97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know

Chapter 53. Visualize Requirements During a Workshop

Kristina Hoeppner

Spreadsheets are the tool of choice in the procurement process, but they are difficult to navigate during a workshop: horizontal scrolling makes it easy to lose focus among the dense information, and the font size is too small even when printed on large-format paper. This chapter suggests abandoning the spreadsheet and preparing your information in a more visual way so it can be consumed more easily during a conversation about project requirements.

Leave the Spreadsheet Behind

Inspired by the book Gamestorming (O’Reilly) by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo, and by previous success in reimagining a conference workshop by employing ideas from the book, I wanted to find a more engaging way to discuss software project requirements during a multihour workshop. The main goal was to show that the software already complied with a large number of requirements. Instead of arming myself with printouts of the spreadsheet, I copied each requirement onto a postcard and grouped the cards, and we focused on discussing items that needed additional insight.

On the day of the workshop, stakeholders were surprised our team had filled the table with the requirement cards instead of spreadsheet printouts. We proceeded to put all items into four categories:

• Known: Functionality is available and doesn’t need discussion ...