Lecture 5: Requirements Elicitation

Ebrahim Karami
ENGI-9874
Software Specification and Design
Outline
Today:
Motivation: Software Lifecycle
Requirements elicitation challenges
Problem statement
Requirements specification
 Types of requirements
Validating requirements
 Software Lifecycle Definition
Software lifecycle
Models for the development of software
 Set of activities and their dependency relationships to each
other to support the development of a software system
 Examples:
 Analysis, design, implementation, testing
 Design depends on analysis, testing can be done before
implementation
A Typical Example
of Software Lifecycle Activities

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation
Software Lifecycle Activities
...and their models

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Use Case
Model
Software Lifecycle Activities
...and their models

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Expressed in
terms of

Use Case Application

Model Domain
Objects
Software Lifecycle Activities
...and their models

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Expressed in Structured
terms of by

Use Case Application

Domain Sub-
Model
Objects systems
Software Lifecycle Activities
...and their models

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Expressed in Structured Realized by

terms of by

Use Case Application Solution

Domain Sub-
Model Domain
Objects systems
Objects
Software Lifecycle Activities
...and their models

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Implemented by
Expressed in Structured Realized by
terms of by

class...
class...
class...
Use Case Application Solution
Domain Sub- Source
Model Domain
Objects systems Code
Objects
Software Lifecycle Activities
...and their models

Requirements System Detailed Implemen-

Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Implemented by
Expressed in Structured Realized by Verified
terms of by
By
class...
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Use Case Application Solution
Domain Sub- Source Test
Model Domain
Objects systems Code Case
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Model
 What is the best Software Lifecycle?
Typical Lifecycle questions:
Which activities should I select when I develop software?
What are the dependencies between activities?
How should I schedule the activities?
For now we assume we have a set of predefined activities:
Requirements Elicitation, Analysis, System Design, Detailed
Design, Implementation, Testing
Today we focus on the activity Requirements Elicitation.
 Software Lifecycle Activities
Requirements System Detailed Implemen-
Analysis Testing
Elicitation Design Design tation

Implemented
Expressed in By
Structured By Realized By
Terms Of Verified
By

class...
class...
class... ?
class.... ?
Use Case Application Solution
Domain Subsystems Source Test
Model Domain
Objects Code Case Model
Objects
Techniques to elicit Requirements
Bridging the gap between end user and developer:
Questionnaires: Asking the end user a list of pre-
selected questions
Task Analysis: Observing end users in their operational
environment
Scenarios: Describe the use of the system as a series of
interactions between a specific end user and the system
Use cases: Abstractions that describe a class of
scenarios.
 Scenarios
Scenario
“that which is pinned to the scenery“ (Italian)
 A synthetic description of an event or series of actions and
events
A textual description of the usage of a system. The
description is written from an end user’s point of view
A scenario can include text, video, pictures and story boards.
It usually also contains details about the work place, social
situations and resource constraints.
 Scenario-Based Design
Focuses on concrete descriptions and particular
instances, not abstract generic ideas
It is work driven not technology driven
It is open-ended, it does not try to be complete
It is informal, not formal and rigorous
Is about envisioned outcomes, not about specified
outcomes.
Types of Scenarios
As-is scenario:
Describes a current situation. Commonly used in re-engineering
projects. The user describes the system
 Example: Description of Letter-Chess

Visionary scenario:
Describes a future system
 Example: Home Computer of the Future
Often used in greenfield engineering and interface engineering
projects
 Example: Description of an interactive internet-based Tic Tac Toe game
tournament
Visionary scenarios are often not done by the user or developer
alone.
Additional Types of Scenarios (2)
Evaluation scenario:
Description of a user task against which the system is to
be evaluated.
 Example: Four users (two novice, two experts) play in a TicTac
Toe tournament in ARENA.
Training scenario:
A description of the step by step instructions that guide a
novice user through a system
 Example: How to play Tic Tac Toe in the ARENA Game
Framework.
Scenario example: Warehouse on Fire
 Bob, driving down main street in his patrol car notices smoke coming
out of a warehouse. His partner, Alice, reports the emergency from her
car.
 Alice enters the address of the building into her wearable computer , a
brief description of its location (i.e., north west corner), and an
emergency level.
 She confirms her input and waits for an acknowledgment;
 John, the dispatcher, is alerted to the emergency by a beep of his
workstation. He reviews the information submitted by Alice and
acknowledges the report. He allocates a fire unit and sends the
estimated arrival time (ETA) to Alice.
 Alice received the acknowledgment and the ETA..
Observations about the Warehouse on Fire
Scenario
It is a concrete scenario
It describes a single instance of reporting a fire incident
It does not describe all possible situations in which a fire
can be reported

Participating actors
Bob, Alice and John.
 After the scenarios are formulated
Find all the use cases in the scenario that specify all instances of
how to report a fire
Example from the Warehouse on Fire scenario:
 “Bob… notices smoke coming out of a warehouse. His partner, Alice, reports the emergency from her
car”
 “Report Emergency“is a candidate for a use case
Describe each of these use cases in more detail
Participating actors
Describe the entry condition
Describe the flow of events
Describe the exit condition
Describe exceptions
Describe nonfunctional requirements
The set of all use cases is the basis for the Functional Model(see
next lecture)
Requirements Elicitation: Difficulties and
Challenges
Accurate communication about the domain and the
system
People with different backgrounds must collaborate to
bridge the gap between end users and developers
 Client and end users have application domain knowledge
 Developers have solution domain knowledge

Identification of an appropriate system (Definition of

the system boundary)
Provision of an unambiguous specification
Leaving out unintended features
=> 3 Examples.
 Example of an Ambiguous Specification
During an experiment, a laser beam was
directed from earth to a mirror on the Space
Shuttle Discovery

The laser beam was supposed to be reflected

back towards a mountain top 10,023 feet high
The operator entered the elevation as “10023”

The light beam never hit the mountain top

What was the problem?

The computer interpreted the number in miles...

 Example of an Unintended Feature
From the News: London underground train leaves
station without driver!
What happened?
• A passenger door was stuck and did not close
• The driver left his train to close the passenger
door
• He left the driver door open
• He relied on the specification that said the train
does not move if at least one door is open
• When he shut the passenger door,
the train left the station without him. Why?
• The driver door was not treated
as a door in the source code!
 Requirements Process
:problem
statement

Requirements Requirements
elicitation Specification

:nonfunctional
requirements

:functional
model

Analysis Analysis Model

:dynamic model

UML Activity Diagram :analysis object

model
 Requirements Specification vs Analysis
Model
Both are models focusing on the requirements from the
user’s view of the system
The requirements specification uses natural language
(derived from the problem statement)
The analysis model uses a formal or semi-formal
notation
Requirements Modeling Languages
Natural Language
Graphical Languages: UML, SysML, SA/SD
Mathematical Specification Languages: VDM (Vienna
Definition Method), Z (based on Zermelo–Fraenkel set
theory), Formal methods ….
Types of Requirements
Functional requirements
Describe the interactions between the system and its
environment independent from the implementation
“An operator must be able to define a new game“
Nonfunctional requirements
Aspects not directly related to functional behavior
“The response time must be less than 1 second”
Constraints
Imposed by the client or the environment
“The implementation language must be Java “
Also called “Pseudo requirements”.
 Functional vs. Nonfunctional Requirements
Functional Requirements Nonfunctional Requirements
 Describe user tasks which  Describe properties of the system
the system needs to support or the domain
 Phrased as actions
“Advertise a new league”  Phrased as constraints or negative
“Schedule tournament” assertions
“Notify an interest group” “All user inputs should be
acknowledged within 1 second”
“A system crash should not result in data
loss”.
 Types of Nonfunctional Requirements

Constraints or
Quality requirements Pseudo requirements
 Types of Nonfunctional Requirements
 Usability
 Reliability
 Robustness
 Safety
 Performance
 Response time
 Scalability
 Throughput
 Availability
 Supportability
 Adaptability
 Maintainability
Constraints or
Quality requirements Pseudo requirements
 Types of Nonfunctional Requirements
 Usability  Implementation
 Reliability  Interface
 Robustness  Operation
 Safety
 Packaging
 Performance
 Legal
 Response time
 Licensing (GPL, LGPL)
 Scalability
 Certification
 Throughput
 Regulation
 Availability
 Supportability
 Adaptability
 Maintainability Constraints or
Quality requirements Pseudo requirements
 Types of Nonfunctional Requirements
 Usability  Implementation
 Reliability  Interface
 Robustness  Operation
 Safety
 Packaging
 Performance
 Legal
 Response time
 Licensing (GPL, LGPL)
 Scalability
 Certification
 Throughput
 Regulation
 Availability
 Supportability
 Adaptability
 Maintainability Constraints or
Quality requirements Pseudo requirements
 Some Quality Requirements Definitions
Usability
The ease with which actors can perform a function in a system
Usability is one of the most frequently misused terms (“The
system is easy to use”)
Usability must be measurable, otherwise it is marketing
 Example: Specification of the number of steps – the measure! - to perform
a internet-based purchase with a web browser
Robustness: The ability of a system to maintain a function
even if the user enters a wrong input
even if there are changes in the environment
 Example: The system can tolerate temperatures up to 90 C

Availability: The ratio of the expected uptime of a system to

the aggregate of the expected up and down time
Example: The system is down not more than 5 minutes per week.
Nonfunctional Requirements: Examples
“Spectators must be able to watch a match without
prior registration and without prior knowledge of the
match.”
 Usability Requirement
“The system must support 10 parallel tournaments”
 Performance Requirement
“The operator must be able to add new games without
modifications to the existing system.”
 Supportability Requirement
What should not be in the Requirements?
System structure, implementation technology
Development methodology
A rational design process: How and why to fake it
 (Parnas, 1986)
Development environment
Implementation language
Reusability

It is desirable that none of these above are constrained

by the client.
 Requirements Validation
Requirements validation is a quality assurance step, usually
performed after requirements elicitation or after analysis
Correctness:
The requirements represent the client’s view
Completeness:
All possible scenarios, in which the system can be used, are
described
Consistency:
There are no requirements that contradict each other.
 Requirements Validation (2)
Clarity:
Requirements can only be interpreted in one way
Realism:
Requirements can be implemented and delivered
Traceability:
Each system component and behavior can be traced to a set of
functional requirements

Problems with requirements validation:

Requirements change quickly during requirements elicitation
Inconsistencies are easily added with each change
Tool support is needed!
Tools for Requirements Management (2)
DOORS (Telelogic)
Multi-platform requirements management tool, for teams
working in the same geographical location. DOORS XT
for distributed teams
RequisitePro (IBM/Rational)
Integration with MS Word
Project-to-project comparisons via XML baselines
RD-Link (http://www.ring-zero.com)
Provides traceability between RequisitePro & Telelogic
DOORS
Unicase (http://unicase.org)
Research tool for the collaborative development of system
models
 We can specify the Requirements for a
“Requirements Management” System
Functional requirements:
Store the requirements in a shared repository
Provide multi-user access to the requirements
Automatically create a specification document from
the requirements
Allow change management of the requirements
Provide traceability of the requirements throughout
the artifacts of the system.
Different Types of Requirements Elicitation
Greenfield Engineering
Development starts from scratch, no prior system exists,
requirements come from end users and clients
Triggered by user needs
Re-engineering
Re-design and/or re-implementation of an existing system
using newer technology
Triggered by technology enabler
Interface Engineering
Provision of existing services in a new environment
Triggered by technology enabler or new market needs
Prioritizing Requirements
High priority
Addressed during analysis, design, and implementation
A high-priority feature must be demonstrated
Medium priority
Addressed during analysis and design
Usually demonstrated in the second iteration
Low priority
Addressed only during analysis
Illustrates how the system is going to be used in the
future with not yet available technology.
 Nonfunctional Requirements
(Questions to overcome “Writers block”)
User interface and human factors
What type of user will be using the system?
Will more than one type of user be using the system?
What training will be required for each type of user?
Is it important that the system is easy to learn?
Should users be protected from making errors?
What input/output devices are available
Documentation
What kind of documentation is required?
What audience is to be addressed by each document?
 Nonfunctional Requirements (2)
Hardware considerations
What hardware is the proposed system to be used on?
What are the characteristics of the target hardware, including
memory size and auxiliary storage space?
Performance characteristics
Are there speed, throughput, response time constraints on the
system?
Are there size or capacity constraints on the data to be
processed by the system?
Error handling and extreme conditions
How should the system respond to input errors?
How should the system respond to extreme conditions?
 Nonfunctional Requirements (3)
System interfacing
Is input coming from systems outside the proposed system?
Is output going to systems outside the proposed system?
Are there restrictions on the format or medium that must be
used for input or output?
Quality issues
What are the requirements for reliability?
Must the system trap faults?
What is the time for restarting the system after a failure?
Is there an acceptable downtime per 24-hour period?
Is it important that the system be portable?
Nonfunctional Requirements (4)
System Modifications
What parts of the system are likely to be modified?
What sorts of modifications are expected?
Physical Environment
Where will the target equipment operate?
Is the target equipment in one or several locations?
Will the environmental conditions be ordinary?
Security Issues
Must access to data or the system be controlled?
Is physical security an issue?
Nonfunctional Requirements (5)
Resources and Management Issues
How often will the system be backed up?
Who will be responsible for the back up?
Who is responsible for system installation?
Who will be responsible for system maintenance?
 Heathrow Luggage System
On April 5, 2008 a system update was performed to
upgrade the baggage handling:
50 flights were canceled on the day of the update
A “Bag Backlog” of 20,000 bags was produced (Naomi
Campbell had a fit and was arrested)
The bags were resorted in Italy and eventually sent to the
passengers via Federal Express
What happened? Explanation:
Computer failure in the high storage bay area in combination
with shortage of personal
Heathrow Luggage System Requirements
Automate the processing of No-Show passengers
Use a high bay storage area (“high rack warehouse”)
Provide a chaotic storage capability
Combine two existing luggage systems (“legacy systems”):
Early (hours before) and last minute checkins
The system must be tested with 2500 volunteers
The throughput must be at least 12000 suitcases/hour
Use available information on the internet:
 http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=610
 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=FDX:US&sid=
aY4IqhBRcytA
 Additional Readings
 Scenario-Based Design
 John M. Carrol, Scenario-Based Design: Envisioning Work and Technology in System
Development, John Wiley, 1995
 Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human Computer Interaction, Morgan
Kaufman, 2001
 David Parnas
 A rational design process: How and why to fake it, IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, Volume 12 ,  Issue 2  (February 1986)
 Heathrow Luggage System:
 http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=610
 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=FDX:US&sid=aY4IqhBRcyt
A

Additional Information about Heathrow (In German)

Panne auf Flughöhe Null (Spiegel):
http://www.spiegel.de/reise/aktuell/0,1518,544768,00.html
Zurück in das rotierende Chaos (FAZ):
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub7F4BEE0E0C39429A8565089709B70C44/Doc~EC1120B27386C4E34A67A5EE8E5523433~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

 OMG Systems Modeling Language (SysML 1.1):

 http://www.omg.org/spec/SysML/1.1/PDF/, November 2008