1. 7.1 A Bridge to Design & Construction
Is requirements engineering necessary?
Are there ever cases/situations where requirements engineering can be skipped? (Brad)
Why do some software developers not pay enough attention to requirements engineering?

2. 7.2 Requirements Engineering Tasks
Inception—ask a set of questions that establish a basic understanding of the problem, the people, the solution, the effectiveness of communication
Elicitation—elicit requirements from all stakeholders
Elaboration—create an analysis model that identifies data, function and behavioral requirements
Negotiation—agree on a deliverable system that is realistic for developers and customers
Specification—can be a document, model, user scenarios, prototype, etc.
Validation—a review mechanism that looks for errors, inconsistencies, unrealistic requirements.
Requirements management
Which of the 7 requirement engineering steps (Inception, Elicitation, Elaboration, Negotiation, Specification, Validation, Requirement Management) is most prone to failure?  Why? (Brad)
Failure in which requirement engineering step would be most likely to cause the project to fail? (Brad)

3. 7.3 Inception Identify stakeholders Recognize multiple points of view
Should a software developer ever choose to ignore a stakeholder viewpoint that s/he believes would hurt the quality of a project? If so, what would be an ethical solution to this problem?
Work toward collaboration
The first questions
Who is behind the request for this work?
Who will use the solution?
What will be the economic benefit of a successful solution
Is there another source for the solution that you need?
What types of questions should be asked during the Inception phase?  What types of questions should be avoided? (Brad)
What are some other “context-free” questions that you might ask a stake holder during inception?
What does “feasibility analysis” imply when it is discussed within the context of the inception function?

4. 7.4 Eliciting Requirements: Collaborative Requirements Gathering
meetings are conducted and attended by both software engineers and customers
rules for preparation and participation are established
an agenda is suggested
a "facilitator" controls the meeting
a "definition mechanism" is used
the goal is to identify the problem, propose elements of the solution, negotiate different approaches, and specify a preliminary set of solution requirements.
Difficult due to:
Problems of scope
Problems of understanding
Problems of volatility

5. 7.4 Eliciting Requirements
How involved should developers be in the Elicitation phase? (Brad)
What are the benefits & consequences of having developers actively involved in the Elicitation phase? (Brad)
In addition to the problems of scope, understanding, and volatility, what other significant issues would a requirements engineer face during elicitation?
At what point during requirements engineering is acceptance risk the highest? At what point is it the lowest? What steps can a software developer take to minimize this risk?
You have been given the responsibility to elicit requirements from a customer who tells you s/he is too busy to meet with you. What should you do?

6. 7.4 Eliciting Requirements : Quality Function Deployment
Function deployment determines the “value” (as perceived by the customer) of each function required of the system
Normal requirements
Expected requirements
Exciting requirements
What are the dangers of "Expected" and "Exciting" requirements? (Brad)
What “obvious” information about a system is a stakeholder or end-user likely to omit from the list of requirements?

7. 7.4 Eliciting Requirements
Elicitation Work Products:
a statement of need and feasibility.
a bounded statement of scope for the system or product.
a list of customers, users, and other stakeholders who participated in requirements elicitation
a description of the system’s technical environment.
a list of requirements (preferably organized by function) and the domain constraints that apply to each.
a set of usage scenarios that provide insight into the use of the system or product under different operating conditions.
any prototypes developed to better define requirements.

8. 7. 5 Developing Use-Cases
A collection of user scenarios that describe the thread of usage of a system
Each scenario is described from the point-of-view of an “actor”—a person or device that interacts with the software in some way
An actor and an end-user are not necessarily the same.
What features compose an effective use-case?
Should stakeholders be asked to develop use-cases on their own for a project?
Do any problems arise from using use-cases as part of the requirements engineering process?

9. Use-Case Diagram

10. 7.6 Building the Analysis Model
Elements of the analysis model
Scenario-based elements
Functional—processing narratives for software functions
Use-case—descriptions of the interaction between an “actor” and the system
Use case diagram, activity diagram
Class-based elements
Implied by scenarios
Class diagram
Behavioral elements
State diagram
Flow-oriented elements
Data flow diagram

11. Activity Diagram

12. Class Diagram
From the SafeHome system …

13. State Diagram

14. 7.6 Building the Analysis Model
Is the analysis model an effective way to describe system requirements? Why or why not?
Why would it be advantageous to use different modes of representation (e.g. Use Cases, Flow Charts, computer based tools) while building the analysis model? (Brad)
Why are analysis models considered a "snapshot of the system in time"? (Brad)

15. 7.7 Negotiating Requirements
Identify the key stakeholders
These are the people who will be involved in the negotiation
Determine each of the stakeholders “win conditions”
Win conditions are not always obvious
Negotiate
Work toward a set of requirements that lead to “win-win”
How can a systems developer resolve disputes effectively during negotiation?
Let’s assume that you’ve convinced the customer (you’re a very good salesperson) to agree to every demand you have as a developer. Is that always a good thing? (Brad)
What does “win-win” mean in the context of negotiation during the requirements engineering activity?

16. 7.8 Validating Requirements
Examine each element of the analysis model for consistency, omissions, and ambiguity.
What steps can be maximize the effectiveness of requirements validation? (Brad)
Do a majority of successful software projects spend a considerable about of time on requirements validation? How much time should be spent on this step?
If requirements are not consistently stated, how long will it take for problems to occur?
What are the benefits of requirement specification templates/documents?  What are the drawbacks?