Chapter 8. The Challenge of Requirements Elicitation

Key Points

Requirements elicitation is complicated by three endemic syndromes.
The "Yes, But" syndrome stems from human nature and the users' inability to experience the software as they might a physical device.
Searching for requirements is like searching for "Undiscovered Ruins"; the more you find, the more you know remain .
The " User and the Developer" syndrome reflects the profound differences between these two, making communication difficult.

In the next few chapters, we will look at a variety of techniques for eliciting requirements from the users and other stakeholders of the system. ^[1] This process seems so straightforward. Sit down with the future users of the system and other stakeholders and ask them what they need the system to do.

^[1] We use the term user generically in this context. The techniques apply to eliciting requirements from all stakeholders, both users and nonusers.

Why, then, is this so difficult? Why do we need so many techniques? Indeed, why do we need this team skill at all? In order to gain a fuller appreciation of this particular problem, let's first take a look at three syndromes that seem to complicate these matters immensely.