Viewpoint–participation–technique: A model of participative requirements elicitation

Abstract

Requirements elicitation is an early phase process in systems development that captures user needs and represents them as a set of requirements. In view of increasing demand for products and services that target mass markets, requirements analysts have begun emphasising the need for participation of end users and customers during elicitation. This article proposes the viewpoint–participation–technique model of requirements elicitation that integrates functions for strategizing elicitation participation and selecting elicitation techniques. A step-by-step approach to using the viewpoint–participation–technique model is then presented, and the model is illustrated through a case study of the elicitation process for an interlibrary loan service. The article also discusses some applications and limitations of the viewpoint–participation–technique model and concludes by identifying possible future research directions.