Monday, October 31, 2011

INVEST for requirements

A very useful acronym for use when thinking about requirements. This simple discipline helps a great deal.

Independent
Each and every requirement must be independent. It can exist in itself. If it's too large then reduce it.

Negotiable
Requireemts are not contracts. They are points of conversation and they can evolve. Clients often think that a documented requirement is the end of the story. This causes problems and must be avoided.

Valuable
The requirement should be presented as a value to the client. It makes sense to the client.

Estimable
Requirements are use in planning. Requirements must be granular enough for understanding and estimation.

Sized Appropriately
In Agile, a requirement must be around 50% of the iteration.

Testable
All requirements should be testable to ensure the requirement has been achieved.

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