Video and Photographs


A video or photograph is a way of capturing some moments in time so that you can study them later. It is a particularly useful technique if you want to show the current work to people who cannot visit the stakeholders' workplace. Also, we take photos of whiteboardsto show the progression of ideasand find that we often refer back to these images and include some of them in documents.

Video can be used to codevelop systems. Users and requirements analysts participate in workshops and brainstormsthe proceedings are videoed. Interviews and on-site observations are also videoed. Video is used initially to record, and then confirm, the proceedings. In addition, you can show the video to developers who do not get the opportunity to meet face to face with the users.

Video can serve as an adjunct to interviewing and observing the users in their own workplace. Users have their own ways of accomplishing tasks. They have their own ways of categorizing the information that they use, and their own ways of solving problems that they have found worked well for them in their particular situation. Thus, by using video to capture the users at work, you also capture their ways of doing their jobs, their concerns, their preferences and idiosyncrasies.

Of course, video can also be used in a more structured way. For example, you might select a business use case and ask the users to work through typical situations they encounter while you make a video recording of them. As they work, the users describe the special circumstances, the additional information they use, the exceptions, and so on. The shrugs, grimaces, and gestures that are normally lost when taking notes are faithfully recorded for later playback and dissection.

Obviously, you must ask permission before you begin to video someone. Keep in mind that whoever you are videoing will initially freeze in front of the camera, but subjects usually relax after a few minutes and forget the camera is there. Do not ask any important questions in the first five minutes, as the answers may be given for the benefit of the camera, and not for the benefit of accuracy.

DeGrace, Peter, and Leslie Hulet Stahl. Wicked Problems, Righteous Solutions: A Catalogue of Modern Software Engineering Paradigms. Yourdon Press, 1990. This book has been around for a relatively long time, but it has some relevant ideas on video to pass along.


We suggest that you try video in the following circumstances:

  • Video users and developers participating in use case workshops and brainstorms.

  • Video interviews and on-site observations.

  • Video users at work.

  • Video a business event. Ask the users to work through their typical response to an event, and to describe how they do their jobs.

If video does not seem practical in your environment, then use photographs. We always carry a small digital camera as part of our requirements analysis kit. During interviews, meetings, and workshops, we take photographs of stakeholders, whiteboards, flip charts, offices, manufacturing plants, and anything else that we think will be useful in helping to discover the requirements. We often include photographs in minutes and progress reports. Photos are an effective way of giving people a detailed review without having to write a huge report.




Mastering the Requirements Process
Mastering the Requirements Process (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0321419499
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 371

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