Workflow Detail:  Define the System

Topics Purpose How to Staff Work Guidelines

Purpose

The purpose of this workflow detail is to:

• Align the project team in their understanding of the system.
• Perform a high-level analysis on the results of collecting stakeholder requests.
• Refine the Vision to include the features to include in the system, along with appropriate attributes.
• Refine the use-case model, to include outlined use cases.
• More formally document the results in models and documents.

Problem Analysis and activities for Understanding Stakeholder Needs create early iterations of key system definitions, including the features defined in the Vision document, a first outline to the use-case model and the Requirements Attributes. In Defining the System you will focus on identifying actors and use cases more completely, and expand the global non-functional requirements as defined in the Supplementary Specifications.

If you have developed a business use-case model and business object model, see also Guidelines: Going from Business Models to Systems for more guidance.

Typically, this is primarily performed in iterations during the inception and elaboration phases, however it may be revisited as needed when managing scope and responding to changing requirements, as well as other changing conditions.

How to Staff

All members of the project team should participate.

Work Guidelines

The following are sample techniques that can be applied:

• Requirements Workshop
• Use-Case Workshop
• Storyboarding

See also:

• Requirements: Overview
• White Paper: Applying Requirements Management with Use Cases

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