User Requirements

Use case diagram

User Requirements are documents that detail how a system, tool or process should behave to meet user needs. User can be human or machines active within a process or system.

Purpose

User requirements documents act as a link between the Project Charter which defines the project vision and project design, development, and deployment. User requirements allow Business Analysts to validate needs with end-users so that they can be fully understood by the development team before work begins.

Scope

User requirements are created to define object relationships and behavior, and textual and graphical tools which can do this are in scope. Some common artifacts used are use cases, activity diagrams, event-response tables, process stories, and business process models.

Methodology

A user requirements document is the outcome of elicitation of business requirements. Interviews with end-users, workshops, and document reviews are all methods used to elicit the requirements and understand the needs of a user or a group of users. Sometimes users will have conflicting views on what is needed, and in such a case, it is the responsibility of the Business Analyst to understand the context and the different perspectives well enough so that she can help to bring consensus. Depending on the maturity level of an organization's business analysis structure, the Business Analyst may simply have to document already defined user needs or she may be required to deep-dive into a complex problem and clearly define user needs based on vague, conflicting, and missing information.

Outline

1. Document overview
   1. Document version procedure
2. Project Background
   1. ​Stakeholders
   2. References
   3. Business need or problem statement
3. ​Project goals
   1. ​Vision statement
   2. In scope
   3. Out of scope
4. User requirements
   1. prioritization of requirements
   2. User interface definition
5. Business Rules
   1. Impact on Business processes
   2. Managing impact and change
6. External and Internal Constrains
7. People, systems, and processes affected
   1. User profiles
   2. Use cases and Use case diagrams
   3. Impact policies and support
   4. Escalation policies
8. User manuals, and training
9. Project collateral
10. Glossary of terms