What documentation do you use for your Business Requirements

Question

As developers, what documentation would you require from your managers?

• 2 lines description good enough?
• Won't move without a Use-Case diagram?

What kind of documentation would you prefer to work with to help you understand the business requirements?

Answer 1

I like User Stories. They describe requirements in a language that everybody involved in the project can understand.

Answer 2

I'm going to double the user stories response. Specs are nice, but lacking in many ways, no matter how detailed. UML is also nice, albeit can be confusing even though it is detailed. Use stories are simple. User stories tell someone what they want to do. All the other specs often just get in the way of the story that an application needs to perform.

So yeah, user stories rule. :) Of course I write this in the context that one writes true to the definition user stories and not some whimsical made up stories that don't fit the proper level of story telling.

Answer 3

We combine the User Story method with specific requirements. We try to keep each Use Case / Story to a single page. Here are the sections we have.

1. Description: What is the purpose of the use-case
2. Actors: This will help organize your application so that you can group actions required by the same actors.
3. Normal Execution: A step by step description of how the user will interact with the software and how the software will respond.
4. Exceptions: Common error scenarios not covered in Normal Execution
5. Special Requirements: Details that are not covered in the Normal Execution
6. Developer Notes: Hints to the developers

Answer 4

call me an old fashioned square, from the past... but wireframes (or mockups) with a tech notes side bar (for the things you cant 'see' in the wireframe).

user stories is a modern approach going hand-in-hand with agile/scrum.

mockuping up a UI in whatever tool saves a hell of a lot of writing. maybe both combined? user stories + wireframes?

i dont use UML for the same reason i dont show gantt charts to clients - not many people understand it (or want to invest the time in learning it).