diagrams may be used to add detail to use-cases by showing the sequence of event processing in the system.
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7 Slide 25
Ian Sommerville 2004
Article printing use-case
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 26
LIBSYS use cases
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 27
Article printing
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 28
Print article sequence
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 29
Social and organisational factors
Software systems are used in a social and organisational context. This can influence or even dominate the system requirements. Social and organisational factors are not a single viewpoint but are influences on all viewpoints. Good analysts must be sensitive to these factors but currently no systematic way to tackle their analysis.
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7 Slide 30
Ian Sommerville 2004
Ethnography
A social scientists spends a considerable time observing and analysing how people actually work. People do not have to explain or articulate their work. Social and organisational factors of importance may be observed. Ethnographic studies have shown that work is usually richer and more complex than suggested by simple system models.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 31
Focused ethnography
Developed in a project studying the air traffic control process Combines ethnography with prototyping Prototype development results in unanswered questions which focus the ethnographic analysis. The problem with ethnography is that it studies existing practices which may have some historical basis which is no longer relevant.
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7 Slide 32
Ian Sommerville 2004
Ethnography and prototyping
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 33
Scope of ethnography
Requirements that are derived from the way that people actually work rather than the way I which process definitions suggest that they ought to work. Requirements that are derived from cooperation and awareness of other peoples activities.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 34
Requirements validation
Concerned with demonstrating that the requirements define the system that the customer really wants. Requirements error costs are high so validation is very important
Fixing a requirements error after delivery may cost up to 100 times the cost of fixing an implementation error.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 35
Requirements checking
Validity. Does the system provide the functions which best support the customers needs? Consistency. Are there any requirements conflicts? Completeness. Are all functions required by the customer included? Realism. Can the requirements be implemented given available budget and technology Verifiability. Can the requirements be checked?
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 36
Requirements validation techniques
Requirements reviews
Systematic manual analysis of the requirements. Using an executable model of the system to check requirements. Covered in Chapter 17. Developing tests for requirements to check testability.
Prototyping
Test-case generation
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 37
Requirements reviews
Regular reviews should be held while the requirements definition is being formulated. Both client and contractor staff should be involved in reviews. Reviews may be formal (with completed documents) or informal. Good communications between developers, customers and users can resolve problems at an early stage.
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7 Slide 38
Ian Sommerville 2004
Review checks
Verifiability. Is the requirement realistically testable? Comprehensibility. Is the requirement properly understood? Traceability. Is the origin of the requirement clearly stated? Adaptability. Can the requirement be changed without a large impact on other requirements?
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 39
Requirements management
Requirements management is the process of managing changing requirements during the requirements engineering process and system development. Requirements are inevitably incomplete and inconsistent
New requirements emerge during the process as business needs change and a better understanding of the system is developed; Different viewpoints have different requirements and these are often contradictory.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 40
Requirements change
The priority of requirements from different viewpoints changes during the development process. System customers may specify requirements from a business perspective that conflict with end-user requirements. The business and technical environment of the system changes during its development.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 41
Requirements evolution
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 42
Enduring and volatile requirements
Enduring requirements. Stable requirements derived from the core activity of the customer organisation. E.g. a hospital will always have doctors, nurses, etc. May be derived from domain models Volatile requirements. Requirements which change during development or when the system is in use. In a hospital, requirements derived from health-care policy
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 43
Requirements classification
Require ment Type Mutable requirements Emergent requirements Consequential requirements Compatibility requirements Description Requirements that change because of changes to the environment in which the organisation is operating. For example, in hospital systems, the funding of patient care may change and thus require different treatment information to be collected. Requirements that emerge as the customer's understanding of the system develops during the system development. The design process may reveal new emergent requirements. Requirements that result from the introduction of the computer system. Introducing the computer system may change the organisations processes and open up new ways of wo rking which generate new system requirements Requirements that depend on the particular systems or business processes within an organisation. As these change, the compatibility requirements on the commissioned or delivered system may also have to evolve.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 44
Requirements management planning
During the requirements engineering process, you have to plan:
Requirements identification
How requirements are individually identified;
A change management process
The process followed when analysing a requirements change;
Traceability policies
The amount of information about requirements relationships that is maintained;
CASE tool support
The tool support required to help manage requirements change;
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 45
Traceability
Traceability is concerned with the relationships between requirements, their sources and the system design Source traceability
Links from requirements to stakeholders who proposed these requirements;
Requirements traceability
Links between dependent requirements;
Links from the requirements to the design;
Design traceability
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 46
A traceability matrix
Req. id 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 3.1 3.2 1.1 1.2 D R R R D R R 1.3 R D R D D D 2.1 2.2 2.3 D 3.1 3.2 D
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 47
CASE tool support
Requirements storage
Requirements should be managed in a secure, managed data store. The process of change management is a workflow process whose stages can be defined and information flow between these stages partially automated. Automated retrieval of the links between requirements.
Change management
Traceability management
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 48
Requirements change management
Should apply to all proposed changes to the requirements. Principal stages
Problem analysis. Discuss requirements problem and propose change; Change analysis and costing. Assess effects of change on other requirements; Change implementation. Modify requirements document and other documents to reflect change.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 49
Change management
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 50
Key points
The requirements engineering process includes a feasibility study, requirements elicitation and analysis, requirements specification and requirements management. Requirements elicitation and analysis is iterative involving domain understanding, requirements collection, classification, structuring, prioritisation and validation. Systems have multiple stakeholders with different requirements.
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7 Slide 51
Ian Sommerville 2004
Key points
Social and organisation factors influence system requirements. Requirements validation is concerned with checks for validity, consistency, completeness, realism and verifiability. Business changes inevitably lead to changing requirements. Requirements management includes planning and change management.
Ian Sommerville 2004
Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 7
Slide 52
