Requirements Analysis and Design Definition
What to know
Requirements analysis and design definition turns elicited information into structured, verified, and prioritized requirements and designs. Know the requirement types: business requirements, stakeholder requirements, solution functional requirements, and nonfunctional requirements (quality attributes and constraints). Requirements architecture organizes requirements into models-process, data, use case, state-so gaps and conflicts become visible. Verification asks whether requirements are well formed, complete, and consistent; validation asks whether they support the business need. Design definition covers solution options, design components, and the solution approach. Prioritization uses value, risk, and dependency, not just stakeholder pressure.
Traps
Verification versus validation is a frequent confusion: verification is built right, validation is right thing. Another trap is treating design as someone else's job; BAs define design options and ensure requirements are realizable. Missing nonfunctional requirements-performance, security, usability-causes late failure. Also watch for models that look complete but never trace back to stakeholder needs.
Worked example
A requirement says the system must be fast. Verification exposes the vague term; rewrite it as search results return within two seconds for 95% of queries under normal load. Validation checks that faster search supports the stated business goal of reducing abandonment.
Rule of thumb
Model the requirement, trace it to a need, and test it against a quality check: unambiguous, testable, feasible, and necessary.