Keep in mind that a process is a set of specified steps to accomplish a task.
This week’s discussion topic focuses on functional requirements. These need to be clearly written so the people who are developing the system or evaluating a system for use, can discern whether or not the functional requirements are met.
The functional requirements statement:
- Is a complete sentence, with a subject (system) and predicate (intended result, action or condition)
- Identifies only one requirement; does not include the words “and,” “also,” “with,” and “or.”
- States what tasks the system will support or perform
- Includes a measure or metric that can be used to determine whether the functional requirement is met (time or quantity), where appropriate
- Is stated in positive terms and uses “must” (not “may” or “should”); e.g., “the system must xxxx” not “the system must not xxx”
- Avoids the use of terms that cannot be defined and measured, such as “approximately,” “robust,” “user friendly,” etc.
- Must be testable; that is, there must be some way to test the system to determine whether the requirement is met
Group 1:
- Drawing from your own experience, select a process used at your place of work or other interactions with an organization that you would like to see improved. Explain why you picked that process.
- Imagine that a system is to be implemented (or an existing system improved) to make that process better, and write five (5) functional requirements for the system to perform. Each requirement is one sentence in length and addresses one thing the system must do. We are interested in functional requirements – the activities the system must perform to support the identified process. Use the information above to create your functional requirements statements.