Requirements Elicitation In Business Analysis

To produce a quality product, it is important to have accurate customer requirements. This begins with the requirements engineering process, which can be divided into five steps: requirements elicitation, requirements documentation, requirements analysis and verification, requirements change management, and requirements phase closure. In this blog, we will discuss the process of requirements elicitation in detail.

• What is Requirements Elicitation?
• Characteristics of a Good Requirements Analysis
• Importance of Requirements Elicitation In Business Analysis
• Techniques of Requirements Elicitation
• Challenges of Requirements Elicitation

What is Requirements Elicitation?

Requirements elicitation is an in-depth study of a company, organisation, or business's technological needs. In this process, an exhaustive analysis of the system to be developed is carried out. Techniques are defined and applied to analyse the requirements. 

In short, requirements elicitation helps identify a project's business need, scope, assumptions, and risks.

Requirements elicitation is usually performed by a trained and qualified business analyst. Their responsibility is to identify the business's needs and values and the risks and assumptions associated with the effort.

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Characteristics of a Good Requirements Analysis

Below are the characteristics of an effective requirement analysis process - 

• Complete analysis: All business requirements, needs and specifications must be reflected in the most exhaustive and defined way possible. 
• Consistent: It cannot generate doubts or contradictions and is consistent over time. 
• Clear: Refers to the clarity of documentation to avoid possible misinterpretations. 
• Possibility of Verification: The reflected data can be checked to review whether the defined requirements are being met. Validating the analysis is a very important step. 
• Prioritisable: Requirements can be organised hierarchically based on relevance, such as essential, urgent, or optional. 
• Easily adjustable: It must allow modification, if required, over time to optimise requirements. 

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Importance of Requirements Elicitation In Business Analysis

Requirements elicitation is the process of gathering, understanding, and documenting the needs, wants, and limitations of the stakeholders. It bridges the abstract vision of a project and the concrete specifications that guide its implementation. Here are ideas from different perspectives:

1. From the Stakeholder Perspective

Stakeholders, including end users, administrators, and domain experts, must understand what the system should achieve. Their ideas shape the direction of the project.

Example: Let's imagine a healthcare system. Doctors need real-time patient data, administrators require efficient billing processes, and patients want easy-to-use interfaces. Bringing these various needs to light ensures a comprehensive solution.

2. From the Business Perspective

Requirements drive any business's value. Clear, well-defined requirements align with organisational objectives, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Example: A retail company planning an e-commerce platform must obtain requirements related to inventory management, payment gateways and customer experience. These directly impact revenue and customer satisfaction.

3. From a Technical Perspective

Developers, architects, and technical experts depend on the requirements for designing and building systems. Ambiguous or incomplete requirements lead to costly rework.

Example: In a transportation logistics system, specifying requirements for real-time tracking, route optimisation, and load balancing ensures smooth operations and scalability.

4. From a Risk Management Perspective

Inadequate requirements pose risks. Misunderstood needs can lead to project delays, budget overruns, or system failures.

Example: An airline reservation system without precise seat availability requirements, fare rules and reservation processes risks creating chaos during peak travel seasons.

Techniques of Requirements Elicitation

Requirements elicitation involves various techniques to gather information about stakeholders' needs, preferences, and constraints to define project requirements effectively. Some common techniques include:

Interviews

Individual or group interviews are conducted with interested parties. For example, when creating an educational platform, interview teachers, students, and administrators are asked about desired features, rating systems, and communication channels. Some of the sample questions include -

• "What features do you believe are essential for an effective educational platform?"
• "How do you envision the rating system functioning to provide feedback on courses or materials?"
• "What communication channels would best facilitate interaction between teachers, students, and administrators?"

Workshops

Facilitate collaborative workshops. In a design sprint, stakeholders sketch screens, discuss workflows, and identify pain points. These sessions encourage creativity and consensus.

Observations

Observe users in their natural environment. Observations offer rich insights for eliciting requirements because they provide a direct view of user behaviour and interactions with the system in their natural work environment. Imagine studying how warehouse workers use a new inventory management system. You may notice inefficiencies or discover hidden requirements (for example, they could optimise their data entry time better if they had barcode scanning).

Document Analysis

This technique involves reviewing existing documents (e.g., legacy system manuals and business process diagrams). The goal is to extract relevant requirements and identify any gaps or discrepancies between the documented processes and the actual needs of the stakeholders or the desired functionality of the new system being developed.

Prototyping

Prototyping is a key process of requirements elicitation in business analysis. It allows stakeholders and end-users to visualise realistic applications before they are finally developed. It validates assumptions and gathers feedback from potential users. Prototyping enables generating feedback at the early stages and promotes more stakeholder participation in the entire process of requirement gathering.

Document Findings and Verification

The obtained requirements should be comprehensively recorded for reference and analysis. Furthermore, their accuracy and completeness are validated with stakeholders for alignment.

Challenges of Requirements Elicitation

The requirements elicitation process can be complex, and there are many challenges that businesses must consider -

• Unclear Requirements: Sometimes, the stakeholders do not have a clear or complete vision of what they want or need. They may have conflicting or changing requirements or be unable to articulate them properly. This can lead to gaps or inconsistencies in the requirements, which can become a big challenge in the long run.
• Lack of Resources: Limited resources, including budget constraints, lack of access to tools, and inability to hire business analysts, can sometimes be a huge challenge in the requirements elicitation process.
• Time Constraints: Tight deadlines can result in hasty decisions, incomplete data collection, and pressure to finish the requirements elicitation process without thorough analysis and validation.
• Data Collection Challenges: Businesses, particularly startups, may struggle to collect accurate data due to limited access to customer feedback, market research, and internal project data from previous projects or competitors. Such a challenge can sometimes become a bottleneck in the requirements elicitation process.
• Communication Issues: Lack of established channels between departments and stakeholders can lead to miscommunication and difficulties ensuring that the project goals and objectives are aligned and on track.

With a comprehensive understanding of the requirement elicitation process, business analysts and stakeholders can improve project outcomes, mitigate risks, and explore more opportunities for innovation.