Software requirements elicitation interview

When our BA asked for more details on this feature, it turned out that the solution had to download more than files at a time. Realizing that this would influence system performance, the business analyst specified a time limit for the downloading process. Eliciting requirements usually happens in three stages. During these stages, a business analyst collects relevant information from the client, conducts elicitation sessions with stakeholders, and gets approval for the requirements before handing them over to developers.

Preparation starts with business analysts collecting the documentation they need and analyzing the current system if one exists. Documentation usually includes but is not limited to :. To speed up the study of complex documents, a BA usually asks the client to provide a subject-matter expert SME — someone who knows the organization, project, and technology well.

The next preparatory step is analyzing stakeholder roles. During this analysis, a BA defines all stakeholders affected by the project and decides which of them should be involved in elicitation. This stage is necessary to speed up the elicitation process, engage only relevant stakeholders in the discussion, and keep everyone affected by future changes informed.

We prepare a table that lists various project tasks and stakeholders. A business analyst then determines whether a particular stakeholder is responsible or accountable for an activity, can consult on it, or should be informed about changes. For one of our projects, we had to reduce the call handling time in a call center by introducing a new system for taking calls.

This system impacted a lot of people: operators, supervisors, the operations department, etc. Our business analysts prepared a RACI matrix that allowed them to quickly assess the needs of stakeholders, determine their responsibilities, and figure out how to work with each of them without causing any issues.

Once stakeholder analysis is completed, the business analyst prepares use case and process flow diagrams to discuss them with stakeholders.

A use case diagram is a graphical representation of a relationship between an actor a user, application, or system and a solution.

By discussing use cases with stakeholders, we agreed on the swiftest and most comfortable interactions with the system. A process flow diagram is a chart that visualizes the processes happening inside a solution. It shows participants in the process, steps in the process, decision points, events, and their triggers.

Besides preparing themselves, business analysts prepare stakeholders for elicitation. At this stage, BAs make sure all participants understand the goal and process of elicitation.

Preparation includes:. Only after a BA outlines the list of questions to discuss and the stakeholders to participate in discussions do they start eliciting requirements. Elicitation happens during a series of meetings with various stakeholders. During these meetings, a business analyst has several tasks:. Once elicitation is done, a business analyst goes through the requirements to make sure that each of these questions is answered for each requirement:.

Requirements are documented and maintained with a specifications template, which is convenient both for developers and stakeholders. After that, stakeholders confirm that everything is documented correctly and the BA hands the requirements over to the development team.

At Apriorit, we have a set of effective techniques for eliciting requirements. Business analysts choose a technique for requirements elicitation depending on the stakeholders and tasks at hand.

At Apriorit, we usually conduct interviews and surveys, prepare questionnaires, and analyze software and user interfaces as these are the most comfortable and useful techniques for gathering information. An interview entails eliciting requirements from a group of stakeholders — or, in rare occasions, from one stakeholder — during a meeting. An interview can be conducted in person, during a video call, via email, or in a messenger.

For example, emails to customers from South Korea or Japan should contain a lot of polite constructions because a simple list of questions might be considered impolite. Americans prefer short and accurate emails. A survey or questionnaire is a good option in case a BA needs to get information from a large audience all at once.

In software engineering, such requirements are often called functional specifications. Answer : Software Requirement Validation : After requirement specifications are developed, the requirements mentioned in this document are validated. User might ask for illegal, impractical solution or experts may interpret the requirements incorrectly.

This results in huge increase in cost if not nipped in the bud. Requirements can be checked against following conditions -. Answer : SRS should come up with following features:. Answer : Static program analysis is the analysis of computer software that is performed without actually executing programs analysis performed on executing programs is known as dynamic analysis. In most cases the analysis is performed on some version of the source code, and in the other cases, some form of the object code.

Popular Interview Questions. All Interview Questions. IT Skills. Management Skills. Communication Skills. Business Skills. Digital Marketing Skills. Human Resources Skills. Health Care Skills. Finance Skills. All Courses. All Practice Tests. Business Analyst Interview Questions Question 3. Business Analyst Tutorial Question 5. A software is widely accepted if it is - easy to operate. Manual Testing Interview Questions Question Broadly software requirements should be categorized in two categories: Functional Requirements.

Non-Functional Requirements. Software Engineering Tutorial Question User should be able to mail any report to management. Users can be divided into groups and groups can be given separate rights. Should comply business rules and administrative functions. Software is developed keeping downward compatibility intact. Business Analyst Interview Questions Question Jenkins Tutorial Question Automation Testing Interview Questions Question Software testing Tutorial Question Requirements can be checked against following conditions - If they can be practically implemented.

If they are valid and as per functionality and domain of software. If there are any ambiguities. If they are complete. If they can be demonstrated. Jenkins Interview Questions Question Answer : SRS should come up with following features: User Requirements are expressed in natural language. Technical requirements are expressed in structured language, which is used inside the organization.

Design description should be written in Pseudo code. Format of Forms and GUI screen prints. Define the constraints for system development. Requirements elicitation Methods: There are a number of requirements elicitation methods. It is impossible to interview every stakeholder hence representatives from groups are selected based on their expertise and credibility.

Skip to content. Change Language. Related Articles. Introduction of Software Engineering. Software Requirements. Software Testing and Debugging. Table of Contents. Improve Article.