Exploring Requirements: Quality
Before Design by Gerald M. Weinberg
My Favorite Book On The Art Of Requirements Gathering
TITLE : Exploring Requirements- Quality Before Design
AUTHOR : Donald C. Gause & Gerald M. Weinberg
FORMAT : Hardback Book
PUBLISHER : Dorset House Publishing
DATE : 1989
SIZE: About 7 x 10
PAGES: 300
Personal Review: Exploring Requirements: Quality Before
Design by Gerald M. Weinberg
This book is a *must* read by anyone involved in the process of
developing software.

Ninety percent of software projects fail, and thirty percent don't even
produce a product. That leaves the other sixty percent that produce a
product nobody wants.
* Have you ever worked on a project where you delivered what the
customer asked for, but not what they wanted?
* Have you ever worked on a project with massive scope creep that
threatened the very existence of the project?
* Have you ever worked on a project where the requirements constantly
changed underneath you as if trying to build a house on shifting sand?
"This book is about the requirements process--the part of development in
which people attempt to discover what is desired." (page. xv)
While I read this book well over a decade ago, little has changed. The truth
and advice contained herein is still as valuable as ever. It isn't that
programmers are incapable of delivering what the customers want, but
rather that programmers deliver what the customer *says* they want. And
what the customer *says* they want, isn't what they *really* want.
Many of the problems associated with software engineering are simply a
matter of gathering inadequate requirements. Management wants to see
specifications, now! Or perhaps management wants to see code by
yesterday! Specifications (functional, detailed, design, whatever) and code
built upon incorrect or incomplete requirements will produce, at best, an
incorrect or incomplete product.
Okay, you already knew the problem. The strength of this book is an
eminently practical approach to eliminating incorrect or incomplete
requirements. This is a "how to get accurate requirements" book with real
methods you can use.
The author covers these topics (and more):
* Maps and notation (how we write the requirements)
* Ambiguity: the costs, the source, and how to conquer it
* Establishing a problem statement
* Using both direct questions and context free questions
* Getting the right people involved
* Making meetings work for everybody
* The nuts and bolts of running a brainstorming meeting
* Using right brain (creative) techniques
* Naming the project
* Dealing with conflict
* Clarifying expectations
* Moving from functions, to attributes, to constraints, to preferences, to
expectations
* Ambiguity metrics

* Proper review of requirements by the proper people
* Measuring customer satisfaction
* Testing
* Studying existing products
* Getting agreement
This is a book that should be read cover to cover. The table of contents
extends over eight pages, which makes it easy to reference any particular
idea in the book. There is also a seven page index.
This is a must read for every Business Analyst, every Software
Development Manager, and every Software Developer. If you work in
software, read this book. It is a classic. (Note: the techniques here are
not restricted to software--I am.)
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