When to Improve Your Software Requirements: A Quick Self-Check

Not sure whether your team needs better software requirements?

Use the simple checklist below to find out.

Check all that apply:

  • Developers donโ€™t interact directly with end users (or user proxies)
  • Developers donโ€™t possess the ability to interact directly with end users
  • Developers are serving a large user base
  • Developers are serving a user base with varied and complex needs
  • Developers are geographically distanced
  • Developers face language/cultural/time zone barriers
  • Developers lack business knowledge
  • Developers lack systems knowledge
  • Developers lack regulatory knowledge
  • Developers struggle to identify gaps in the software requirements
  • Developers struggle to clarify requirement details mid-development
  • Developers struggle to navigate the complexity of the on-shore organisation

How did you fare?

If you checked more than a couple of these, your developers are likely to be struggling with unclear or incomplete requirements. That leads to:

  • Features that miss the mark
  • Bugs no one can explain
  • Rework and slow delivery

These are the exact conditions where better software requirements make all the difference.

Remote, outsourced and offshore developers know this only too well.