Questions
From your point of view, describe the strengths and weaknesses of users during the requirements elicitation activity. Describe also the strengths and weaknesses of developers during the requirements elicitation activity.
Requirements elicitation is communicating with stakeholders in the software development process to determine the requirements to be developed. It consists of four steps: requirements gathering, organizing requirements, negotiation and discussion, and documentation. In the requirement elicitation process, users and developers have strengths and weaknesses, which I will elaborate on in the next paragraphs..png?raw=true)
1. The users’ strengths and weaknesses in requirements elicitation activities
Strengths: In the requirements elicitation activities, users’ strengths are that they can clearly judge whether the requirement is what they need. Specifically, when a requirement is put forward, users can evaluate whether the requirement is what they expected so that the development team can adjust the development process according to the users’ feedback. For example, the agile development method takes full advantage of this strength of the user. In other words, the developer iteratively updates the software through interaction with the user.
Weaknesses: In the requirements elicitation activities, users’ weaknesses are that they cannot tell developers what they expect from the system to be developed (Marsic, 2012). Specifically, it is easy to suggest improvements to a system that has been created. Still, it is somewhat challenging to propose requirements for a system that has not been developed, just like getting people to change how they do business online before the invention of the Internet (Marsic, 2012).
2. The developers’ strengths and weaknesses in requirements elicitation activities
Strengths: In the requirements elicitation activities, developers’ strengths are that they can choose the right technology to realize the users’ needs after knowing them (Marsic, 2012). Specifically, developers usually have a good understanding of the technologies in the computer field, and they can pick the appropriate technology to implement requirements economically and efficiently.
Weaknesses: In the requirements elicitation activities, developers’ weaknesses are that they usually have insufficient knowledge of some specific domain (Marsic, 2012). Specifically, domain experts often use some terminology to describe problems in their domain. Still, for developers unfamiliar with this field, it is difficult to understand and master this jargon, thus hindering developers from obtaining requirements (Marsic, 2012).
In conclusion, when gathering requirements, users can judge the suitability of the requirements well but cannot clearly express the expected needs. Instead, developers can choose the appropriate computer technology according to the requirements but may lack domain knowledge.
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References
1.Marsic, I. (2012). Software engineering. Rutgers Unversity.
http://www.ece.rutgers.edu/~marsic/books/SE/book-SE_marsic.pdf
2.TutorialsPoint. (n.d.). Software Requirements.
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/software_engineering/software_requirements.htm