What is Requirement Elicitation in Business Analysis? #
Requirement elicitation or Requirement gathering means to draw out (or define) the software requirements from the business stakeholders.
It is a key task for any Business Analyst since requirements serve as the foundation for the solution to business needs.
It’s required to actively engage all impacted stakeholders in defining the requirements.
It’s essential that the requirements are complete, clear, correct and consistent.
Leveraging proven means to elicit requirements will help meet quality goals.
Requirement Elicitation Techniques #
Let’s understand the different techniques for eliciting Business, Stakeholder, Solution or Transition requirements.
A business analyst should understand the commonly used techniques to elicit requirements, should be able to select appropriate technique(s) for a given situation, and be knowledgeable of the tasks needed to prepare, execute and complete each technique.
Several factors (the business domain, the corporate culture and environment, the skills of the analyst and the requirements deliverables that will be created) guide which techniques will be used.
The following are the most commonly used techniques to elicit the requirements:
| Elicitation Technique | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Brainstorming | Event Based | Derive ideas/solution through group discussions/debates |
| Workshops | Event Based | Elicitation Workshop, Facilitated Workshop |
| Interviews | Event Based | 1 - 1 or Group interviews |
| Observation | Event Based | Job Shadowing |
| Survey / Questionnaire | Event Based | Conducting online/offline surveys, polling |
| Prototyping | Activity Based | Story boarding, navigation flow, paper prototyping, screen flows, wireframes |
| Document Review / Analysis | Activity Based | Review & Analyze Existing Documentation |
| Interface Analysis | Activity Based | Analyzing external interfaces |
