 |
Requirements gathering has always been one of the most crucial phase on the start of a project. In my years of experience, i’ve seen developers ask so many questions and tell me to specify the details and committed that they’ll go ahead and develop it exactly how I designed it. Sounds ideal, right? But the reality is, before you see the actual output, a lot has already changed due to adjustments needed to be done to cater to other demands.
This is the reason why it is important to be on-site so you can get to see what your clients are facing with. Understand how they work, the tasks they take on on a daily basis, the paper works they’re doing, and the issues they are dealing with. You’ll also get to know their processes and how they operate. Cover as much grounds as you can.
Ask Who, What, When Where and Why… Ask who the users are, who delivers this, and who is your go to person. What do they need, what should be resolved, what are their expectations, what is the turn around time, and what happens next. When should it be implemented and when should specific items be accomplished. Where should the application be setup, where to find the information and resources needed. And the most important of all is the Whys; go ahead and ask why this and why that to have a better understanding on everything.
Even if the business requirements seems complete and has been provided, it’s still best to be on-site not just to see how things are going and to provide support but also for you to engage in the discovery phase and you’ll find a lot of interesting things in every step of your journey.
