How to read and document requirements

Requirements follow the SMART principle. SMART is an acronym that aims to make requirements clear and testable.

  • S (Specific)

  • M (Measurable)

  • A (Attainable or Achievable)

  • R (Realizable)

  • T (Time-bound, Traceable or Testable, literature differs here)

Non-functional requirements

To document SMART non-functional or quality requirements, we describe them in scenarios that follow a certain structure.

Source

Who (user or system) triggers an event?

Stimulus

What happens, what is the event?

Environment

Where does it happen?

Artifact

What system component is involved?

Response

What is the response from the system?

Response measure

How is the response measured? It should be a number, but a clear yes or no is also acceptable.

Quality requirements are categorized into eight different characteristics as standardized in ISO 25010.

Imagine yourself being a tester of a VSHN product, and you would like to do a quality examination. How would you test and verify the requirements? Writing down those requirements in form of scenarios help to make them measurable or verifiable.