Inadequate requirements. They’re the #1 cause of project failure. While we’ve come a long way from massive, antiquated requirements documents, requirements (or epics and user stories) still provide a GPS for your product. So, how do you make sure requirements: -Communicate your true vision? -Keep your project lean and on track? -Adapt to change without adding risk? -Transform into a quality product? Join us for this webinar to learn essential tactics for better requirements management — from discovery to review and testing. We’ll cover: -Common signs of poor requirements management. -Principles of modern requirements. -Essential communication tactics for results-driven development. -Ways to streamline the requirement review process. -Tips for adapting to changes in requirements. -Templates for organizing your requirements. -PLUS, get concrete tips from ACTUAL requirements management tool makers.

1. Essential Tips for Modern
Requirements Management

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Presenter
Nico Krüger
Chief Technology Officer,
Helix ALM
Perforce Software

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What We’ll Cover Today
Principles
of Modern
Requirements
Tips &
Tactics For
Your Teams
How to
Streamline
for Success

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“Features.” “Requirements.” “User stories.”
WHAT you call them isn’t important.
What matters? Defining a product’s promise, functionality,
appearance, market fit, and value.
First Things First…

5. Principles of Modern Requirements

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• No, Agile didn’t kill
requirements.
• Agile has changed how we
think about them.
• User stories.
• Less can be more.
Aren’t Requirements Dead?

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Incomplete Requirements = Leading Cause of Project Failure
Why Requirements Matter
When Error Is Discovered Relative Cost to Correct
Requirements Development 1x
Design 2–3x
Construction 5–10x
System/Acceptance Test 8–20X
Operation 68–110x

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Value In, Value Out
Input Process Output
Requirements + Process = Product

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• Valuable.
• Collaborative.
• Well-communicated,
documented, understood.
• Just enough & just in time.
• Adaptable.
• Reviewable, testable,
& traceable.
Principles of Good Modern Requirements

10. Tips & Tactics for Your Teams

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On Writing
“We use pictures, tables, and graphs whenever possible.
You can skim them quickly and get all the information you need.
It’s much quicker than an equivalent block of text.”
Rich Clyde
VP Product Development
Helix ALM

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• Small project  Lots
of useless formalities.
• RM plan takes longer
to create than project.
• “Because that’s how
we’ve always done it…”
• All projects have same
RM plan.
How to Spot Poor RM

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Avoid domain jargon, insider-speak.
Write simply, for shared understanding.
Be concise. (Is it need to know or nice to know?)
Tips for Agreeable Requirements

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Holistic RM Gathering Includes
Customer — User surveys, interviews, support.
Colleagues — Sales teams, C-Suite, etc.
Competitors — Market research, etc.

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Gathering “Complete” Requirements
Remember, “incomplete requirements.”
Who’s deciding what gets built?
The loudest customers?
Copycatting the competition?

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• What kinds?
• Functional
• Non-functional
• Business
• Etcetera
• Not all equal!
Defining Requirements

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• Getting people to respond.
• Make it fast.
• Make it easy.
• Give clear direction.
• “Review section 2.1.2.1 [FR-25]
for testability.”
• Track diffs.
Requirement Review

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Review Process Example

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Review Process Example

20. Streamlining for Success

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Are We Building a Duck or a Bunny?

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• Product Manager — Can I sell this?
• Marketing — Can we market this?
• Tech Writers — Can we document this?
• QA — Can I test this?
• CEO — What is this?
One Requirement, Many Perspectives

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• Shared goals.
• Meaningful language.
• Useful detail.
Building Agreement

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• Misunderstanding
• Verbal discussion yielded two
different meetings.
• Gaps
• Something NOT communicated
that should have been.
• Cognitive bias
• The “Curse of Knowledge.”
What Gets in the Way of Agreement?

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On Useful Detail
“One quick way to make requirements more useful is by
taking things out. For example, do you really need to
document existing functionality.”
Paula Rome
Product Manager
Helix ALM

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When change happens…
• What else changes?
• What else needs to change?
• Who needs to know?
Change Management
?

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Change Request
Impact Analysis
Approve/DenyImplement
Review/Reporting
Have Process for Managing Change

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Impact Analysis Helps

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• Understandability
• Testability
• Traceability
Requirements Quality Is a Byproduct of…

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Bad
“The application must be fast.”
Good
“App launch time shall be 1 second or less for users
connecting over 4G network.”
Testable Requirements

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• Bad
• Ad hoc structure
• Good
• Parent-child
relationships
Traceable Requirements

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On Traceability
“It’s really hard to divorce good requirements
management from good traceability. The two are
intertwined, they feed each other.”
Paula Rome
Product Manager
Helix ALM

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Recap
Principles
of Modern
Requirements
Tips &
Tactics For
Your Teams
How to
Streamline
for Success

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• Yes, requirements are still important.
• RIGHT AMOUNT of requirements management.
• Agreement is what, communication is how.
• Tools can help immensely.
Takeaways

35. Questions?

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