The title of this Blog may be considered to be a self-evident truth. How else would you review a set of requirements except by reviewing them? There are other ways which we will get to in a couple of weeks. However, our initial look will be by the standard method of reviewing them.
Reviewing requirements can be surprisingly difficult for some people. The following problems may arise:
- You don’t know anything about the system under review
- The requirements are disorganised
- It is difficult to maintain concentration for an extended period of time
There are ways around these problems. Some of them are personal and some relate to the methodology used to review the requirements.
On the personal level:
- Familiarise yourself with the system for which the requirements are being created. You cannot review in a vacuum.
- Organise the requirements by tagging them according to the type and what they discuss. (It would be preferable if everyone used the same organisation but there is no guarantee of that occurring.)
- Break up the review into sections
Once you have completed your personnel review, you may be asked to join a group review bringing in your comments and hearing from everyone else. There are several methods of review depending on Risk including Desk Checking, Walkthroughs, Reviews, and finally Inspections. These vary from informal to very formal. However, they are all aimed at finding the errors in the requirements sooner rather than later. They also all assume on previous individual work.
For a different way to review requirements, look for our next blog on this topic.
Take a look at some of the seminars that we offer that address this situation and see if they apply to your situation. Requirements review is very cost-effective.
Contact us for further information.