Requirements Gathering Interviews
How do you conduct Requirements Gathering Interviews?

In order to ensure a thorough understanding of requirements, it is essential that you obtain feedback from your stakeholders.

Each stakeholder brings a different level of expertise and knowledge to any project. Customers and users, for instance, may not always be aware of technical constraints. Engineers, on the other hand, may have ideas that far exceed the needs of the customer.

A good Requirements Interview begins with good preparation. The interviewer must have a thorough understanding of the issues involved in order to ask the right questions and know when appropriate answers have been given. Obtain physical examples of such items as forms and products that can act as visual aids to simplify questions and answers.

Prepare your questions in writing and allow the interviewees time to review the questions prior to the interview. Well-considered answers will provide more useful and relevant information than those that are provided spontaneously.

Choose your interviewees to best represent the stakeholders without unnecessary repetition of information. Select one interviewee from each stakeholder type and target the questions to the needs and knowledge of each type.

At the time of the Requirements Gathering Interview, control the process without influencing the results. The interviewee should feel free to answer in her own way, without being allowed to veer off topic.

Finally, assign someone to act as recorder in the interview. The interviewer will be able to concentrate on directing the interview while someone else takes notes.

ClearlyPUT's Requirementing describes how to conduct Requirements Gathering Interviews

Summary

Each stakeholder brings a different level of expertise and knowledge to any project. Formal and informal Requirements Gathering Interviews are a great place to start gathering information. A good interview begins with good preparation. Prepare your questions in writing and allow the interviewees time to review the questions prior to the interview. Choose your interviewees to best represent the stakeholders without unnecessary repetition of information.

Requirementing Steps