Statistics: (2182 Views) (0 Comments) Print Posted: Friday, April 20, 2007 Categories: Requirements Analysis (BABOK KA), Leadership & Management

In this column, I summarize the 12 worst of the most common requirements engineering problems I have observed over many years working on and with real projects as a requirements engineer, consultant, trainer, and evaluator. I also list the negative consequences of these problems, and most importantly suggest some industry best practices that can help you avoid these problems, or at least fix them once they have raised their ugly heads. Although there is nothing really new here, these problems are well worth revisiting because they are still far too common, probably because the associated industry best practices are still far from being widely put into practice. 

1. Poor Requirements Quality
2. Over Emphasis on Simplistic Use Case Modeling
3. Inappropriate Constraints
4. Requirements Not Traced
5. Missing Requirements
6. Excessive Requirements Volatility including Unmanaged Scope Creep
7. Inadequate Verification of Requirements Quality
8. Inadequate Requirements Validation
9. Inadequate Requirements Management
10. Inadequate Requirements Process
11. Inadequate Tool Support
12. Unprepared Requirements Engineers

Author: Donald Firesmith