Improving information requirements determination: a cognitive perspective

Requirements determination is a critical phase of information systems development, but much evidence suggests that the process can and should be improved. Because the bulk of requirements determination occurs early in the development of a system, improvements can yield significant benefits for the entire systems development process. This paper first discusses a three-stage descriptive model of the requirements determination process. Four classes of difficulties in determining systems requirements are then used to organize and describe particular problems that occur within each stage of the process, together with the cognitive and behavioral theories that underlie them. The paper then describes techniques that can address the problems and presents theoretical considerations that analysts can use in applying the techniques to improve requirements determination.