Prioritizing Requirements – Rating Techniques Rating is only one part of prioritizing requirements but you need to select an appropriate technique. Voting can be done through a pre-session survey or in-session. Key success factors include: 1) 2) 3) 4)
Setup – the right needs and requirements to be prioritized are chosen (purpose based) Involvement – the right stakeholders are involved in prioritization Facilitation – a skilled facilitator is used Tools – the right methods and tools for voting are used
Below are the four main rating techniques for prioritizing requirements:
1 | Survey Factors must be well defined – no ambiguity Must be simple, easy to understand, and complete Must be able to enforce completion deadline Collection and statistical analysis completed Allows for the ability to weight the respondents – ex. weight may vary based on position, responsibility, role (customer), etc
2 | Facilitated Blind Voting (in session voting) Participants vote on one topic (or a group) by completing a card or a ballot Cards of ballots are collected, grouped, and tabulated If consensus is unsatisfactory, must discuss and re-vote
3 | Group Voting (“show of hands”) A simple show of hands in the session Visibly collected (flip chart) Results calculated in real-time Facilitated discussion re-voting an optional variation
4 | Blind Voting Using an Electronic Tool Requires appropriate technology Specially-equipped rooms with terminal, voting keypads, or PC’s for each stakeholder Specialized software