What is Requirement Gathering and Analysis in Software Engineering?

In software engineering, the requirement gathering and analysis are processes whereby stakeholders engage in identifying, collecting, and analyzing the needs and expectations toward a software project. In turn, it dictates on whether the software would meet the client's expectations regarding budget, time, and quality. It starts by the identification of the key stakeholders including the business owners, investors, users, and beneficiaries whose expectations and requirements from the software have to be understood.

Next are the various requirement-gathering methods including interviews, focus groups, surveys, and document analysis. The requirements are broadly categorized into business, user, and system requirements, which further include functional, non-functional, technical, operational, and transitional requirements. Detailed descriptions of each requirement are provided, along with a prioritization rating which guides focus toward business critical needs.

Phase three is the analysis where requirements are scrutinized for feasibility and correctness. In this phase, the requirements may be modeled using graphical representations such as data flow diagrams and entity-relationship diagrams, thus allowing for the identification of contradictory aspects or omissions in the requirements.

The last stage is the description of the analyzed requirements development of the Software Requirements Specification (SRS), meant to set a guide for the development team. Proper communication with the stakeholders must run the entire way through to ensure the software meets their scale. Visualization techniques may include BPMN or customer journey mapping, and this serves to further cement the software with business or user needs.