Managing Software Requirements: A Unified Approach

Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig9780201615937, 0-20161-593-2

“A comprehensive solution to the requirements challenges faced by every development team. Full of insight and ideas all developers can learn from.” –Ivar Jacobson
“Many projects fail for the simple reason that the developers fail to build the right thing: They either deliver a system that does not meet the expectations of its intended users, or they deliver a system that focuses on secondary functions at the expense of its primary use. Drawing on their extensive experience, Dean and Don demonstrate how to employ an industrial-strength requirements process, one that helps ensure you will build the right thing. Developers of any kind of application should read this book.” –Grady Booch
Despite the wealth of development knowledge, experience, and tools generally available today, a substantial percentage of software projects continue to fail, often because requirements are not correctly determined and defined at the outset, or are not managed correctly as the project unfolds. Clients do not always know or express their needs precisely, and too often designers and developers do not ask the right questions at the right times. As a result, projects often spin out of control as “feature bloat” and shifting priorities cause budgets and schedules to exceed expectations. Managing Software Requirements focuses on this critical cause of failure and offers a practical, proven approach to building systems that meet customers’ needs–on time and within budget.
The authors are skilled practitioners who have spent their careers in the trenches building high-quality applications, including safety-critical, real-time systems. Using an informal, approachable style, their own war stories, and a comprehensive case study they show how designers and developers can effectively identify requirements by employing the power of use cases and more traditional forms of requirements expression. The book illustrates proven techniques for determining, implementing, verifying, and validating requirements. It describes six vital Team Skills for managing requirements throughout the lifecycle of a project: Analyzing the Problem, Understanding User Needs, Defining the System, Managing Scope, Refining the System Definition, and Building the Right System. Managing Software Requirements specifically addresses the ongoing challenge of managing change and describes a process for assuring that project scope is successfully defined and agreed upon by all stakeholders.
Topics covered include:
* The five steps in problem analysis * Business modeling and system engineering * Techniques for eliciting requirements from clients, users, developers, and other stakeholders * Applying and refining use cases * Prototyping * Organizing and managing requirements information * Establishing project scope and managing customers * Using both informal and technical methods for specifying requirements * How to measure and improve the quality of your product’s requirements * Moving from requirements to implementation * Verifying and validating the system * Managing change
The book concludes with a step-by-step guide to incorporating these powerful techniques into future projects.

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Table of contents :
Table of Contents……Page 1
BackCover……Page 2
Inside the Minds-Software Product Management-Managing Software Development From Idea to Product to Marketing to Sales……Page 3
Forward……Page 5
What This Book Is Not……Page 7
Executive Summary……Page 8
What Is Product Management, Anyhow?……Page 9
Emphasis of This Book……Page 11
What’s Different About Software?……Page 12
Packaged Versus Direct Sales Software……Page 13
Applications Elsewhere……Page 14
Software Product Types……Page 15
Packaged or Retail Software……Page 16
Open-Source Infrastructure Software……Page 17
Implications for Product Development……Page 18
Releasing Packaged Software……Page 19
Releasing Enterprise Software……Page 20
Few Companies Are 100 Percent Either Way……Page 21
ROI-A Different Perception of Software……Page 22
Market Perceptions: Cost Center Tool……Page 23
Implications for Management and Design……Page 24
Sales Generation Tool……Page 25
Potential Pitfalls……Page 26
Stakeholders in Direct Sales Software……Page 27
Sales……Page 33
Support……Page 36
Marketing……Page 37
Finance……Page 41
Stakeholders in Packaged Software……Page 43
Tech Publications……Page 44
Sales……Page 45
Channels……Page 46
Marketing……Page 47
Support……Page 48
What Makes a Good Product Manager?……Page 49
Trust……Page 50
Loyalty……Page 51
Fair Decision-making……Page 52
Collaboration……Page 53
Motivation……Page 54
Common Goals……Page 55
Deliverables of a Product Manager……Page 56
Product Requirements Document (PRD)……Page 57
Functional Requirements Document (FRD)……Page 58
Schedules……Page 59
The Release Process……Page 60
Beta Management……Page 61
Proposals……Page 62
Collateral Documentation……Page 63
Gathering Requirements……Page 64
Role of Careful Project Management……Page 65
Accountability……Page 67
Resource Planning……Page 68
Project Planning……Page 70
You Do Your Job, I Do Mine……Page 71
Process Oriented Versus Market Reactive……Page 72
Process Oriented……Page 73
Market Reactive……Page 74
Technical Solutions for Methodologies……Page 75
Extreme Programming……Page 76
Augmenting With New Features……Page 77
Gathering Enhancement Requests……Page 78
Is the Product Failing?……Page 80
Software Localization……Page 82
Software Viability in the International Market……Page 84
Copyright Issues From Country to Country……Page 85
Country-specific Barriers……Page 86
Business Development and Partnerships……Page 87
What’s In It For Me?……Page 89
Practical Pointers and Management Myths……Page 90
Management Myths……Page 93
Technology Trends-and a Bit of History……Page 96
Implications for Success and Failure in Software Product Management……Page 105
See Real Trends, Not False Trends……Page 106
Move Forward With Your Vision……Page 107
Avoid Complacency……Page 108
Stay Your Course………Page 109
…But Remain Flexible……Page 110