Have you ever worked on a software project that didn’t result in what the users really wanted? Stakeholders often have requirements that they aren’t aware of. Uncovering them can be challenging and involves ways of thinking not found in more traditional elicitation approaches. It requires probing interviews and expanded use of context information that go well beyond what the requirements engineer typically achieves with a specification-driven process. It requires a method that transforms stakeholders’ tacit knowledge into themes of experience so that insightful and innovative requirements can emerge.
The KJ+ method for eliciting unstated requirements, currently under development by a research team at the Software Engineering Institute, helps determine the unstated needs of the varied stakeholders typical of today’s large, diverse software projects. This method will be scalable to address the needs of multiple categories of stakeholders; be usable by a diverse, non-collocated team of requirements analysts; and result in a more complete set of requirements for subsequent system design, implementation, and sustainment. It can be used to support both traditional requirements specifications and Agile user stories.
This tutorial will present the traditional KJ method for eliciting unstated user needs and the extensions that allow KJ to be used in a virtual environment. Also included are activities integral to learning the KJ+ method:
Practitioners who are concerned with delivering exciting and innovative features will learn how to apply KJ+ in their own projects. Researchers will find the kinds of requirements obtained using KJ+ vs. more traditional approaches of interest.
Learning Outcomes
