Key Learning Objectives

Training Method and Materials

• comprehensive courses notes;
• two workbooks containing workshop exercises
• workshop model solutions
• checklists, forms and charts which you can use immediately in your projects
• access to PPI’s Systems Engineering Goldmine

Some Key Questions

• Why do requirements errors cost more to correct than any other class of error?
• How can I best deal with requirements which the user or other requirements owner can
  express only in vague terms?
• Do requirements that are not “in the contract” have any effect in a contractual scenario?
• How can I best unscramble a poor Request for Tender or requirements specification?
• How can I best live with “moving goal posts”?
• How can I cope with the inevitable “missing information” without losing control of technical baselines?
• What are the differences between functionally oriented and design specifications, and when should each be used?
• Why is it necessary to deal with states and modes early?
• Why is the use of a requirements structural model the sure-fire path to producing strong
  requirements specifications?
• How can I best structure my requirements specification?
• What syntax produces the best specified requirements?

Who Should Attend This Course?

Requirements Engineering is designed for acquirer, supplier and developer personnel who, in any capacity, deal with requirements.

• issues and terminology
• lessons from real projects

2. Requirements Within the System Life Cycle

• the origin of requirements
• development of system architecture and detail design, related to requirements
• requirements traceability
• requirements change control
• summary of terms relating to requirements
• baselines and their use
• workshop – principles of requirements engineering
• common requirements pitfalls in the system life cycle

3. Types of Requirements

• definitions
• why categorise requirements by type?
• eight basic types
• differences between requirements for hardware, software, services
• non-requirements
• workshop – categorising requirements by type
• other categories – architectural design drivers, critical, global, priority, importance, stability

4. The Quality of Requirements

• correctness
• completeness
• consistency
• clarity
• non-ambiguity
• traceability
• testability
• singularity
• feasibility
• balance
• freedom from product/process mix

5. Requirements Analysis Methodology

• contexts within which requirements analysis is performed
• stakeholder identification
• initial assessment by document (if any) review, and planning
• measuring requirements quality
• context flow analysis
• context analysis
•  workshop – context analysis
•  design requirements analysis
• interactive exercise – design requirements analysis
• states & modes analysis
• workshop – states and modes analysis (time-limited)
• requirements parsing analysis
• workshop – parsing analysis
• functional analysis – needs analysis, operational analysis, use cases
• workshop – functional analysis
• rest of scenario analysis
• out-of-range analysis
• Entity-Relationship-Attribute (ERA) analysis
• other constraints search
• stakeholder value analysis
• methods of engaging in requirements dialog
• verification requirements development
• operational concept description
• clean-up – keyword-based searching for residual requirements defects

• tools supporting requirements analysis
• tools supporting requirements management
• examples of available tools
• common pitfalls in using tools

7. Management of Requirements Analysis 

10. Requirements Specification Writing

• review of requirements quality
• requirement structural template
• workshop – writing requirements using the parsing template
• requirements constructs
  • shall, should, will, and may
  • linking
  • cross-referencing
  • workshop – using precedence
  • defining terms
  • workshop – defining terms
  • context dependence
  • reference to applicable documents
• use of precedence
• workshop – linking and cross-referencing
• using success criteria to express otherwise vague requirements
• workshop – using success criteria
• paragraph headings
• use of supporting data
  • mission profiles/use cases
  • baseline designs
  • benchmarks
• verification specifications
• optional workshop – evaluation of example specifications

11. Bibliography

• additional reference material

Q. What is the difference between the requirements engineering and the requirements analysis & specification writing courses?

The Requirements Engineering (RE) seminar is primarily designed for people whose first language is not English. As such, it is not offered in most countries where English is the native language.

Q. What is the degree of overlap between PPI’s five-day Systems Engineering course and PPI’s five-day Requirements Analysis & Specification Writing course?

In that both Requirements Analysis and Specification Writing are critically important sub-disciplines within Systems Engineering, these disciplines are covered in both courses.

In the 5-day Systems Engineering course, Requirements Analysis is put in context in the first two days of the course. Then, 1.7 days is devoted to “how to do requirements analysis – capture and validation of the information content of requirements”. This depth of coverage is sufficient for participants to go away with new insights, and importantly, new skills, in performing Requirements Analysis. Courses are used extensively, based on a single system that is taken through Requirements Analysis then subsequently Design, in course format.

In the 5-day Systems Engineering course, Specification Writing is put in context in the first two days of the course. Specification writing is then touched upon incidentally in Requirements Analysis, especially in parsing analysis, and in the “clean-up” activity, a related handout for which lists problematic English: parts of words, words and phrases, and the checks that are done regarding adequacy of language in relation to use of these words (etc).

In the 5-day Systems Engineering course, a revised requirements specification for the course system is distributed to and inspected by, participants, on the fourth day of the course. More general advice on specification writing is then provided on the fifth (last) day of the course, over 10-15 minutes.

In the 5-day Requirements Analysis and Specification Writing course, Requirements Analysis and Specification Writing are put in context in the first 0.8 days of the course. Focus is then given to the types of requirements and their significance to the roles of requirements analyst, specification writer, and designer. This session culminates in a course. Then, 2-2.5 days are devoted to “how to do requirements analysis – capture and validation of the information content of requirements”. This is a significantly greater depth of coverage compared with the systems engineering course. Courses are again used extensively, based on a single system, almost always a different system to the system used for the systems engineering course. There are more, and longer, courses in requirements analysis compared with systems engineering course. Overall, RA&SW5D provides greater depth in requirements analysis than does the systems engineering course.

The feedback from people who have participated in both courses has been mostly that they have appreciated the revision and extra depth in requirements analysis. However, about 10% of people have regarded the overlap as excessive for their purposes.

In the 5-day Requirements Analysis and Specification Writing course, hugely more coverage is given to the structuring of system and software requirements specifications, and specifications of services. Similarly, almost a day is devoted to advice on the use of language (English) in expressing requirements – pitfalls and pointers. There is also substantial coverage of writing non-requirements sections of requirements specifications – scope, applicable documents, definitions (etc), notes.

Q. Do you offer tailoring of this course?

Yes. All courses are tailored informally verbally in delivery by selecting, where possible, examples matched to the domains of interest to the class. We can also work with you to design a formally customized curriculum for the development of your people. We have done so for many client companies, and we would love to work with you to this end. We always suggest that a client takes the corresponding standard course prior to any customization. For systems engineering, this is because systems engineering is the problem-independent and solution technology-independent principles and supporting methods for the engineering of systems, based on systems thinking. So the objectives of customization need to be very clear and focused on adding further value. In practice, customization, if performed, usually becomes the replacement of examples and possibly the main workshop system with domain-specific equivalents. Substitution of the workshop system usually involves substantial redevelopment of courseware. Out of necessity, formal tailoring of courseware is performed on a fee basis.