“Oh No, You Gave Me What I Asked For!”
Using Consulting Skills to Uncover Expectations
Traceability and Creating Structure from Chaos
traceability matrix
Synthesizing Responses
critical thinking
distinguishing between important and unimportant information
organizing disparate information
processing large amoutns of information
active listening
paraphrasing
clarifying questions
Asking the Right Questions
high-level requirements
other products
usability
hardest
easiest
features
worst
best
stability of requirements
impact on other areas
the product
support
maintenance
sales
customer use
external
internal
end user knowledge needs
business process impact
project context
triple-constraint tradeoff
SMEs
stakeholders
risks
time constraints
priority
spending
business context
organizational perception
strategic direction
project vision
product description
SWOT
problem(s) to be solved
Common Pitfalls to Uncovering Expectations
Accepting Solutions Presented by the Business and Technical Experts
imposing technical solutions
specifying product details without business reasons
Using the Wrong Techniques
Ineffective Questioning
questioning style
feature fallacy
solution presentation
open- vs. closed-ended questions
Stated Requirements Don't Meet Expectations
The Time Trap
clients not available
not enough time