Requirements Engineering the SOPHIST way

Requirements Engineering: From the first idea on a napkin to the perfect requirement and beyond ...

Requirements engineering is an activity during which requirements are gathered, phrased and validated, it forms part of the system development process. This analysis is one of the cornerstones to the achievement of high quality project results, however, it is often neglected in practice.


The elicitation of requirements is the art of gathering requirements through the use of specific methods, such as interviews, neuro-linguistic programming, apprenticing and system archeology.
Phrasing requirements is the art of denoting requirements in such fashion that they are understandable, unambiguous, testable and comprehensible. The analyst has several ways to achieve the same - using natural language or partially formal languages.
Validating requirements, finally, is the art of coming up with requirements which all stakeholders can agree to.

After years of research, the SOPHISTs have come up with the "SOPHIST Rulebook" (check the Download-area, only in German, though) for handling requirements. This rulebook has become the basis for natural language requirements engineering inside and outside Germany. For the past eight years, we have been just as succesful when utilizing it in small projects as when employing it in complex, globally distributed ventures.

Overview of the services the SOPHISTs can offer you:

> The establishment of a formal definition of the processes and practices used in your company
> The elicitation of natural language requirements
> The formulation of acceptance criteria
> Coaching your team in the art of eliciting and phrasing requirements
> Support to help achieve an effective information transfer between functional/technical departments and the IT-department
> The review of existing requirements documentation, e.g. as a safeguard before tender submission or contract design		> The design and management of a requirement documentation in a complex, distributed project
> Ensuring that the correct methods and processes are used during requirements analysis
> Conducting interviews and holding documentation reviews
> Drawing up security concepts for requirements management
> Planning and preparing for system acceptance testing
> Coaching and assistance when creating acceptance criteria