What do requirements even look like?

Imagine that you’ve been tasked with serving as a project manager for the development of a website. Think for a moment about what is on a website. A website has content, images, page structures, theming elements, security components, etc.

Knowing this, below is an example of what a requirement for a website could look like:

Sample requirement

Note: your requirements cannot be “Mobile support for ‘insert website name here’”- they need to be different from the example I shared.

Requirement Title: Mobile support for Canvas.fiu.edu

• What: A user interface that is specific to mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) on the canvas.fiu.edu website.
• Where: Canvas.fiu.edu
• When: If a user connects to the canvas.fiu.edu website, or navigates to any page on the canvas.fiu.edu website, the page will display in a mobile format by default.
• Why: To provide mobile users with a user interface that works best for a mobile device with tactile inputs (touch screen).
• Assumptions:

1. 1. 1. A user is using a mobile device that uses tactile input via a touch screen.
      2. A user is using a common web browser – Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Edge, to visit the website on their mobile device.
      3. Minimal user interface styling changes will be required to accommodate the most used mobile devices from 2015 onward.
      4. The configuration of a mobile-specific interface will not create any obstacles with achieving compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (Links to an external site.) of Level AA.

• • Exclusions:

1. 1. 1. Specific support for non-common web browsers such as Opera, AOSP browser, or Samsung Internet.
      2. A complete redesign of the user interface to accommodate mobile devices. Styling will be based on the desktop and tablet variant of the website.
      3. Specific support for dual-screen devices.
      4. Specific support for pen-interfaces for a mobile device.

The sample requirement above includes many important details as to what “mobile support for Canvas.fiu.edu” really means.

Assignment Instructions:

Create 2 requirements for any software, application, or website that you use regularly using the template below. Refer to my example of “Mobile support for Canvas.fiu.edu” from the section above for guidance. Need ideas on what can be a requirement? Check out – https://simplicable.com/new/requirements-examples (Links to an external site.) for a starting point (if needed).

Note: your requirements cannot be “Mobile support for ‘insert website name here’”- they need to be different from the example I shared.

Template for each requirement (includes minimum length requirements for each section):

Requirement Title: The name of your requirement

• What: Describe what your requirement is for. (minimum 1-2 sentences)
• Where: Describe where this requirement is found (is it on a website, is it within an app, is it on a sensor, etc.) – (minimum 1-2 sentences or just one word if appropriate for the requirement)
• When: Describe when your requirement becomes relevant. For your requirement, think through at what point the user will interact with this (is it when a user opens an app, is it when they click on something specific within the app, is it at a certain point in time, is it in response to something else that happens, is it when they sign-in for the first time, etc.) – (minimum 1-2 sentences)
• Why: Describe why the requirement is important. (minimum 1-2 sentences)

• • Assumptions:

1. 1. 1. Describe at least 2 assumptions for the requirement. Assumptions are things that you assume to be true or false that should be considered in the context of your requirement. For example, the user will have an active internet connection, the user will have a device that is at least 5 years old, etc. In my former experience as a project manager, I would take a moment to think through all that could happen with a project, and I would use that to help inform any assumptions that I document. An assumption can be an expectation, a norm, a tradition, etc. (minimum 2-3 sentences total for the entire assumptions section)

• • Exclusions:

1. 1. 1. Describe what your requirement does not include. When answering this, think about “what will this not do”. For example, if I am working on a website and I am looking to add a log-in feature, the specific requirement for the login feature should not include the ability to sign-in with your Google account if I do not want it to have that feature, thus I should specify that. (minimum 1-2 sentences total for the entire exclusions section)