Writing Agile Requirements

Background: A gap often exists on software projects between the software delivered and the users’ real needs. This gap is a direct result of the processes used by development organizations to capture and gather requirements. Menlo developed the concept of High-Tech Anthropology®to close this gap. We’ve seamlessly integrated these advanced requirements gathering techniques into agile processes to create better software, faster. Better being defined as software that meets real business goals while serving real user needs.

High-tech anthropologists study the cultural context of systems to understand real user needs and express these needs in new system design. By obtaining a better understanding of the users and their environment the high-tech anthropologists are far more successful at eliciting requirements and designing usable systems. As a result, the end system is significantly more successful because the user community can understand and utilize it effectively.

Course Description: This course teaches how to effectively capture requirements using the concept of High-Tech Anthropology®. It will teach you how to design software that your users will love. Participants practice writing use cases and stories and performing other activities required for building highvalue, user-friendly applications. Additional topics include: interviewing, job shadowing, persona writing, and creating storyboards.

Benefits of This Workshop:

• Learn how to connect business goals with development goals using the concept of High-Tech Anthropology®.

• Practice finding objects, actors, use cases and scenarios in the context of understanding goals.

• Improve software design and usability.

• Apply these techniques to directing agile teams.

• Change how business communicates to the development team and end users.

• Grow your knowledge of when to use these techniques, and perhaps more importantly, when not to use them.

Audience: Analysts and project managers.

Duration: 3 Days

Prerequisites: Agile Explained

Course Outline:

Introductions

1. High-Tech Anthropology®

1.1. What is an Agile Requirement?

1.1.1. The Perfect Requirement

1.1.2. Activities and Artifacts

1.2. Use Cases / Stories Defined

1.3. The Role of UML

2. Interview Stakeholders

2.1. Who are Stakeholders?

2.2. Line of Questioning

2.3. Lab: Conducting an Interview

2.4. Interview Notes and Glossary

3. Observe the System

3.1. Active/Passive Observations

3.2. Lab: Capture the Artifacts

3.2.1. Objects, Reports, Artifacts

3.3. Find the Actors

3.4. Personas Lab

4. Capture Existing Model

4.1. A Use Case List

4.2. Use Case Diagrams

4.2.1. Communications

4.2.2. System & Generalization

4.2.3. Use Case Diagram Lab

4.3. Sequence Diagrams

4.3.1. Life Line

4.3.2. Messages and Stereotypes

4.4. Collaboration Diagrams

4.5. Event Flows

4.5.1. Tell me a Story

4.5.2. Use Cases and Scenarios

4.5.3. Primary Scenario

4.5.4. Secondary Scenarios

4.5.5. Pre and Post Conditions

4.5.6. Event Flow Labs

4.6. Enhancements to Diagrams

4.6.1. Includes Relationship

4.6.2. Extends Relationship

4.7. Requirements Lab

4.8. Activities

4.8.1. Start, Stop, Transitions

4.8.2 Forks and Joins

4.8.3 Decision Points

4.8.4 Diagram Lab

4.9. Iterative and Incremental

5. Create New Model

5.1. New Use Cases

5.2. Updated Artifacts

5.3. New Artifacts

5.3.1. Storyboard Interactions

5.3.2. User Manual

5.3.3. Priority Schedule

5.3.4. Iteration Plan

6. Final Exam