Writing Effective Requirements Training Seminar Description The class focuses on industry standards and best practices for

writing requirements needed for project scope definition, requirements and documenting the system specifications necessary for IT projects. The seminar focus is on:

Understanding the different levels of requirements The requirements management process Characteristics and guidelines for writing effective requirements Communication techniques for gathering requirements Writing skills and instructions for writing successful scoping and requirements documents Practical exercises in writing problem statements, business objectives, high-level requirements, non-functional requirements, screen and reporting specifications Writing and critiquing use cases and requirements using guidelines and checklists

The objectives of the seminar are to:

Define best practices and standards for writing requirements and solutions documents Provide practical exercises for using requirements gathering techniques using UML diagrams and use cases Writing and critiquing requirements and system specifications using industry standards and best practice guidelines and checklists

Seminar Content Day 1 (am) Seminar Introduction Introduction to Requirements

What is Requirements Management? Categories and Different Levels of Requirements Key Requirements Documents Business Requirements Management Action Plan

Requirements Gathering Techniques

Brainstorming Storyboarding Interviews Kit Reviews Teleconferencing tips and techniques Business Models- use case model, business process flows, use cases (user scenarios/user stories)

Discovery Phase- Defining the Scope

Writing effective project initiation deliverables: o Business problem statement o Success criteria/objectives o Business parameters Exercise- Discovering and writing business problem statements, success criteria/objectives, business parameters How to write effective scope statements & assumptions Interviewing, questioning and active listening skills Exercise- Interviewing and active listening skills Exercise- Writing the project scope statement & assumptions

Day 1 (pm) Discovery Phase- Defining the Scope (continued)

Building the use case model Exercise- Creating the use case model

Discovery Phase- Requirements Analysis

Documenting requirements in iterations- understanding the different levels of requirements Characteristics of writing effective requirements Instructions and guidelines for writing effective requirements Requirements attributes Quality measures and checklists for writing effective requirements How to identify and write effective business rules Building the "To Be" business process flows and activity diagrams with swimlanes Exercise- Creating the "to be" business process flow Exercise- Identifying and writing quality high level requirements and business rules

Day 2 (am) Discovery Phase- Requirements Analysis (continued)

Benefits of using the business use case to identify requirements How to write the business use case o Guidelines for the use case iterations o Templates and Quality Checklists Exercise- Writing a business use case and high level business requirements How to write effective non-functional requirements o IEEE Categories o Non-functional definitions and examples Exercise- Writing quality non-functional requirements Writing detailed requirements using site maps and identifying inventories of screens, reports and system interfaces Exercise- Create a site map, screen, report and system interface inventories Iteration Plan - What is the thought process for building a plan? o Setting priorities o Creating the build plan Define the components

Calculate the risk Estimate the time Plan the iterations

Day 2 (pm) Discovery Phase- System Specifications -Analysis/High Level Design

How to create the final use cases How to build an activity diagram with swimlanes using UML notation Using brainstorming and storyboarding techniques to create the draft screens Exercise- writing the final use case, creating the activity diagram with swimlanes for the use case and storyboarding the draft screens Defining the Report Specifications o Key components of the report specifications requirements o Report Mock-ups o Report Specifications Template

Requirements Inspection Process (High-Level Design Sign-off)

Techniques for quality checking requirements o Checklists o Desk Checking o Peer reviews for requirements inspection Exercise- Desk Checking a requirements document Exercise- Conducting and participating in a 'Requirements Inspection Session'

Wrap up MATERIALS Each seminar participant receives a Seminar Handbook with sample templates, guidelines and checklists for writing requirements definition documents.