Documenting System Requirements

As Business Analysts, we’ve all faced that moment — “The stakeholder gave a requirement… but it’s vague, contradictory, or open-ended.” Here’s a step-by-step approach to bring structure and clarity to those unclear requirements: ✅ Step 1: Acknowledge and Document the Initial Input 🎯 Why? To ensure you don’t lose context, even if it’s vague. Example: Stakeholder says: “We need a better way to manage customer complaints.” You write down: “Stakeholder needs an improved customer complaint handling mechanism (details unclear).” ✅ Step 2: Start with “Why” – Understand the Business Need 🎯 Why? Clarifying the “why” often leads to better understanding of the “what.” Ask: “What problem are you trying to solve?” “What’s not working in the current process?” Example: BA: “Why do we need to change the current complaint process?” Stakeholder: “Complaints are logged inconsistently, and we miss SLAs.” 📌 Insight: The real issue is SLA tracking and inconsistency. ✅ Step 3: Break it Down Using the 5W1H Technique 🎯 Why? To extract contextual details. Ask: Who is involved? What is happening? Where does this process occur? When is the issue most common? Why is it an issue now? How do they want it to improve? Example: “Who logs the complaint?” – Customer Support Agent “Where is it recorded?” – Excel Sheet “How do we track follow-ups?” – Manually via email 📌 Insight: Manual tracking via Excel is the root issue. ✅ Step 4: Use Visual Aids (Current State Workflow, Mind Maps, SIPOC) 🎯 Why? Many stakeholders think in visuals, not words. Example: Draw a basic AS-IS process map for current complaint logging. Ask: “Is this how it works today?” They will correct or clarify – giving you the missing details. ✅ Step 5: Facilitate a Collaborative Discussion 🎯 Why? Avoid back-and-forth emails. Schedule a requirements workshop or joint application design (JAD) session. Use: Sticky notes or Miro/MURAL boards Live prototyping or whiteboarding Clarifying user personas and journeys ✅ Step 6: Convert Insights into Scenarios / Use Cases 🎯 Why? Concrete examples trigger better feedback. Example: “So, a customer raises a complaint via phone. The agent logs it in Excel, emails a manager, and manually tracks status. Does this capture the flow correctly?” ✅ Step 7: Validate with Acceptance Criteria 🎯 Why? To confirm the requirement is testable and complete. Ask: “How will you know the new process is successful?” “What should the system be able to do?” Example: ✔ Auto-assign complaints based on category ✔ Notify customer within 24 hours ✔ Generate weekly SLA reports ✅ Step 8: Confirm Understanding in Writing 🎯 Why? Creates shared agreement and prevents future conflicts. Summarize the clarified requirement in a Requirements Document, Confluence page, or email recap, and say: “Please review and confirm if this reflects our understanding.” 👩💼 Final Thought: Unclear requirements are not a blocker — they’re an opportunity to uncover real value. BA Helpline

“That’s not what the requirement says!” Have you ever been in this type of argument? Product requirements (and other design requirements) are crucial for medical device development but are difficult to write and often difficult to understand. And misunderstandings can lead to expensive mistakes and delays. Which is ironic since requirements are supposed to enhance communication in a product team and with all the stakeholders.   Here are some recommendations, learned over years of painful experience, to improve your product requirements and minimize confusion. 1 - Make it a team effort: make one person responsible for the completion of the requirements document but make sure many people from different functional groups are involved in reviewing and commenting on the drafts. This helps in identifying missing requirements and correcting confusing wording. 2 - Use standardized terminology and syntax: requirements are not literature—save the creativity and innovation for designing the product, not for the wording of the requirements. Establish a product glossary and use those terms religiously in the requirements (don’t invent three different names for the “Axial Controller Module”). Adopt a standardized syntax such as EARS (https://lnkd.in/dTHWSwjb), which forces requirements to be written with a standard structure. This reduces the chances of misinterpretation of the requirements. 3 - Define the testing with the requirements: make sure every requirement is testable or otherwise verifiable by writing down alongside it how you plan to test it or otherwise verify it. This simple exercise highlights poorly written requirements and will also give the team a head start on V&V planning. 4 - Manage drafts carefully: during product development the latest rev of the requirements document in Doc Control is not what everyone wants to see—they want to find the latest draft of the next rev of requirements. In other words, it’s crucial that everyone can see all the changes being made to the requirements. If the latest draft is an Excel spreadsheet being emailed around, then there’s likely to be confusion. Make sure there’s one place where everyone can see the latest draft of the requirements. A good requirements management tool will automatically avoid this problem by providing a single source of truth at all times, regardless of how fast the requirements are changing.   What tips do you have to help improve requirements for medical devices?

How long?! Yep, I know I don't look it, however as a founder in software development with 20 years under my belt, I've seen countless projects succeed and, sadly, some go south. One common thread in the successes, without a shadow of a doubt, is a meticulously crafted Software Requirements Specification (SRS). It's not just another document; it’s the blueprint for software project success. Did you know that without a proper SRS, your software project has a 70% higher chance of failure? That's a staggering figure, and it highlights just how crucial this document is. An SRS bridges the gap between business needs and technical implementation. It defines exactly what your software should do, how it should perform, and any constraints it must work within. It ensures everyone – from stakeholders defining business needs to developers writing code – is on the same page. Here at Full Metal, we know that an SRS provides crystal clear understanding, leads to realistic timelines and budgets, and drastically reduces costly rework. It’s about getting it right from the start, avoiding those moments where things have gone a bit pear-shaped. We make sure our SRS documents cover everything from the introduction and scope, to overall descriptions, functional requirements, and non-functional requirements like performance and security. We also include visuals and diagrams to ensure clarity. Of course, there are common pitfalls to avoid. Vague language, missing requirements, and feature bloat (or "gold plating" as some call it) can throw a spanner in the works. Precise language and clear definitions are key. And we've produced a lovely infographic to showcase these concepts. Read on. What’s your experience? Has an SRS saved one of your projects from disaster, or have you learned the hard way without one? #SoftwareBlueprint #SRSSuccess #TechLeadership

Still using BRDs in 2025? Not always. But in the right projects — absolutely. In Agile environments, we often hear: “We don’t do BRDs. We use user stories and product backlogs.” And that’s valid for fast-paced product teams, that works. But here’s the reality: * Not every project is a product. * Not every stakeholder thinks in sprints. * Not every team runs pure Agile. When working on cross-functional projects, enterprise implementations, or compliance heavy initiatives, I still find Business Requirements Documents (BRDs) incredibly useful — not as red tape, but as alignment tools. Here’s how I typically structure one: 1. Executive Summary – The “why now?” snapshot 2. Business Objectives – Outcomes that matter 3. Scope – What’s included, what’s excluded 4. Stakeholders & Roles – Who’s doing what 5. Functional & Non-Functional Requirements – What the system should do and how well it should perform 6. Assumptions, Constraints, Dependencies – Because projects don’t happen in isolation 7. Proposed System Overview – High-level solution view 8. KPIs & Success Criteria – So we know we’re not just delivering, but delivering value And let’s be clear: BRDs aren’t one-size-fits-all. They vary by company, methodology and even the maturity of the team. Sometimes it’s a full document. Sometimes, it’s a lean version that feeds directly into a product backlog. ✨ The goal isn’t formality. The goal is clarity. Whether you call it a BRD, a vision doc or something else what matters is shared understanding. #BusinessAnalysis #BRD #AgileProjects #ProjectManagement #BAcommunity #RequirementsEngineering #StakeholderAlignment #DeliverySuccess

The legacy system documentation is a ticking time bomb. Hey y'all! Something's keeping me up at night: while everyone's drooling over the newest AI toys, millions of critical COBOL systems are running with documentation that's basically a hot mess of digital spaghetti. The documentation problem is REAL, folks. Most big companies have decades of system info scattered across random folders, personal drives, and (I'm not making this up) actual paper manuals locked in cabinets nobody can find keys for anymore. Why should we care? Because when your last COBOL expert retires next month, all that knowledge walks right out the door with them. And guess who's gonna be panicking when that mission-critical banking system crashes at 2 AM? Yep, you. Some facts that should make you sweat: • Most companies have ZERO actual documentation standards for legacy systems • Documentation is often older than most entry-level employees • New developers waste 60% of their time just trying to figure out how the darn system works • Critical knowledge exists only in the heads of people about to retireThe solution isn't fancy or trendy, but it works: get your documentation organized, people!Smart companies are doing some basic stuff that actually works: 1. Create a standard folder structure for ALL legacy documentation 2. Set up smart search capabilities (like Smart Folders) that can find any document across your entire system¹ 3. Use naming conventions that even new hires can understand 4. Make sure the right team members can access what they need 5. Create specific spaces for critical documents like system diagrams and emergency proceduresWill this problem get better or worse soon? My bet: it's gonna get much, much worse unless companies wake up and do something now. The good news? You don't need some expensive fancy solution. A well-organized folder system with decent search can turn your documentation chaos into something usable overnight. If you're running legacy systems without a documentation strategy, you're basically playing Russian roulette with your company's most important stuff. Don't be that person.

Before You Ship That LLM Project, Ask: Is It Documented? Documentation isn't bureaucracy. It's your control layer for safety, trust and compliance. In the rush to deploy LLM-powered features, prompt chains, model configs, and system behaviors often live in the minds of a few engineers… until someone starts asking questions. With reputational risks, EU AI Act, SR 11-7, and internal audit requirements, documentation is no longer optional --> It’s a core part of GenAI project requirements. Here’s what solid documentation unlocks: 🔹 Prompt templates = explain business logic and chaining logic 🔹 Model cards = transparency & trust for the underlying models 🔹 Output expected behavior = risk mitigation with proactive guardrails and monitoring Teams that wait to document until “later” often scramble when incidents, or customer concerns arise, leading to many rollbacks or another failed projects. How do you keep your documentation up to date, versioned, and audit-ready? #LLMOps #ModelDocumentation #AICompliance #RiskManagement #SR117 #EUAIAct #MLOps #AITransparency

📄 Business Analyst Documentation — What Do You Actually Create? If you're a Business Analyst (or aspiring to become one), your ability to document requirements clearly can make or break a project. Here’s a breakdown of the core BA documents we work with, and the tools that help us build them 🧠💻 🗂️ Key BA Documents & What They’re For: 🔹 BRD (Business Requirements Document) - Defines high-level business needs - Written in business language for stakeholders 🔹 FRD (Functional Requirements Document) - Describes what the system should do - Focuses on specific features and interactions 🔹 FRS (Functional Requirements Specification) - A more detailed version of FRD (sometimes used interchangeably) - Can include diagrams, flows, and logic for each function 🔹 SRS (Software Requirements Specification) - Combines functional & non-functional requirements - Often used by devs, testers, and architects 🔹 Use Case Document - Describes user interactions with the system - Includes primary/alternate flows and actors 🔹 User Stories / Acceptance Criteria - Agile-focused, written from a user perspective - "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [goal]" 🔹 Process Flows / Workflows - Visual maps of how tasks or data move through a system 🔹 Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) - Tracks the relationship between requirements and test cases 🛠 Tools Commonly Used to Create These Documents: ✅ MS Word / Google Docs – For BRDs, FRDs, SRS, etc. ✅ MS Excel / Google Sheets – For RTMs, prioritization, tabular data ✅ Confluence – Collaborative documentation and knowledge sharing ✅ Jira / Azure DevOps – For writing user stories and tracking requirements ✅ Lucidchart / Draw.io / Visio – For diagrams and flows ✅ Balsamiq / Figma / Adobe XD – For wireframes and UI documentation ✅ Notion – For organizing docs, product specs, and shared notes 📌 Pro Tip: - Choose your format and tool based on your audience – business stakeholders prefer clarity, while developers want specifics. #BusinessAnalyst #BAdocuments #BRD #SRS #FRD #UseCases #Agile #ToolsForBA #Documentation #ProductManagement #Jira #Confluence #Lucidchart #Notion #BAcommunity

This is day 4 -- Documents that Product Managers should master Product Requirements Document (PRD) 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗣𝗥𝗗 A document that includes details about a specific feature, solution, or product. It acts as the central point of information for engineers to understand the solution, and translate it into code. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗥𝗗𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 1. Common understanding: PRDs lay the foundation of common understanding. It ensures engineer's understanding of "what" to build is the same as that of the PM's 2. Agreement: PRDs also act as a contract between PMs and engineers on the specifics of the solution that will be built. It is also an agreement on the quality and success of the solution. 3. Scope: PRDs define what is IN scope. Great PRDs also define what is OUT OF scope. 4. Clarity: PRDs provide a high level of depth into the idea, ensuring low ambiguity 5. Reference: PRDs act as reference for PMs, engineers, stakeholders who want to know why, what, when a feature / solution was developed 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗥𝗗𝘀 A great PRD includes what is important for the team. A few things that I always include: 1. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴: The problem that we're solving via this solution. What is the impact of solving this problem. 2. 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀: mention all users that you could be targeting, and then explain why you have chosen the persona that you have. 3. 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (𝗙𝗥𝘀): this is the most critical and lengthy section. It covers 70-80% of the document. It contains a very high degree of detail about every aspect of the of the product. 4. 𝗡𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (𝗡𝗙𝗥): NFRs are requirements that are not necessarily visible or usable for the end user. Ex: "Netflix must be available 99.99% of the time, allowing users to access content seamlessly without interruptions" 5. 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻: list of tests that have to be passed before the solution can be launched 6. 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮: is a checklist, in which every check is critical to be met before the product launvh 7. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: there will always be open questions. Document them in a separate section. It is important for readers to know that you have considered all questions 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 1. Don't treat PRDs as a static document: PRD is not a one and done document. It is an evolving document. Based on your discussions, feedback, questions, you should update it to keep it relevant and impactful. 2. Make sure there is no ambiguity: Be very sure to reduce / remove ambiguity. Anything you leave for interpretation, will always be interpreted incorrectly. -- That is it for today. Stay tuned for Day 5, where we talk about user stories. If you haven't already, please follow me Sid Arora

Clear Vision, Clear Results Ever been part of a project where no one seemed to be on the same page? Vague requirements, stakeholders with conflicting priorities, and the team left guessing what they were supposed to build? It happens all too often, and it’s the number one reason tech projects fail. Effective requirements gathering is the bridge between chaos and clarity. It’s where you align everyone, uncover what’s needed, and set the foundation for success. Here’s how you can turn a chaotic project start into a streamlined path forward: 1. Involve the Right Stakeholders Early ↳ Identify who has a stake in the project’s success. ↳ Bring them in early to get their insights and needs. ↳ Avoid surprises down the line by ensuring alignment from the beginning. 2. Ask Questions that Matter ↳ What problem are we solving? ↳ Who will benefit from this solution? ↳ What are the must-haves vs. nice-to-haves? 3. Use Workshops to Build Consensus ↳ Facilitate collaborative sessions to uncover needs. ↳ Use whiteboards, sticky notes, or digital tools to capture ideas. ↳ Get everyone to agree on priorities and outcomes. 4. Document Requirements Clearly and Concisely ↳ Write requirements in plain language. ↳ Make sure they’re easy for everyone—tech and non-tech—to understand. ↳ Visuals like diagrams and user stories can help make requirements clearer. 5. Validate and Iterate ↳ Share the documented requirements back with stakeholders. ↳ Validate that nothing has been missed or misunderstood. ↳ Iterate until everyone is confident in the plan. According to PMI, poor requirements gathering leads to project failure 37% of the time. Getting this step right is the key to avoiding rework and delays. Effective requirements gathering isn’t just a box to check. It’s the foundation of every successful tech project. It’s how you ensure everyone’s rowing in the same direction from day one. How do you gather requirements effectively in your projects? Share your strategies below! 👇 Stuck in the chaos of vague requirements? I can help bring clarity. DM me, and let’s get your project on the path to success.

Some key documents required for a Product Manager in the hardware or robotics space. If your PM is not leading this or giving strategy for this in your startup, your PM needs to level up. It is one way traditional PM in software space is different from hardware space. 1) Market Requirements Document (MRD) The MRD defines the market needs, customer pain points, and business opportunities. Even before setting out to build product atall, this is needed to validate the opportunity. 2) Product Requirements Document (PRD) The PRD describes how the product should be built to meet those customer needs in the MRD. That is why the MRD should be written first 3) Product Specification Provides detailed technical requirements for engineers to build the product targeted at engineers. It will contain details like hardware block diagrams, key electrical components, hardware performance requirements (battery life required, sleep/wake times, sensor accuracy, data transfer speeds required, etc.), testing requirements (desired environmental and reliability specs, IP-ratings, etc.) etc. This is where you’ll describe in gory detail the technical requirements of your product. This is ideally supposed to be prepared by engineering manager with input from Product Manager We have other documents also that will be needed like Compliance & Regulatory Documentation, the Product Roadmap, Prototyping & Testing Reports etc. Because of the technical knowledge to be able to understand and interpret the hardware documents, you will often find engineering leaders actually becoming the hardware PM or transitioning to this role because of domains knowledge required. It could be learnt though, but it does takes time to know how to understand system architecture, block diagrams and be able to contribute to them without domain knowledge in the field. #robotics #hardwareproductmanagement #productmanagement