Scenario Plus
List of Validation Techniques

 

Validation means checking that requirements are correct in the eyes of their Stakeholders,
as well as realistic, affordable and workable in practice.

Technique Purpose Suitable Tools Risks
Checks on individual requirements Ensure properly-structured wording, presence of acceptance criteria, priorities, justifications; that all terms used are defined; that complex / tricky terms are avoided. English usage checker, ordinary dictionary, project dictionary.

Database scripts to check fields are filled.

 

 Wasting time on field-filling, grammar and punctuation instead of looking at structural problems.
Checks on single documents
  • avoid synonyms
  • avoid ambiguity
  • Table of Contents complete
  • CRUD checks
  • realism of goals
  • English usage checker
  • Project (data) dictionary
  • Document templates
  • Simulation and modelling
  • Scenario walkthroughs
  • CRUD walkthrough:
    • are any items Created but never Read, Updated, or Deleted? (Update and Delete are not mandatory.)
    • Are any items Read, Updated, or Deleted but never Created?
  
Checks on linked / traced documents Ensure the requirements are
  • Necessary
    (justified by project goals)
  • Fit for Purpose
    (together, satisfy project goals)
  • Tracing forwards from goals (using database, etc)
  • Tracing backwards from requirements to goals (again, using a database)
  • Tracing terms to Project Dictionary (are all terms defined? Is the dictionary consistent?
  • A logical mind: do the rationales and traces actually justify the requirements?
  
Checks with Stakeholders Ensure requirements as written are what the stakeholders wanted Interviews, document walkthroughs, animations, simulations, demonstrations with mockups or Prototypes, etc. Stakeholders can also check Project Dictionary, etc. Stakeholders change their minds, expectations rise, etc.
Checks against Requirements Templates Ensure that whole groups of requirements have not been overlooked
  • Templates such as the Scenario Plus downloads. Emphasis should be on creating good requirements, not on form-filling or company procedures.
Wasting time on populating templates (rather than allowing sections to be deleted if not needed, or for other sections to be added).

Many other special techniques are possible and occasionally useful.

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