Secrets of understanding requirements
From DarkWiki
Introduction
Word tricks
When requirements are hard to descern, you can get a better understanding by playing with words. Specifically, you need to be able to simply define each noun and each verb you use. But that's easier said than done.
- Fred needs to include a picture or a song in an email
Pronouns: Fred Verbs: Needs, Include Nouns: Picture, Song, Email
We can see that Fred is a human, a user, perhaps a particular type of user. Let's refer to him a USER.
Our first verb, "need", is actually rather special: It means MUST, rather than WANT, SHOULD, or COULD. But further clarification is required, and we can learn a few things using negation:
- Fred DOES NOT need to include a picture or a song in an email
