What is Project Requirement Elicitation

Requirement elicitation is a process performed by analysts who gather and understand information. This process involves the following factors:

Fact-finding. Fact-finding uses mechanisms such as interviews, questionnaires, and observation of the operational environment of which the system will become a part.

Validating the customers understanding of the gathered information. Validation involves creating a representation of elicitation results in a form that will focus attention on open issues that can be reviewed by those who provided the information. Possible representations include summary documents, usage scenarios, prototypes, and graphic models. A requirement proposal, requirement communication, and requirement definition achieve requirement elicitation. A requirement proposal outlines the need for customer requirements. The proposal requests an update that modifies or corrects an error in an existing system or develops a new system. A requirement proposal is sometimes referred to as a statement of work and states what is required from a system developer. It is an agreement that the customer and the system developer will abide by in the future. The requirement proposal may ask for the system developers ability to meet projected growth and operational changes. It can also ask for detailed costs, estimates of installation manpower, and an implementation plan. It may ask for a contractual agreement that will include responsibilities, delivery schedule, penalty clauses for missed deadlines, and explicit definitions of what constitutes the systems acceptance.

Communicating open issues for resolution. Requirement communication involves the iterative elicitation and refinement of information from a variety of sources, which provides the customer with divergent perceptions of what is needed. The system analyst learns the applications and attributes of the product for delivery to the customer. The form of communication is meetings and phone conversations between the customer and the system analyst.