Elicit and Analyse Requirements 

Elicit and Analyze Requirements is the process of collecting stakeholder needs and systematically analyzing them to define clear, prioritized, and feasible requirements.It answers:

It answers;

• What do stakeholders really need?

• Are these needs feasible and aligned with value?

Objectives

• Capture complete and accurate requirements

• Avoid ambiguity and misunderstandings

• Ensure alignment with business goals

• Provide a foundation for scope definition and design
  
  

Two Key Parts

1. Elicit Requirements (Gathering Needs)

Purpose

Understand stakeholder expectations (often unclear or hidden)

Techniques

• Interviews

• Workshops / Focus groups

• Brainstorming

• Surveys & questionnaires

• Observation (job shadowing)

• Prototyping

• User stories (Agile)
  
  

Output

• Raw requirements (often unstructured)

• Stakeholder expectations
  
  

2. Analyze Requirements (Refining Needs)

Purpose

Convert raw inputs into clear, structured, and usable requirements

Key Activities

a. Prioritization

Rank requirements based on:

• • Business value

  • Risk

  • urgency
    
    

Example: MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won’t)

b. Feasibility Analysis

• Technical feasibility

• Financial feasibility

• Operational feasibility
  
  

c. Conflict Resolution

• Resolve conflicting stakeholder needs
  
  

d. Decomposition

• Break high-level needs into detailed requirements

e. Modeling

Use diagrams:

• • Process flows

  • Use case diagrams

  • Data models
    
    

Output

• Well-defined, structured requirements

• Basis for scope and design
  
  

Types of Requirements

• Business requirements → Why the project exists

• Stakeholder requirements → Expectations

• Functional requirements → What the system should do

• Non-functional requirements → Performance, security, usability
  
  

Project Example (Practical)

Project:

 Solar Power Plant 

Elicitation

Stakeholder inputs:

• Government: Regulatory compliance

• Investors: ROI targets

• Local community: Minimal environmental impact
  
  

Analysis

• Prioritize compliance (mandatory)

• Evaluate cost vs environmental safeguards

• Resolve conflict: Cost vs sustainability
  
  

Final Requirement Example

“The plant must comply with environmental regulations and maintain noise levels below X decibels”

Key Insight

• Stakeholders often say what they want, not what they need

•  Analysis converts wants → real requirements