James Kovacs shares a great insight on software testing and the software testing process. His epiphany about test driven development makes it obvious to all of us why this technique is so powerful.
Communication / Product Management / Requirements / Requirements Models / Software requirements specification / Use Cases
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Communicating Intent With Implementers
Giving a functional spec to developers and testers is not sufficient for creating great software. To a developer, a spec is only the what and not the why. And for a tester, the software requirements specification is neither. Use cases provide the why that explains the intent of the system for the implementation team.
Foundation series / Requirements / Requirements gathering / Software requirements specification
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Foundation Series: Data Dictionary Definition
What is a data dictionary and how is it used when communicating and managing requirements?
Product Management / Requirements / Software requirements specification / Writing
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Writing Passionate Requirements
One of the ten big rules of writing a good MRD is writing passionate requirements. What in the world is a passionate requirement [they were all wondering]? When you believe in the product, are committed to the work, and aren’t bored, you can write passionately. The goal of a requirement is to create sustained understanding. A dry document can create understanding, but an engaging document will sustain it.
Product Management / Requirements / Software requirements specification / Writing
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Writing Atomic Requirements
One of the ten big rules of writing a good MRD is writing atomic requirements. Just as verifiable requirements must be concretely measurable as having been met or not, so must atomic requirements. If a requirement has multiple elements that can be implemented separately, it is not atomic.
Product Management / Requirements / Software requirements specification / Testing / Writing
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Writing Verifiable Requirements
One of the ten big rules of writing a good MRD is writing verifiable requirements. Verification is both a function of having a precise goal, and having the ability to affordably measure the requirement. A precise goal is a verifiable requirement if we can clearly answer “yes” or “no” when asked if the requirement has been implemented. We also face the practical realities of being able to measure the results profitably.
Outsourcing / Product Management / Requirements / Software requirements specification / Writing
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Writing Unambiguous Requirements
One of the ten big rules of writing a good MRD is writing unambiguous requirements. Ambiguity is a function of communication. The writing can be generically ambiguous, or ambiguous to the writer. A requirement could be precise in intent, but ambiguous in interpretation by the reader. Understanding our audience is as important as precision in language. We write unambiguous requirements because misinterpretation of requirements is the source of 40% of all bugs in delivered software.
Product Management / Requirements / Software requirements specification
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Writing Consistent Requirements
One of the ten big rules of writing a good MRD is writing consistent requirements. Consistency within an MRD has two dimensions that are important to requirements – logical consistency and grammatical consistency. There is also the element of writing an MRD that is consistent with other documentation – external consistency.
Product Management / Requirements / Software requirements specification
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Writing Complete Requirements
One of the ten big rules of writing a good MRD is writing complete requirements. We identify problems and opportunities in the market. We determine that one of these problems is valuable enough and practical to implement. Then we have to write the requirements, and make sure that the requirements will completely solve the targeted problem.