Requirements Gathering Questions Page 1 of 2

Resource: http://its.lafayette.edu/projectmanagement/submitproject/requirements-
gathering/
Remember, your goal is to get the client talking about the project, both the issue
and the solution.
Not all questions apply for all projects, but they represent a broad range of
considerations that can help to think through what’s really needed.
General Questions
 What do you hope to accomplish with the proposed project?
 Who are the key stakeholders and users?
o Do their goals differ?
o If so, how?
 How do the project/system’s goals map to the department goals or needs?
 Will the project/system change the way you are doing things now?
 What will the project accomplish that is not currently accomplished manually or
with other projects/software?
 Are there other projects/systems with which this project/system will interface?
 Is there any existing project/system documentation?
o If so, where?
 Who else should I talk to?
Current Needs
 What department/business requirements will this project/system address?
 What information do you need from this project/system that you don’t have now?
 Is any of this data currently captured in any other project/system?
 Is the data and/or functionality shared by others?
Current Problems
 What problems should this project/system solve?
 Do you have to do things manually that you would like to automate?
 Do you have performance problems that need to change?
 Do you have functional limitations that you’d like to change?

Criteria for Success

 What is most important for success of the project?
 What are the training considerations?
 What resources might be needed (budget, staff, etc)
 Are there any dependencies on other project/system in completing
the project/system? Please specify.
 Are there resource constraints in maintaining the project/system
o Do you have the in-house expertise we need?
 Are there technical constraints to developing this project/system?
o What are they?
Improving an Existing System
 Will the new project/system have additional functionality?
 Will the new project/system help you be more efficient?
o To what extent?
 What is most important (rank in order of importance):
o Application is easier to use
o Application has nicer front-end
o Application has additional functionality (list)
o Application is more efficient
o Application is redesigned to better reflect the business

Criteria for Success

 What needs to happen to make this project/system successful?
High-Level Functions
 What will this project/system do that is entirely new?
 Does the current system do things that this system will not do?
 How do these functions interact with each other?
 Are there other systems this system will interface with?
 Requirements Gathering Questionnaire Checklist
Questions for Business Requirements

 Determine Business Objectives

1. What are your goals in developing this system?
2. Who are the key stakeholders and users? Do their goals differ? If so, how?
3. How do the system goals map to business goals?
4. What is the most important business goal of the system?
5. Will the system change the way you are doing things now?
6. Will the system help you be more efficient? How?
7. What are the system deliverables?
8. What will the new system accomplish that is not currently accomplished manually or with other
systems?
9. What will the new system do?
 Determine Future Needs/Scoping
1. What business requirements will this system address?
2. What information do you need from this system that you don't have now?
3. Is any of this data currently captured in any other corporate system?
4. How would you like to see this information?
5. What functionality do you need from the system?
6. Is the data and/or functionality shared by other (many) business areas? If so, which?
7. If the reports were dynamic, what would they do differently?
8. How much historical information is required?
 Determine Current Problems
1. What are the current problems facing without the system today?
2. What problems should this system solve?
3. Do you have to do things manually that you would like to automate?
4. Do you have performance problems that need to change?
5. Do you have functional limitations that you'd like to change?
6. Are you using packages that force you to constrain your business functionality to the
boundaries of the package?
7. Which reports do you currently use? What data on the report is important? How do you
use the information?
8. Are there specific bottlenecks to getting at information?
9. How do you analyze the information you currently receive? What type of data is used?
How do you currently get the data? How often do you get new data?
10. What type of ad hoc analysis do you typically perform? Who requests ad hoc
information? What do you do with the information?
 Determine System Users
1. Who will be using the system?
2. What are the titles and roles of the people who will use the system?
3. What are their levels of expertise?
 Determine Criteria for Success
1. What is most important for success of the application?
2. What do we need to accomplish to make this project successful?
3. What do we need to change to make this project successful?
4. What buy-in do we need?
5. Are we lacking any critical elements such as budget, resource allocation, or support?
6. What are training considerations for developers and users?
 Assumptions
1. List assumptions
 Issues
1. List open issues, responsible parties and resolution date

Questions for Detailed Requirements

Information from this questionnaire should be used to develop the detailed business
requirements in the Project Requirements document. Ask these questions for each high- level
business process to identify the detailed business processes, associated functionality, functional
and reporting deliverables.
 Determine High-Level Functions
1. What will the process do that you are doing manually now?
2. If using purchased packages, what do they do?
3. What will this process/function do that is entirely new?
4. Are there related processes/functions within the scope of this process? (list these)
5. How do these processes/functions interact with each other?
6. What is the level of complexity of each process/function?
7. Are there other systems/projects that must interface? (What are they?)
8. What is the functional core of this process?
9. What are the priorities for this process?
 Determine Development, Deployment, Usage Constraints
1. Are there time constraints in developing the process/function? What are they?
2. Are there time constraints in deploying the process/function? What are they?
3. Are there any dependencies on other systems in completing the system? Please specify.
4. Are there budget constraints in developing this process/function? How much?
5. Are there resource constraints in developing the process/function? (in-house expertise
available)?
6. Do we have management and user commitment and buy-in?
7. Are there technical constraints to developing this process/function? What are they?
8. Is there remote processing? Are there scheduler constraints to consider (CA7 and/or CA7
Agent)?
 System Research
1. Who are the most important players in terms of:
- Knowledge
- Politics
2. Is there any existing system documentation? If so, where?
3. Who else should we talk to?
 Assumptions
1. List assumptions

 Issues/Risks
1. List open issues, responsible parties, resolution date