Demystifying Requirements Documents
Far too often requirements are discovered during internal testing, validation and verification, or User Acceptance Testing (UAT); far worse, during delivery. Discovery of requirements beyond Planning Phase for both goods and services can have a detrimental impact on cost, schedule, and quality and potentially terminate the project. Furthermore, it can negatively impact on customer perception and satisfaction, which can manifest in declining sales and revenue. Clearly identifying, detailing, and documenting requirements in the Planning Phase of the project is critical to projects successful execution.
So, what is a Requirements Document? A Requirements Document is a structured and detailed description of what the intended goods or services must accomplish. It focuses on what the project team must achieve and how they can achieve it. There are numerous benefits for producing a well-defined comprehensive requirements document including:
Ensuring key stakeholders, customers, partners, and the project team are aligned with the project goals, objectives, scope, and deliverables
Serves as communication tool that fosters common understanding among project teams, stakeholders, partners and vendors, and customers and helps avoid any miscommunication and misunderstanding of project scope and objectives
Serves as a roadmap and provides a reference point for the delivery team, clarifying the specifications and constraints and avoiding scope creep during project execution
Acts as a fundamental contract between delivery teams, vendors, partners, and customers by detailing the deliverables and expectations
Helps keep the delivery team focused and on course, avoiding any delays, cost overruns, and failure to meet expectations
Provides a baseline for developing test cases and scenarios, a mechanism for verifying and validating that the delivery meets or exceeds expectations
Requirements documents are living documents that must evolve and be updated consistently and continuously to reflect changes as the project matures and new discoveries or clarifications are made. However, not all Requirements Documents are the same. There are at least 10+ Requirement Document types that are widely used across public and private sectors. They serve unique purposes with specific objectives. However, depending on the level of detail and scope of each document, there may be considerable overlaps across the requirements documents, resulting in redundancy. In such cases, project teams spend countless hours deconflicting and synchronizing requirements across the many versions of the requirement documents, risking negatively impacting the project schedule, cost, and quality. It is particularly critical for project teams to assess and identify the right type and combination of requirements documents with the intent of minimizing redundancy and overlap. A practical approach is to combine two or more similar types and tailor the content outline to suit the project functions and needs.
There is little value in overly detailed requirements documents; it is most effective and efficient when requirements documents are clear and concise and avoid ambiguity to help the project teams and stakeholders reach a common understanding, reducing the risk of misinterpretation and miscommunication.
Here are some examples of different types of requirements documents that are most commonly used for project management:
1. Business Requirements Document (BRD)
As implied in the name, BRD is a formal document that, at a high level, outlines a new endeavor a business is seeking to pursue or a problem that a business is trying to solve. The BRD outlines the project goals, objectives and scope; details the stakeholder needs; demonstrates strategic alignment; emphasizes the benefits of innovation and advancement; and specifies the high-level requirements. The BRD sits at the top of the requirements document hierarchy and serves as the blueprint for breaking down the specifics to produce other requirements documents, especially the Functional Requirements Document and the Technical Requirements Document.
2. Functional Requirements Document (FRD)
Based on the BRD, that defines the “what” and “why”, the FRD details and explains the “how”. The FRD includes specific behaviors, capabilities, and functionalities that the goods and services must perform. The requirements in FRDs are often written in terms of Input – defines the “what and when” for the deliverable; Throughput defines the “how, where, when, and who” is delivering; and finally, Output defines “what” is delivered. Ultimately, the FRD acts as a bridge between business needs and corresponding solutions by translating desired product capabilities into specifics that can be developed and implemented.
3. Product Requirements Document (PRD)
The PRD is very similar to a FRD and serves a similar purpose and objective. However, PRD is specific to a product and defines “what” the product should do, whereas the FRD can be applied to goods and services and defines in detail “how” the capabilities and functionalities can be implemented. PRD focuses on outcome from a user perspective and the FRD focuses on implementation from project team perspective.
4. Technical Requirements Document (TRD)
Based on the FRD, the technical requirements document defines the software, hardware, and technology platform requirements of the project. It covers the technical requirements in terms of technical specifications and capabilities; technical architecture including all components and their interactions; frontend, backend, and middleware technologies; performance criteria; and test strategy. These components are required elements for a successful technical solution delivery.
5. Data Requirements Documentation (DRD):
Based on the needs outlined in the BRD and FRD, the DRD defines the data needs including specifications on what data needs to be collected, where and how it should be stored, transformed and processed, and how and by whom the data will be used. It serves as the blueprint for designing and developing the database and storage that meets the functional and performance needs as well as designing and developing data access and security needs.
6. User Interface Requirements Documentation (UIRD):
Based on the BRD and FRD, UIRD describes the user interface and user experience needs including content, layout, presentation, navigation, as well as help and training tips and tools. In most public spaces and some private spaces, there may be mandates or recommendations to adhere to the Section 508 Compliance, which are detailed in the UIRD. Often, the Marketing Requirements Document and/or the marketing department might drive the UIRD requirements that align with organizational marking strategies and direction.
7. Integration and Interface Requirements Documentation (IIRD):
Based on the FRD, TRD, and the DRD, the IIRD defines the interface and integration needs between internal and external systems, ensuring they act as intended while maintaining the security and integrity of all systems, data sources, and data elements. The IIRD serves as the blueprint for producing the Interface Control Document (ICD) that describes the interface characteristics and specifications and the Interface Definition Document (IDD) which defines the design of the interfaces and their interactions. The IIRD also defines the Extract/Transform/Load (ETL) requirements based on system to system data maps.
Other more function or discipline specific requirements documents that are not covered include:
Marketing Requirements Document (MRD): Details market needs
Customer Requirements Document (CRD): Details what the customers need
Logistics Requirements Documents (LRD): Details logistics and supply chain management needs
Legal and Compliance Requirements Document (L&CRD): Details compliance and regulation needs the project should factor into the design
Security Requirements Document (SRD): Details physical and/or cyber security needs
Software Requirements Document or Software Requirements Specification (SRS): Details Software specifications and requirements
Quality Requirements Documentation (QRD): Details inspection, test, verification, and validation requirements as well as performance indicators and thresholds and corresponding corrective and preventive action strategies
Infrastructure Requirements Document (IRD): Details the IT technical components and their characteristics needs
Maintenance Requirements Document (MRD): Details post-delivery operations and maintenance requirements
Transition Requirements Document (TRD): Details change management and transition requirements
Training and Documentation Requirements Documentation (T&DRD): Details project training, knowledge base management, and documentation needs
Implementation Requirements Document (IRD): Details the implementation requirements including training, communication, User Acceptance Testing/Validation (UAT/UAV), and release needs
These are seldom prepared as standalone documents; in place, they are integrated into other more common requirements documents.
In conclusion, requirements documents are crucial for successful project execution. They serve as the blueprint for the project, providing a structured way to capture project goals, objectives, and scope as well as serve as a vehicle for communicating the stakeholder needs and wants. Identifying and establishing the appropriate requirements documents ensures alignment among the project teams, stakeholders, and partners, and is the key to achieving project goals, managing scope, and delivering goods and services that meet or exceed expectations.
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