Requirement

What is a Requirement?

A requirement is a specific condition or capability that a project must meet or deliver to satisfy a stakeholder’s need or objective. It defines what a product, service, or result should do and helps guide the project team’s work. They serve as the foundation for planning, design, development, and testing activities. They may be functional, such as what a system should do, or non-functional, like performance or security standards. Gathering and managing them early in the project life cycle helps reduce risks, control costs, and ensure project success.

Key Points

• The types of requirements are: business, stakeholder, functional, and non-functional.
• They must be clear, measurable, and agreed upon by all relevant stakeholders.
• Document them well to help prevent misunderstandings and scope creep.
• Their management includes the processes of gathering, analyzing, documenting, and tracking changes to requirements.
• Traceability ensures that each requirement is linked back to business needs and project goals.
• Poorly defined or changing requirements are common causes of project failure.
• They evolve, so ongoing validation and updates may be necessary to ensure continued effectiveness.
• Tools such as traceability matrices and user stories support effective requirement management.

Related Terms

• A business case explains the justification for a project and often identifies high-level needs.
• A stakeholder may request or influence a requirement based on their interests or needs.
• A work breakdown structure uses requirements to help define the scope of project deliverables.
• A project charter may include initial requirements that set the direction for planning.
• A functional requirement outlines a specific action or behaviour that a system must perform.
• A non-functional requirement defines how a system should behave under certain conditions.
• A change request allows project teams to propose updates or additions to existing requirements.
• A scope statement documents all agreed-upon requirements to define project boundaries.

Requirement: Example

In a software development project, a requirement might state that users must be able to reset their passwords using their email address. This functional requisite ensures the application meets user expectations and aligns with the overall business objective of providing secure access. During development, the team will design, build, and test the feature to ensure it performs as specified.

Requirement: Best Practices

• Involve stakeholders early to gather accurate and complete requirements.
• Use clear and concise language to avoid ambiguity.
• Prioritize them based on business value and feasibility.
• Validate and approve them through formal reviews.
• Maintain a change control process to manage updates and changes effectively.
• Use diagrams or models to support complex or technical specifications.
• Regularly review them to confirm they remain relevant and achievable.

Additional Resources

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