Some organizations combine requirements definition activities with data analysis or with application prototyping activities. While that can be an effective approach, the danger lies in losing sight of the big picture, that is, the objectives and scope of the project. When data modelers dig into the data details too soon, analysis paralysis often results. When the application developers start prototyping too soon, scope creep often occurs. Other potential risks are that functionality or data are missed, security issues are ignored, requirements are not prioritized, and business objectives are not targeted . For all these reasons it is advisable to separate requirements gathering from data analysis and prototyping. |