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What is User Requirements Specification: Definition, Components and Importance
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Praise Iwuh
April 28, 2023
When you purchase a product or service, clear communication is critical to ensure the provider understands what you, the buyer, are asking for. The purpose of any business interaction is essentially for the provider to solve the needs of the purchasing party.
In the B2B market, the best vehicle for this communication is a formal document detailing the needs and pain points of the customer and the solutions they desire. That document is referred to as a User requirement specification(URS).
Stay with us as we explore the concept of URS, its components and its advantages.
- What is a user requirement specification?
- Why is a User Requirement Specification Important?
- What makes up a URS?
- Tips for writing a good URS
- Final thoughts
What is a User Requirements Specification?
A user requirement specification is a product development guide that outlines the user’s expectations of the product or service. It is a detailed document containing a description of all required features of the product and serves as a formal agreement between the customer and vendor regarding what is required and what will be delivered. A URS contains an outline of the products' expected features, such as user interface and user experience design, software and hardware requirements, capabilities and limitations, and regulatory requirements.
The supplier can write this document, or the customer, depending on the nature of the service being purchased. For example, in the event of software development, the customer may prepare the URS for a bespoke application, and the provider may handle it in the case of a ready-made product.
URS documents are created before the start of development, and it serves as a manual that aligns user needs with the provider's effort and should be written in layman's terms, in the language of the product’s end user.
Why is a User Requirement Specification Important?
URS documents make it clear to all products involved what they are expecting. It defines the needs of the person or group of people that are to use the product. The point of any project is to meet a user’s needs, and this document defines what those needs are. A URS serves as a roadmap for the project, remaining relevant into the maintenance and support stage.
It is a crucial part of the development that guides the providers; supplier, designer, developer, tester, etc, in meeting the user’s expectations. A URS is important because it ensures clear communication between the user and provider.
What makes up a URS?
The content of a URS depends on the nature of the service being purchased. Some of the basic components of this document, however, should be:
User Requirement
A well-written document must contain clearly specified needs and expectations of the product’s intended user. This section should be as detailed as possible, capturing the aspirations of the user, how they need the product to behave and what they hope to achieve by using it.
Functional Requirement
Your URS should include the functions the product needs to perform to satisfy its user. It details what functions will be needed to achieve this and what limitations may be encountered.
Operational Requirements
This involves the actions and procedures required to keep the system or product functional, such as maintenance, monitoring and issue-fixing operations.
Performance Requirements
This section details the level of performance the user is to experience.
Regulatory Requirements
This constitutes the legal implications and requirements attached to the product. This includes industry standards and government regulations.
Acceptance Criteria
This section summarises the conditions that must be met for the product to be accepted by the user.
Supporting Documents
Your URS should have supporting documents attached. This includes all other documentation relevant to the project, diagrams, sketches, resources, reports, and surveys. etc.
Index and Glossary
You should include an index that lists the content in order of appearance for organisation and easy navigation of the document. Also, it helps to have a glossary that contains definitions of all technical terms or jargon, acronyms and abbreviations that inevitably make their way into the documents.
Tips for writing a good URS
A well-written URS is essential to the development of a good product. It can be the difference between a successful or failed project.
Some tips for writing an effective URS include:
Keep your language simple
Write clearly and concisely as much as you can. Avoid niche jargon, and only use technical terms when it’s avoidable. The document should be simple and understandable by all parties involved to prevent miscommunication or misinterpretations.
Be specific
Your URS should clearly define the scope of the project, what your product is expected to do, what it’s not expected to do, what features are included, and the purpose of those features. You should also specify what limitations may be encountered and any assumptions you have. A person who reads the document should be educated on the what and why of the product.
Understand User Persona
Remember, the user is the most important consideration in developing a product or providing a service. Your URS should be centred around the user or group of users and written from their perspective.
Performance Indicators
It is necessary to indicate the parameters by which the product can be graded. This is to ensure that the performance of the product is measurable. These parameters include requirements for passing tests and measurements that indicate optimal performance.
Acceptance Criteria
As stated earlier, acceptance criteria identify to the development team the conditions required for the product to be deemed acceptable.
Include Feedback
It’s important that the document should be grounded in feedback from stakeholders, product owners, users, and development teams to understand, assess and incorporate thoughts from all points of view. This aids innovation and clear communication.
These are not requirements for writing a good URS; rather, view them as guidelines on what to include to improve the quality of your document.
Final thoughts
The URS is the first step to procuring a product or service, particularly in the software industry. The effort put into preparing an effective URS has a high return on investment, as it saves you time and cost on the consequences of miscommunication along the line.
Do you need guidance in preparing a bulletproof URS document? Our experienced technical writers at Wazobia Technologies are well-equipped to simplify and document your requirements categorically. Also, we are a Software development and outsourcing agency with the capacity to help you build robust software and bespoke solutions and offer staff augmentation services. Contact us for a free consultation session to better analyse your needs.
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