Activity 6.2: Determining Requirements, Wants, and Constraints

Activity 6.2: Determining
Requirements, Wants, and Constraints
Requirements indicate to the project team what the final business solution has
to do to address the business challenge from the business and user perspectives.
Wants indicate what people would like to see in the solution to the business
challenge. The development team will incorporate wants that improve the final
product and provide value-added features for the users.
Constraints play as important a role as requirements. If a final solution does not
adhere to the constraints of the business environment, the project team risks
developing a product that will never be deployed in the business.
In this activity, you will identify and prioritize requirements and wants. Then
you will identify the constraints.
Objectives
After completing this lab, you will be able to:
!
Determine the requirements, wants, and constraints from user and business
perspectives.

Before You Begin
This activity consists of individual work and class discussion.
To complete this activity, you will need the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc. case
study found in Appendix 1, and the business challenge and vision statement
developed in Module 2.
Time to complete this activity: 30 minutes followed by a 15-minute
discussion
46 Activity 6.2: Determining Requirements, Wants, and Constraints



Exercise 1: Determining Requirements

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Review case study for requirements (10 minutes)
1. Review the case study in light of the business challenge, vision statement,
and requirements.
If you have analyzed the use cases and usage scenarios properly, you now
have a complete description of the processes in Ferguson and Bardell, Inc.
that relate to the timesheet system. By reviewing the usage scenarios, the
business challenge and vision statement, and the case study, you should be
able to determine the requirements that are critical from business and user
perspectives.
Requirement





Activity 6.2: Determining Requirements, Wants, and Constraints 47



Exercise 1: Determining Wants
!
Review case study for wants (10 minutes)
1. Review the case study in light of the business challenge, vision statement,
and requirements.
2. Prioritize each want by assigning a letter A, B, C, or D:
A = High
B = Medium
C = Low
D = Not determined (you need to go back to user for more information)

Priority Want





48 Activity 6.2: Determining Requirements, Wants, and Constraints



Exercise 2: Determining Constraints
!
Review case study for constraints (10 minutes)
1. Review the case study in light of the business challenge, vision statement,
and requirements.
2. Evaluate the information to determine if there are characteristics of the
business environment that cannot or will not be changed.
3. Identify characteristics that are related to the business challenge and vision
statement.
4. List the constraints in the space provided. Suggest the implications for the
constraint on the business challenge and vision statement.
Constraint Implications and potential impact