Managing Software Requirements: A Unified Approach

Chapter 10. Requirements Workshops

Key Points

• The requirements workshop is perhaps the most powerful technique for eliciting requirements.

• It gathers all key stakeholders together for a short but intensely focused period.

• The use of an outside facilitator experienced in requirements management can help ensure the success of the workshop.

• Brainstorming is the most important part of the workshop.

Accelerating the Decision Process

One of the prioritization schemes that we've used is blindingly simple. Ask the stakeholder what one item they would pick if only one feature could be implemented for the next release. Like the thought of being hanged in a fortnight, this question focuses the mind wonderfully on what really matters.

Applying this technique, if ...