What is Requirements Elicitation?
Requirements elicitation is the structured process of discovering, clarifying, and validating what stakeholders really need a solution to do (and not do). For Business Analysts, it is the gateway to building the right product the first time.
Why it matters for Business Analysts
- Aligns business goals with user needs so delivery teams build the right features.
- Reduces rework by clarifying ambiguous requests early.
- Surfaces constraints, risks, and tradeoffs before they derail delivery.
- Creates shared understanding across business, design, and engineering.
Who this is for
- New or aspiring Business Analysts learning core BA practices.
- Product owners, UX researchers, and PMs needing structured elicitation.
- Engineers/QA who often translate ideas into stories and tests.
Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of the business domain you work in.
- Comfort with speaking to stakeholders and taking structured notes.
- Familiarity with user stories and acceptance criteria (helpful but not required).
Learning path (practical roadmap)
- Frame the problem – Define business goals, success metrics, and context. Capture assumptions and constraints.
Mini task: 15-minute problem frame
- Write: Problem statement (one sentence).
- List: 3 success metrics and 3 key constraints.
- Draft: In-scope vs out-of-scope bullets (max 5 each).
- Identify and map stakeholders – Who is impacted, who decides, who operates, who pays? Map influence/interest and communication cadence.
- Plan elicitation – Choose techniques (interviews, workshops, observation, surveys, document analysis). Prepare scripts, prompts, and activities.
- Run sessions – Facilitate interviews/workshops, ask clarifying questions, and capture structured notes.
- Synthesize – Convert notes into functional and non-functional requirements with acceptance criteria; document assumptions and constraints.
- Prioritize – Apply MoSCoW, RICE, or value vs effort. Negotiate tradeoffs explicitly.
- Validate – Review with stakeholders, play back scenarios, adjust wording and scope boundaries.
Worked examples
Example 1: Interview plan for a billing feature
Objective: Understand failures in invoice approval and late-payment drivers.
Participants: Finance lead, 2 AP clerks, Sales ops, IT support.
Sample interview prompts
- Walk me through your last invoice approval. Where did it slow down?
- What information do you check before approving? What is often missing?
- When do you escalate? What triggers it?
- What would a “good day” look like for you?
- If we could only improve one thing, what would it be and why?
Notes structure: Goals, pain points, current steps, data needed, exceptions, ideas.
Example 2: Clarifying an ambiguous requirement
Stakeholder says: “We need faster login.”
Rewrite as a Non-Functional Requirement (NFR): “99th percentile login time must be under 2 seconds during peak load (Mon–Fri 9–11am, 2–4pm).”
Acceptance criteria:
- Given peak load, when 10,000 users log in within 10 minutes, 99% see the dashboard in under 2s.
- System logs performance metrics with timestamps for audit.
Example 3: User story and acceptance criteria
User story: As an accounts payable clerk, I want to auto-flag invoices without PO numbers so I can resolve them quickly.
Acceptance criteria:
- Invoices missing PO numbers are flagged with status “Needs PO.”
- Flag includes reason and link to vendor profile.
- Users can add or link a PO and clear the flag.
- Flagged invoices are included in the “Exceptions” queue.
Example 4: Scope boundaries and assumptions
- In scope: Web UI for invoice flagging; email notifications to AP group; audit log entries.
- Out of scope: Mobile app; vendor onboarding flow; invoice OCR improvements.
- Constraints: Must use existing identity provider; deployment window limited to weekends.
- Assumptions: Vendor records have unique IDs; AP team checks exceptions dashboard daily.
Example 5: Prioritization with MoSCoW
- Must: Flag missing PO; Exceptions queue; Add/link PO.
- Should: Bulk clear flags; Email digest.
- Could: Slack notifications; Configurable thresholds.
- Won't (this release): Mobile push alerts.
Tradeoff scenario
Conflict: Security wants SSO before release; Sales wants release by quarter end.
Decision pattern:
- Risk: Without SSO, manual account sync is error-prone.
- Value: Release unlocks revenue recognition.
- Compromise: Release to a pilot group without SSO, restrict data access; plan SSO as first post-release Must.
Drills and exercises
- Create a 10-question interview script for two personas: requester and approver.
- Rewrite 3 vague requirements into testable acceptance criteria.
- List top 5 constraints and 5 assumptions for your current project.
- Draft an in-scope/out-of-scope list (max 6 items each) for a small feature.
- Run a 30-minute mock workshop with a colleague: map current vs desired process.
- Prioritize 8 candidate requirements using MoSCoW. Justify two tradeoffs.
- Validate with a stakeholder: conduct a 15-minute playback and capture 3 changes.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
- Mistake: Asking solution-led questions ("Do you want a button?").
Fix: Ask outcome-led questions ("What decision are you trying to make here?"). - Mistake: Recording opinions as facts.
Fix: Tag notes by type: fact, assumption, opinion, risk; validate later. - Mistake: Skipping non-functional requirements.
Fix: Add performance, security, reliability, and usability prompts to every session. - Mistake: No acceptance criteria.
Fix: Use Given-When-Then to force testability. - Mistake: Overpromising scope.
Fix: Maintain in/out-of-scope list, review at each milestone. - Mistake: Unresolved conflicts.
Fix: Document tradeoffs, owners, decision date, and revisit with impact.
Mini project: Elicit a feature for a cafe pre-order app
- Problem frame: Customers abandon lines; cafe wants to speed up peak service. Target: 20% more orders at 8–10am.
- Stakeholders: Baristas, cashiers, store manager, customers, POS vendor, IT.
- Elicitation plan: 4 interviews (barista, cashier, manager, customer) + 1 workshop (15min process map).
- Run sessions: Capture steps, pain points, exceptions (e.g., out-of-stock, custom drinks).
- Synthesize: Stories (select pickup time, customize drink), NFRs (peak latency under 1.5s), constraints (existing POS API only).
- Prioritize: Must: customize + pickup slot; Should: reorder past items; Could: tip suggestions.
- Validate: Playback with manager and 2 baristas; adjust acceptance criteria.
Deliverables to produce
- Problem statement and success metrics
- Stakeholder map and roles
- Interview notes and workshop outcomes
- 5 user stories with acceptance criteria
- NFR list (performance, reliability, security)
- In/out-of-scope, constraints, assumptions
- Prioritization with rationale
Subskills
Master these focused areas to progress faster:
- Problem Discovery And Context: Frame the business problem, goals, metrics, and current-state process.
- Stakeholder Interviews: Plan and conduct interviews that surface needs, pains, and constraints.
- Workshop Facilitation: Run collaborative sessions to align, map processes, and resolve differences.
- Requirements Gathering Techniques: Use interviews, observation, surveys, document analysis, and prototypes.
- Asking Clarifying Questions: Turn vague statements into precise, testable requirements.
- Identifying Constraints And Assumptions: Make limits and unknowns explicit to reduce risk.
- Defining Scope And Boundaries: Keep delivery focused with in/out-of-scope and interfaces.
- Functional Requirements: Specify behaviors, rules, and user interactions.
- Non Functional Requirements: Capture performance, security, reliability, and usability.
- Requirements Prioritization: Rank by value, risk, and effort; negotiate tradeoffs.
- Requirements Validation With Stakeholders: Playback, review, and sign-off with acceptance criteria.
- Handling Conflicts And Tradeoffs: Facilitate decisions and document impacts.
Next steps
- Pick one mini project and finish the deliverables this week.
- Practice two stakeholder interviews and rewrite at least three NFRs.
- Then take the skill exam to check your readiness. Everyone can take it; logged-in learners get progress saved.
Skill Exam
Start the exam below when ready.