Benefits from a High-Quality Requirements Process

Organizations that implement effective requirements engineering processes can reap multiple benefits. A great reward comes from reducing unnecessary rework during the late development stages and throughout the lengthy maintenance period. The high leveraging effect of quality requirements isn't obvious, and many people mistakenly believe that time spent discussing requirements simply delays delivery by the same duration. A holistic cost-of-quality perspective reveals the value of emphasizing early-stage quality practices

Engaging users in the requirements-gathering process generates enthusiasm for the product and builds customer loyalty. By emphasizing user tasks instead of superficially attractive features, the team can avoid writing code that won't ever be used. Customer involvement reduces the expectation gap between what the user needs and what the developer delivers. You're going to get the customer feedback eventually. Try to get it early rather than late, perhaps with the help of prototypes that stimulate user feedback. Requirements development takes time, but it takes less time than correcting a lot of problems in beta testing or after release.

• Fewer requirements defects

• Reduced development rework

• Fewer unnecessary features

• Lower enhancement costs

• Faster development

• Fewer miscommunications

• Reduced scope creep

• Reduced project chaos

• More accurate system-testing estimates

• Higher customer and team member satisfaction