Exploring functional and non-functional requirements

High-level business requirements translate to more detailed user requirements and these further evolve into system requirements. We can classify these system requirements into two main types called functional and non-functional. Let’s review some of them in detail.

Functional requirements

Functional requirements describe a specific set of capabilities that a system must provide to users. They define a system or capabilities. These are the actions that users would like to perform so that they can achieve the desired and expected business needs. Functional requirements can be stated and captured using various tools and techniques we covered in the previous chapters. With good knowledge of a business area, underlying software and business analysis skills, and collaboration with knowledgeable stakeholders/SMEs, you should be able to capture these requirements accurately.

Let’s look at a small sample of the common...