Part of practical requirements elicitation is less order taking and is more about asking probing questions to understand the business need more effectively. Understanding gives you the ability to analyze the requirements more deeply.

So what are the typical questions that are asked when eliciting requirements? We recommend the Inquiry model, which is the 7 questions we have to ask about everything: Who, what, where, why, when, how, and how many. Each of these provides a dimension to the requirement and provides depth.

A Birthday Cake

Let’s use a birthday cake as an example. Your customer (aka the small adult in your family) has requested a cake for their birthday.

Why? It’s my birthday, and I always get a cake. It’s tradition. This is about the importance and the rationale for the requirement. We’re trying to determine the need behind the requirement.

What? What kind of cake do you want? This is about defining the expectation of what is to be delivered. Will it be vanilla or chocolate? Will there be filling? What do you mean when you say cake? This brings out the specifics of the solution expected.

Who? Names - I want names! This is about setting up the ownership. Who picks the cake? Who makes the cake? Who eats the cake? This question is all about the people and roles that are involved.

Where? Location, Location, Location. Where are we picking it up? Where are we buying it? It’s all the logistical questions that need to be answered.

When? Timing is everything. When is your birthday? When should we make the cake? This works to resolve the timeline and sequencing of tasks needed for the solution to be delivered.

How? These are the tasks or logical parts to be assembled to create the whole. I’ll call the bakery and order a cake or open a cake mix and bake it. The how can be described as the tasks involved in creating the solution, delivering it, and maintaining it.

How many? 1…2…3…count with me. This is the quantification of the requirement or solution. One or two cakes? One or two parties?

Immersion is required when asking these types of questions. You have to be in the moment and focused on that conversation and where it is going. Distractions pull you away from your train of thought and could cause things to be missed.

Focus your energy and keep it in scope. If you’re not sure of the scope, try to draw some boundaries early in the conversation, so you’re not trying to boil the ocean.

Be willing to surrender or skip a question and come back to it later. The questions might not have a detailed answer just yet, so skip around to other questions in the inquiry model and come back to those questions you skipped at a later time.