What is requirements management?

What is requirements management?

The short answer is that it is a way of describing exactly what it is that a product/service must fulfill.

Requirements management describes the part of the development process where various requirements and wishes for a given product are determined, handled, communicated, and negotiated on an ongoing basis.

They can come from many different places: environmental requirements, durability/material requirements, price requirements, production requirements, requirements from the marketing department, learnings from user testing, etc.

There are different ways to approach specifications, but requirements and wishes are one way to set it up. Here, requirements are the parameters that the given product/service must meet. wishes are what you hope to achieve with the new product.

While all requirements must be met, you will usually find that some original wishes are met, while others are not. And often both requirements and wishes change along the way.

An example for a desk chair could be:

Requirements:

It must have at least 5 wheels.

It must not weigh more than 10 kg.

It must be able to withstand a weight of 150 kg.

You must be able to adjust the seat height.

Wishes:

It should only be made from materials that can be reused or recycled.

It should be able to last for over 4 years with daily use.

You should be able to adjust the back support.

These requirements and wishes are very general, and perhaps not the most relevant to you and your daily life. In a more complex project, the scope will of course be much larger.

As another example, you can instead imagine that it is decided that the desk chair should be for the tech-interested user. Then there may also be requirements and wishes in relation to aesthetics, minimum selling price, durability, choice of material, several setting options, cup holder, Bluetooth speaker in the armrest, etc.

You can also choose to make a chair as cheap as possible, while meeting the legal criteria. Then there are demands for a maximum price, number of setting options, etc.

Looking at it this way; one's specifications and requirements determine which type of chair you get, but it does not determine, for example, whether the chair is specifically made in aluminium, steel or plastic. The design team/developers have to figure that out.

Requirements management in practice

Specifications like the above mentioned exist in the vast majority of companies and will in some places have over 100 requirements and a lot of wishes, where they are specified down to the smallest detail.

There are also specifications used in public calls for tenders to everything from bridge and metro construction to DAB channels, and the purchase of hospital equipment.

The difficult art in drawing up specifications is to get them properly formulated, so that they can be actively used as a strength to the project rather than becoming a hindrance.

It makes no significant difference whether you are part of a software company, a product designer, build buildings, or design a production hall – the same basic rules apply and the same basic characteristics apply to all good specifications. The specification tells what the product must fulfill, but not how it must be done.

The important elements of governance

In the work with requirements management, there is extensive work to clarify and remedy inconsistencies in the organization, formulation of requirements and wishes, as well as an ongoing evaluation of the requirements and goals of the process.

Due to the many stakeholders, there will be high expectations of your skills for clear and legible communication about requirements and wishes - this applies both in relation to negotiating new ideas with stakeholders, clear and unambiguous formulations, as well as ensuring that the development team works towards the same direction.

Requirement specifications require a watchful eye throughout the entire process. Continuous validation and adaptation of specifications helps to ensure a faster time-to-market, a better product, and the ability to meet user expectations.

For this reason, well-executed requirements management can also be important, as it can help with more effective risk management of e.g.:

• Unknown technology capabilities
• Change in user and market needs during the project
• Mitigation efforts vs size of risks.