Does Technology Matter?

Technology is important to our study only when it is outside the scope of our work. That is, the technology used by the adjacent systems matters, because it affects the way they communicate with our work. For example, if the adjacent system is a human, then the work must communicate in a human-understandable manner. Achieving this feat might require processing to turn automated data into human-readable form. Likewise, if the adjacent system is automated, there might be requirements to make translations or conversions of the information going to or from that adjacent system.

But that is a consideration for the technology of the adjacent systems only. The technology used inside the work is irrelevant for gathering the requirements. If you are going to gather accurate requirements, you must disregard any technology that currently exists and suppress any thought that you may have about future technology. Here "technology" means humans, paper, and low-tech devices. Imagine for the moment that no technology exists inside your work.

Imagine that no technology exists inside your work.

The rationale underlying this approach is simple. Any kind of work contains technologymachines, computers, people, paper, and so onand procedures. Often the procedures have been set up with a particular technology in mind. If the technology changes, then the procedure is no longer relevant. The implication is that any requirement you gather must not be a technological requirement, but rather a requirement for the work itself. Sometimes this target is easier to think of as "business requirements."

You, or your designer, will employ technology to implement the product. But that technology is the result of the requirements you gather. Even though you have drawn a product boundary, you still have not selected any specific technology. You, as the requirements analyst, are saying, "Here is the amount of work we choose to automatewe call that the product. Here are the requirements for the product. Now select the most appropriate technology for those requirements, both functional and nonfunctional."

To summarize the story so far: You study the work, determine the best product for that work, and then write the requirements for the product without presupposing any technology.