CHAPTER 12: FIT CRITERIA AND RATIONALE

CHAPTER 12: FIT CRITERIA AND RATIONALE

What are fit criteria and the rationale of a requirement?

There are some differences between the fit criteria of functional and non-functional requirements. The fit criteria of functional requirements determine how business analysts will realize that the product has effectively accomplished that activity. For functional requirements, it is hardly possible to decide the scales of measurement: The action is either finished or not finished. Completion relies upon satisfying an authority that the product has correctly performed the action. The authority mentioned can be the source of the information or the nearby system that commenced the action. Business analysts can write functional requirements for various types of action.

The fit criteria of non-functional requirements is a measure of those qualities such as usability, look and feel, performance, operational, and so on. In the first place, some of the nonfunctional requirements may appear to be challenging to evaluate. Eventually, in any case, it is conceivable to quantify every one of them. If a requirement is not quantified and measured, it is not really a requirement. It might be one requirement including many requirements or it might be fragmented, unreasonable, aimless or it is simply not the right requirement. A business analyst can evaluate that requirement or just remove it.

Requirements rationale is simply an explanation regarding why the requirement arises, any anticipations made, the results of related design studies, or any other related supporting data. This supports business analysts to analyze and decompose further requirements. Business analysts can straightly acquire the rationale a requirements database.

How important is the Fit criteria for each formality guide?

For the rabbit project, it is recommended that business analysts gather the proper fit criteria, then verify it with the stakeholders, and write the test case using that fit criteria.

For the horse projects, there are usually several stakeholders and each stakeholder determines different meanings to requirements. It is necessary to have a precise and easily shareable understanding of the meaning of requirements. The reason to attach a rationale and a fit criteria to each requirement is in order to avoid virtually misunderstandings to occur. As a result, business analysts should include both of these in their requirements.

Because elephant projects usually have large in size in the scope of work, time, and budget, these projects must use rationales and fit criteria. Business analysts are required to yield a written specification and hand it to related parties such as another part of the organization or any parties outside the company. To let the other parties understand and deliver expected product, business analysts have to make sure to create a specification containing only unambiguous, testable requirements.

How to gather fit criteria of a requirement?

To develop the applicable fit criteria, the first step business analysts do is to analyze the description and rationale established for the requirement. The more detail the analysis is the more unambiguous and achievable the fit criteria is.

In some cases, not all the fit criteria can be easily attained because there are some constraints in business or real life. In the other hand, it is difficult to persuade customers to spend the amount required for the implementation to meet the criterion. Hence, business analysts sometimes have to try to reach an agreement with the customer in modifying the fit criterion to permit the product’s operating environment, the intended usage, and the client’s budget. These modifications are considered as business tolerances.

What do you mean by 'Look and Feel' Requirements?

Look and feel requirements specify the spirit, mood, or style of the product’s appearance and behavior, and the impression the user gets when using the product. In other words, these requirements specify the intention of the appearance, and are not a detailed design of an interface. Look and feel requirements may start out as “touchyfeely” statements of intent. However, by determining the rationale and looking for its measurable aspects, you will always find a suitable fit criterion.

What is a Use Case?

A use case, whether it is a product use case (PUC) or a business use case (BUC), is a collection of requirements—both functional and non-functional—working toward a desired outcome. While each requirement has its own fit criterion to measure its performance, the fit criterion for the use case as a whole is the benchmark for the collection of requirements when they act together.

What is a fit criterion and how is it derived? 

A fit criterion is neither a test nor the design for a test, but rather a benchmark that the delivered product has to be tested against. It is used as input to building a test case through which the tester ensures that each of the product’s requirements complies with its fit criterion. The fit criterion, not the description, is the real requirement. Fit criteria are usually derived after the requirement description is written. You derive a fit criterion by examining the requirement’s description and rationale, and determining which quantification best expresses the user’s intention for the requirement.

Posted by Kim and Shaina