Automatic Review of Requirements: Quality Assurance in Requirements Engineering

The review of requirements (also known as “validation”) is a central component of requirements engineering. It serves to ensure at an early stage that the requirements both meet the needs of the stakeholders and have the necessary quality to support the course of the project. However, despite established methods and best practices, many companies find it difficult to carry out these checks consistently. This is where automation comes into play: with ReqSuite® RM, requirements can be checked systematically and efficiently in order to detect errors at an early stage.

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Challenges in the Requirements Review

Many companies struggle with unclear or incomplete requirements, which often lead to costly correction loops. Classic challenges are:

• Imprecise wording: Requirements are often described so vaguely that misunderstandings are inevitable.
• Incomplete information: There are essential details missing, without which successful implementation is hardly possible.
• Conflicts and duplicates: These lead to confusion and unclear implementation requirements.

A manual check is time-consuming and prone to errors. ReqSuite® RM automates this process, saves time and significantly improves the quality of requirement documentation.

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Quality Assurance Features in ReqSuite®

Quality assurance in ReqSuite® RM checks requirements for various quality criteria. Here are the main features in detail:

1. Recognition of Imprecise Formulations

Imprecise wording is the most common source of misunderstandings. ReqSuite® RM identifies such vague descriptions and requires clear and specific wording. A few typical examples:

• “Excel export: The system should be able to export data to Excel if possible.” - Is this optional or mandatory?”
• “Performance: The system should be faster than the old one.” - What exactly does “faster” mean?
• “Response time: The system should respond to every input in just a few seconds.” - How many seconds exactly?

ReqSuite® RM recognizes these unclear formulations and suggests improvements by prompting the user to provide concrete and verifiable details.

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2. Identify Incomplete Requirements

Many requirements are incompletely specified because essential information is missing. ReqSuite® RM helps to close these gaps by pointing out missing details. Examples of this are:

• “Result display: If the search was successful, the system should display the results to the user.” - In which window, in which format?
• “Data export: When the process is complete, the customer data must be exported.” - Automatically or at the touch of a button? In which format?

By specifically checking for completeness, ReqSuite® saves time and ensures that no essential details are missing that would later lead to expensive rework.

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3. Identify Contradictions and Duplicates

Contradictions between requirements are problematic and often cause misunderstandings during implementation. ReqSuite® RM checks whether there are contradictory requirements, for example:

• “The system must allow all users to maintain customer data.” vs. “Only the administrator may maintain customer data.”

Duplicates are also recognized. If the same requirement exists several times but is formulated differently, ReqSuite® RM indicates this to avoid confusion.

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4. Identification of Conceptual Imperfections

Conceptual incompleteness arises when interrelated requirements are not fully captured. An example would be when a use case has been specified but the resulting detailed requirements are missing. ReqSuite® RM identifies such gaps and requests the creation of the missing requirements.

This function is particularly valuable when requirements are contributed by different people, as it ensures that all important aspects of a project are taken into account.

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Conclusion

Automated review of requirements is critical to avoid misunderstandings, delays and unnecessary rework. ReqSuite® RM provides organizations with the ability to efficiently and systematically review requirements, allowing projects to run more smoothly and stay on budget and on schedule. With powerful features to detect unclear wording, contradictions and missing details, ReqSuite® sets itself apart from other tools.

Want to improve the quality of your requirements? Try automated requirements review with ReqSuite® RM and benefit from efficient and accurate quality assurance. Book your free initial consultation now!