What makes a requirement good?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Clear and unambiguous
- Testable or measurable
- Necessary and linked to a business need
- Feasible
- Consistent and does not conflict with others
- Traceable to its source
Model answer
A good requirement is clear and unambiguous, so developers, testers and business users read it the same way. It must be testable, which means we can prove whether it has been met, for example 'search results appear within 2 seconds for 95% of searches' instead of 'search is fast'. It should be necessary, meaning it supports a real business goal and is not just a nice idea. It must be feasible within the technical and budget limits. It should be consistent with other requirements and not contradict them. I also make it traceable, linking it to its source, such as a stakeholder or a regulation, and forward to design and tests. Finally, a good requirement describes what is needed, not how to build it, so the team can find the best solution.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed easy round and get scored on every answer.
More easy Business Analyst questions
- What does a business analyst do?
- What techniques do you use to gather requirements?
- Explain functional and non-functional requirements with examples.
- How do you write a good user story and its acceptance criteria?
- What is process mapping and why is it useful?
- What is the difference between a business analyst and a product owner?
- How do you prepare for a stakeholder interview?
- What is the difference between a use case and a user story, and when would you use each?
- What are the main documents or artefacts a business analyst produces?