Requirements Development Steps

Step 1 in the requirement development process is to Gather and Develop requirements data from key stakeholders, project objectives, and already developed requirements. A number of typical sources used to gather requirements data are:

• Concept of Operations (CONOPS)
• Defense Federal Acquisition Requirements Supplement (DFARS)
• Earn Value Management Requirements
• Federal Acquisition Requirements (FAR)
• JCIDS Analysis
  • Functional Area Analysis (FAA)
  • Functional Needs Analysis (FNA)
  • Functional Solutions Analysis (FSA)
• Lessons Learned
• Joint Service Specification Guides (JSSG)
• Modeling and Simulation Requirements Data
• Standards, Specification, and Legal Regulations
• Subject Matter Experts (SME)
• Technology Base

Develop Requirements

Once the requirements data has been gathered and processed, requirements need to be developed and documented. The requirements don’t have to be perfect at this step, just documented, prioritized, de-conflicted, and validated with all stakeholders. It’s critical to have all stakeholders approve that the current documented requirements meet their needs. Unexpected requirements add cost to any program as it gets further along in its development.

Record Requirements

As you gather requirements, use a form to capture them. This will help your requirements remain consistent in form and in terms of the information you capture for each. Basic information to collect:

• a short title
• a detailed description of the requirement
• the person recording the requirement
• the source of the requirement (a scenario, a user interview, the project proposal, etc.)
• a rationale: why is this requirement necessary?
• a list of the stakeholders most affected by this requirement
• initial desired priority, according to the source of the requirement

Prioritizing

One characteristic of excellent requirements management is that the requirements are classified and prioritized. When customer expectations are high, timelines are short, and resources are limited, a program manager wants to make sure the system contains the most essential requirements. These requirements are expressed as:

• Key Performance Parameters (KPP)
• Key System Attributes (KSA)

Step 1 Checklist Items

Below is an excerpt from the Requirements Checklist that can be used in this step.

• Were all stakeholder requirements documented?
• Was each requirement checked to see that it met all of the following?
  • Necessary [trace to a user need]
  • Concise [minimal]
  • Feasible [attainable]
  • Testable [measurable]
  • Technology Independent [avoid “HOW to” statements unless they are real constraints on the design of the system]
  • Unambiguous [Clear]
  • Complete [function fully defined]

Requirements Development Steps

• Overview: Requirements Development Process
• Step 1: Gather &  Develop Requirements
• Step 2: Write & Document Requirements
• Step 3: Check Completeness
• Step 4: Analyze, Refine & Decompose Requirements
• Step 5: Verify & Validate Requirements
• Step 6: Manage Requirements

AcqLinks and References:

• Defense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG) – Chapter 4
• Requirements Development Checklist
• DAU Systems Engineering Fundamentals Guide
• Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Systems Engineering Primer & Handbook
• NASA Systems Engineering Handbook (large 9M file)
• EIA-632 “Processes for Engineering a System” – 7 Jan 99

Updated: 6/11/2021