Advanced Requirement Writing Methods
for Business and Systems Analysts

This nugget (Rule 4) helps you improve the understandability of your business requirements by removing ambiguity and subjectivity. Only if other people clearly understand what your business requirement expresses - and what it does not - are you likely to get the technology solution that meets the requirement.

The Price of Ambiguity
Ambiguity Kills Projects
The Business of Requirements
Who Needs Clarity, Anyway?
Clarifying Requirements
Rules for a “Good” Requirement Sentence
The Challenge to Understanding
Understanding Requirements You Wrote
Exercise: Finding Ambiguity
Using a “Search Party” to Test for Understandability
Rewriting Requirements to Find Ambiguity
Changing Environments
Exercise: Evaluating Rewrites
Exercise: Rewriting Requirements for Clarity
Reducing the Ambiguity in Your Requirements
Misinterpretation Ruins Requirements
Exercise: Rewording Requirements
Increasing Clarity of your Requirements
Exercise: Acronyms and Glossary
Ambiguity Ruins Requirements
The Importance of Asking Questions
Exercise: Asking Questions for Clarity
Testing Readability
Exercise: Readability Indexes
Summary: Rules for an Understandable Requirement Statement
Exercise: Final Exam
Review: Rules for Effective Business Requirements
Where Can You Go From Here?

Recognize ambiguous terms and phrases.
Revise the requirement by replacing vague or non-standard terms and phrases.
Use a glossary to define terms and expand acronyms.
Clarify assumptions by adding context.
Use a standard readability index to improve understanding.

90+ minutes

Business Process Managers
Business Process Users
Business System Analysts
Subject Matter Experts
System Analysts
User liaison personnel
Anyone who would like to understand their customer’s needs