Project Management guide · Planning and scope
Project Requirements: High-Level and Technical Requirements
Requirements describe what the project's result must do and the conditions it must meet. Getting them right is one of the strongest predictors of project success.
Key takeaways
- Requirements range from business needs to technical specifications.
- Gather them with stakeholders using several techniques.
- Make them testable and trace them to deliverables.
Types of requirements
| Type | Describes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Business | Why the project is needed | Reduce invoice processing costs |
| Stakeholder | Needs of specific groups | Finance needs month-end reports |
| High-level | Broad capabilities at initiation | System must support online payments |
| Functional | What the solution does | Users can export invoices as PDF |
| Non-functional | How well it performs | Pages load in under two seconds |
| Technical | Technical conditions and constraints | Runs on the existing cloud platform |
| Transition | What is needed to move to the new state | Train 50 users before go-live |
Gathering requirements
- Interviews and workshops.
- Observation of current work.
- Surveys.
- Document analysis.
- Prototypes and user stories.
Documenting and tracing
Record requirements in a requirements document or backlog. A requirements traceability matrix links each requirement to its source, design, test and deliverable, so nothing is missed.
Good requirements are
- Clear and unambiguous.
- Testable.
- Necessary.
- Feasible.
- Prioritised, for example using MoSCoW.
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Frequently asked questions
What are high-level project requirements?
Broad statements of what the solution must achieve, defined early in the project.
What are technical project requirements?
Specifications for technology, infrastructure, security and performance.
What is the difference between functional and non-functional project requirements?
Functional requirements describe what the system does; non-functional describe how well it does it.
Who gathers project requirements?
Business analysts, product owners or project managers, with stakeholders.
What is a project requirements traceability matrix?
A table linking requirements to their sources, designs, tests and deliverables.
What is MoSCoW prioritisation of project requirements?
A prioritisation method: Must, Should, Could, Won't have this time.
How are project requirements handled in Agile?
As user stories in a backlog, refined just in time.
Why do project requirements fail?
Ambiguity, missing stakeholders, and changes not managed through change control.
What is project requirements sign-off?
Formal approval that requirements are complete enough to proceed.
Are project requirements the same as scope?
Requirements feed scope; scope defines the work needed to meet them.