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Result Oriented Software Requirements Management Tips

Kapil Panchal - November 03, 2020

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Result Oriented Software Requirements Management Tips

Being a reputed Product owner, you would be responsible for increasing the value of your product and this is possible through Product Backlog Management. Basically, a Product Backlog is a set of requests for the fine functionality of the desired product. These requests are broken down into a series of tasks and allotted to the development team. This is one of the significant components that guide the Agile development team for faster developments. Apart from that, it is also very important for the custom software development company to make proper choices of the right building strategy of the product for the growth of client business.

 

Table of Content

Needs to Understand about Detailed Products


“As a tip to the product owner, it is so important that he/she understands how much the items should be detailed. For example, the product owner needs a new feature to show the clients how the product has been successful for clients' businesses in order to motivate them to use the product more or motivate them to upgrade their plan to a more expensive one.

In this scenario usually, the owner has a complete detailed plan and description of the new feature. Even sometimes the UI and detailed functionally can be described. When the development team faces these kinds of items, usually with a short grooming session the item can be ready for development.

However, the question to the product owner is that are you sure that this new feature with this functionally could really influence the client as he or she desires? Does what he/she want is a similar feature in one of the competitors' platforms that was successful? In these particular cases usually, the product owners are so sure about all the details of the functionality of the new feature but the fact is that usually with these low level of abstraction none of the development team members has not any chance to rethink about the feature in a way that could help this specific product run more successfully.

I experienced that if the product owner always keeps some distances with the implementation details, the development team can use their experiences and creativity to implement the same functionality but in a more appropriate way when they are analyzing it. In the end, the product owner can decide to stick to his/her own way or use the new ideas that have been came up from the team.”

- SoheilSalarimanesh, CEO and CTO of ButikRea

JIRA is Best for Understanding Overall Progress


If using Jira, create different board views for different members of the team. This way, as a product owner, you can check the board from everyone’s perspective to gain an overall understanding of progress.

Apply tags to stories representing priority or team splits, so the backlog can be filtered by tag. This helps keep the list focused when you are looking for something specific.

Drive the backlog with a user story map. This helps you prioritise stories before they even hit the product ,backlog and also forces you to write stories that are focused around user journeys.

Schedule a backlog review session every 4 weeks with yourself! You, as a product owner can then remove stuff from the list that will never be done and tidy up things that have been added in a hurry.

Try an upper limit for the amount of stories on the backlog. If you set a limit of 50, you will only ever have a list of 50 to prioritise. Once the list size goes under 50, you can add new stories from other stakeholders

- James Sear, Co-founder ofAvion

Software requirements management tips: The best tip we can recommend for product owners to manage software requirements and product backlogs is to use Jira Software, which we use in house for all of our mobile app and software development projects.

Jira Software was originally developed to be used as a bug and issue tracking system, but now it has many use cases, functions and features. Jira also integrates with other tools including TestRail and Slack, not just other Atlassian tools. Whether you are requiring a tool for requirements and test case management, agile implementations, project management, software development, product management, task management, bug tracking or something else, Jira is the best option. With everything it has to offer, Jira can be your central hub for coding, collaboration and release stages
- and it is for our team at Coderus.

- Mark Thomas, CEO ofCoderus

Start with the End Product in Mind


HERE ARE FOUR GOOD TIPS TO MANAGE PRODUCT BACKLOG

Start with the end product in mind. Product owners need to define a proper product strategy, this will ensure proper product backlog management. Product strategy will contain what customers’ needs are and what plan you have to satisfy those needs. Based on that product strategy the product owner and manager then will come up with the product vision which will be the priority of the product backlog.

Make sure the backlog is manageable and not too exhaustive. When the backlog contains too many items and is not organized it loses its transparency due to which it becomes difficult to see where the product is heading. Product owners should keep the backlog manageable by deciding which items not to do. They should review the backlog periodically, do not add tasks unless you plan to do them soon and always prioritize.

Visualize a proper timeline for the product. Timeline is the base of successful backlog management. You can use different tools to visualize the timeline. Also once you have the timeline make sure to review and update it regularly. Changes do occur frequently. You can according to your release cycle update the timeline after every 3 weeks to 3 months.

Besides the user stories which are the key, try to look beyond them as they may not be enough. Make sure to pay attention to the non-functional qualities of the product, user interaction, and try to represent them in the backlog.

- AzzaShahid, Outreach Consultant atInfinite Recovery

Management of Requirements Can Make or Break a Project


I strongly believe that management of requirements can make or break a project. Why? Because requirement management encompasses everything needed for the success of a project and making sure that the end result meets the requirements of customers and stakeholders.

To that end, my top five tips for getting the job done are:

Everyone on the same page - Before any work begins, you need to make sure that everybody involved understands the objective of the project and what the end result should look like.

Lean, concise and agile - Introduce one straightforward practice with clean and clear outlines of upfront requirements.

Review process - It’s essential to have a clearly defined review process - and to make sure that every member of the team is familiar with and understands the process.

Traceability - Always make sure that you have a solid traceability structure which clearly shows connections between requirements, resulting tests and any issues.

Well rounded - Your requirements should include input from a wide range of people including customers, product managers, marketing employees, tech writers and CEOs.

- Jack Zmudzinski, a Senior Associate atFuture-processing.com

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Clear Customer Benefit and will Support Tomorrow’s Revenue


My number one tip is to learn to “say no.” Ideas are many, but as a product manager, your job is to be a customer expert. If an idea does to directly benefit the customer, you need to say “no..” You simply can’t make everyone happy, or it leads to over-engineering and building out features simply because they are “cool.” Only say “yes” when it has clear customer benefit and will support tomorrow’s revenue.

- Nils Leideck, Product Manager ofOTRS

Conclusion


Requirements management plays quite an important role to streamline the process using indispensable tools. It is necessary to keep everything in sync while working on a common project to keep everyone on the same track. Requirement management reduces the burden by keeping track of changes and helpful in automating the processes.And including all these, following the right building strategies for proper business growth would make a lot of sense.

Result Oriented Software Requirements Management Tips Being a reputed Product owner, you would be responsible for increasing the value of your product and this is possible through Product Backlog Management. Basically, a Product Backlog is a set of requests for the fine functionality of the desired product. These requests are broken down into a series of tasks and allotted to the development team. This is one of the significant components that guide the Agile development team for faster developments. Apart from that, it is also very important for the custom software development company to make proper choices of the right building strategy of the product for the growth of client business.   Table of Content 1. Needs to Understand about Detailed Products 2. JIRA is Best for Understanding Overall Progress 3. Start with the End Product in Mind 4. Management of Requirements Can Make or Break a Project 5. Clear Customer Benefit and will Support Tomorrow’s Revenue 6. Conclusion Needs to Understand about Detailed Products “As a tip to the product owner, it is so important that he/she understands how much the items should be detailed. For example, the product owner needs a new feature to show the clients how the product has been successful for clients' businesses in order to motivate them to use the product more or motivate them to upgrade their plan to a more expensive one. In this scenario usually, the owner has a complete detailed plan and description of the new feature. Even sometimes the UI and detailed functionally can be described. When the development team faces these kinds of items, usually with a short grooming session the item can be ready for development. However, the question to the product owner is that are you sure that this new feature with this functionally could really influence the client as he or she desires? Does what he/she want is a similar feature in one of the competitors' platforms that was successful? In these particular cases usually, the product owners are so sure about all the details of the functionality of the new feature but the fact is that usually with these low level of abstraction none of the development team members has not any chance to rethink about the feature in a way that could help this specific product run more successfully. I experienced that if the product owner always keeps some distances with the implementation details, the development team can use their experiences and creativity to implement the same functionality but in a more appropriate way when they are analyzing it. In the end, the product owner can decide to stick to his/her own way or use the new ideas that have been came up from the team.” - SoheilSalarimanesh, CEO and CTO of ButikRea JIRA is Best for Understanding Overall Progress If using Jira, create different board views for different members of the team. This way, as a product owner, you can check the board from everyone’s perspective to gain an overall understanding of progress. Apply tags to stories representing priority or team splits, so the backlog can be filtered by tag. This helps keep the list focused when you are looking for something specific. Drive the backlog with a user story map. This helps you prioritise stories before they even hit the product ,backlog and also forces you to write stories that are focused around user journeys. Schedule a backlog review session every 4 weeks with yourself! You, as a product owner can then remove stuff from the list that will never be done and tidy up things that have been added in a hurry. Try an upper limit for the amount of stories on the backlog. If you set a limit of 50, you will only ever have a list of 50 to prioritise. Once the list size goes under 50, you can add new stories from other stakeholders - James Sear, Co-founder ofAvion Read More: 7 Best Software Monitoring Tools Of 2020 Software requirements management tips: The best tip we can recommend for product owners to manage software requirements and product backlogs is to use Jira Software, which we use in house for all of our mobile app and software development projects. Jira Software was originally developed to be used as a bug and issue tracking system, but now it has many use cases, functions and features. Jira also integrates with other tools including TestRail and Slack, not just other Atlassian tools. Whether you are requiring a tool for requirements and test case management, agile implementations, project management, software development, product management, task management, bug tracking or something else, Jira is the best option. With everything it has to offer, Jira can be your central hub for coding, collaboration and release stages - and it is for our team at Coderus. - Mark Thomas, CEO ofCoderus Start with the End Product in Mind HERE ARE FOUR GOOD TIPS TO MANAGE PRODUCT BACKLOG Start with the end product in mind. Product owners need to define a proper product strategy, this will ensure proper product backlog management. Product strategy will contain what customers’ needs are and what plan you have to satisfy those needs. Based on that product strategy the product owner and manager then will come up with the product vision which will be the priority of the product backlog. Make sure the backlog is manageable and not too exhaustive. When the backlog contains too many items and is not organized it loses its transparency due to which it becomes difficult to see where the product is heading. Product owners should keep the backlog manageable by deciding which items not to do. They should review the backlog periodically, do not add tasks unless you plan to do them soon and always prioritize. Visualize a proper timeline for the product. Timeline is the base of successful backlog management. You can use different tools to visualize the timeline. Also once you have the timeline make sure to review and update it regularly. Changes do occur frequently. You can according to your release cycle update the timeline after every 3 weeks to 3 months. Besides the user stories which are the key, try to look beyond them as they may not be enough. Make sure to pay attention to the non-functional qualities of the product, user interaction, and try to represent them in the backlog. - AzzaShahid, Outreach Consultant atInfinite Recovery Management of Requirements Can Make or Break a Project I strongly believe that management of requirements can make or break a project. Why? Because requirement management encompasses everything needed for the success of a project and making sure that the end result meets the requirements of customers and stakeholders. To that end, my top five tips for getting the job done are: Everyone on the same page - Before any work begins, you need to make sure that everybody involved understands the objective of the project and what the end result should look like. Lean, concise and agile - Introduce one straightforward practice with clean and clear outlines of upfront requirements. Review process - It’s essential to have a clearly defined review process - and to make sure that every member of the team is familiar with and understands the process. Traceability - Always make sure that you have a solid traceability structure which clearly shows connections between requirements, resulting tests and any issues. Well rounded - Your requirements should include input from a wide range of people including customers, product managers, marketing employees, tech writers and CEOs. - Jack Zmudzinski, a Senior Associate atFuture-processing.com Looking to hire Web Development Company ? Contact Now See here Clear Customer Benefit and will Support Tomorrow’s Revenue My number one tip is to learn to “say no.” Ideas are many, but as a product manager, your job is to be a customer expert. If an idea does to directly benefit the customer, you need to say “no..” You simply can’t make everyone happy, or it leads to over-engineering and building out features simply because they are “cool.” Only say “yes” when it has clear customer benefit and will support tomorrow’s revenue. - Nils Leideck, Product Manager ofOTRS Conclusion Requirements management plays quite an important role to streamline the process using indispensable tools. It is necessary to keep everything in sync while working on a common project to keep everyone on the same track. Requirement management reduces the burden by keeping track of changes and helpful in automating the processes.And including all these, following the right building strategies for proper business growth would make a lot of sense.

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