Focus groups, observation and existing documents
On this page 3 headings
Focus groups
Drawback of interviews: they offer only one perspective. Alternative: get a group of stakeholders to discuss issues and requirements. Advantages: gaining consensus (if different groups highlight the same issue, it is a key requirement) and highlighting areas of conflict or disagreement.
EXAMPLE Sales team managers from different verticals — the mobile sales team wants the sales summary on launch day; furniture wants the sales summary of the last 30 days. Requirement: sales summary for a specific day or the last x days.
Naturalistic observation
What people say is often different from what they do, and it is difficult to describe accurately how we do a task (e.g. how do buyers buy online?). So we spend time with stakeholders as they go about their day-to-day tasks, observing their work in its natural setting — shadowing a stakeholder, making notes, occasionally asking questions, but primarily observing.
EXAMPLE How people sell in physical shops — shopkeeper/customer recommendations and customer feedback. Requirements: recommendations for what other items to sell; getting timely customer feedback.
Documentation
Procedures and rules for a task, steps involved in an activity, regulations governing a task. Example — bank regulations: How can you add sellers' bank accounts to your portal? How frequently can you deposit money to seller accounts? Also, practices of other online marketplaces.