Software Requirements and Specification

SE3821 - Jay Urbain

Project Blastoff

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Project Blastoff

Project Blastoff – Burst of activity to launch a requirements project.

– Determine product purpose.• Problem + benefit of your solution

– Competitive statement/business advantages

– State how your solution to the problem is different (specifically better) than competitive solutions.

– Determine product work context.– Identify stakeholders– Assemble enough info to get requirements started – Determine if the project is viable and well founded?– Is the ROI justified?

Often synonymous with review of Product Plan.

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Problem Statement

• Short description of the work that needs to be done and why it is relevant.

• What are we trying to improve?• About a paragraph – think “40 sec” elevator pitch• Important to build consensus with this statement before

moving forward.

• Example problem statements?

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Problem + Solution Statements

• Its difficult to find pathogens that we do not know about, and detecting unknown viruses and bacteria is essential for detecting new strains of disease.

– The Ibis T5000 sensor is able to detect new strains of disease using mass spectrometry and genetic signatures of molecular mass and charge.

• Collecting and analyzing time-sensitive health-care information in developing countries is a challenge.

– EpiSurveyor provides free cell phone software to create-health survey forms that collect time and place, along with vital health information that are transmitted immediately.

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Problem Statements

• Need for cellular phone service to poor, under-developed third world countries

– VNL's solar-powered base station for cell phone networks provides “IKEA-like” simple setup, almost no maintenance, low cost, and energy efficiency.

• Customers would like private cloud computing infrastructure for security and to utilize existing infrastructure.

– Vmware’s vSphere “cloud operating systems” allows IT managers to quickly turn all the servers in a data center into a network of virtual machines. A simple dashboard makes it possible to see all the applications that are running on each virtual device.

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Problem Statements

• Color LCD displays are difficult to read in sunlight.

– Qualcomm’s Mirasol display uses micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS, and thin-film reflective material to produce color images that remain vivid even in direct sunlight. The displays are able to produce a full color spectrum, and images are refreshed quickly enough that full-motion video can be displayed as well as static images. By relying on ambient light, the displays require little power.

• Prosthetic hands typically have been limited to simple pincer-like grips that imitate the motions of a thumb and forefinger. While they can perform most essential hand functions, they lack the utility and appearance of a real hand.

– The trick in developing the i-Limb was coming up with materials that could match the shape and weight of a human hand yet be powerful enough to handle all the tasks of muscle and bone. The hand uses motors that fit in the space of a knuckle to control the fingers; the motors are controlled by a computer chip.

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Project Purpose

• Describe the purpose of the product.– One sentence on what the product should do– Write this from a “business” point of view

• What business advantage will this bring?– Provide service that does not exist– Provide better service– Increase revenue– Streamline operations

• How will you measure the advantage?– Numbers than can be tested– Quantified Goal

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Purpose of Project (cont.)

• What will this information provide us– Is the purpose

• Reasonable?• Feasible?• Achievable?

• Why is this important?– Helps us focus!– Prioritize– Identify relevancy– Conflict resolution

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Case Study

• Your team is working on a micro-payment system for downloading music as an alternative to a $35/year subscription

• The system will allow access on a per-song basis and will be more economical for occasional, limited use

• The intent is that this would increase online service revenues by promoting legal use among low volume customers

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Micro-payment system case study

Purpose• To increase the customer base by including low volume

customers

Advantage• Increased revenues from low volume customers• Increased name recognition

Metric• Currently the company has 1000 registered users who

download <12 songs/year• This customer base will increase by 25%

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Exercise

Look at the Case StudyCould the Project Purpose be improved?In groups of 3 • Write a goal for the case study• What measurement will you add?• What questions will you ask your client?

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Stakeholders

• Anyone with an interest in the product.• Missed stakeholders = missed requirements• Core (Principal) stakeholders• Producers (technical and business personnel)• Client• Customer• Users• Non-Core stakeholders

– Have knowledge needed by the core stakeholders– People who want to kill the project

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Stakeholder Checklist

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• Business (Domain) Experts

• Developers• Testers• Client• Users• Manufacturing 

• Usability experts• Security experts• Support/maintenance• Marketing• Lawyers • Technology Experts• Special Interest Groups

Exercise

• Brainstorm a list of stakeholders for the case study• List as many stakeholders in the categories of

– Users– Other stakeholder categories

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Work Context

Connections of work with adjacent systems - defines the work context

Adjacent systems:• Are sources of data for the work• Customers for the work's products• Should not be changed without negotiation

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Exercise

• In groups, develop the work context for the case study.

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