Write Better Software Requirements, Use Cases, User Stories — Part 1
According to the Oxford dictionary:
· Communication is “the act of sharing or exchanging information, ideas or feelings.”
· Clarity is “the quality of being clear and easy to understand”.
· Complexity is “the state of being complex and difficult to understand”
When you attach these attributes to any document, they determine whether your end-readers will understand your piece or not. I have rarely seen anyone pay attention to fundamentals.
Often, the expertise of the writer is equated with their ability to clearly and comprehensively make a point. This is a logical fallacy. Further, the more complex the writing, the more you assume that your document is slick and correct. By premise, complex writing is not easy to understand. So why do this?
This creates problems when you write software specifications, requirements, use case narratives, storyboards etc. You might naturally assume that just because you write in a language your clients understand, that they will understand you.
I present a checklist that helped me in the last 2 decades. It applies to use cases, stories and many other popular constructs. Please add if I missed something. Always keen to learn.
If your clients understand what you write, you will reach goal faster, with better breath and little sweat.
Part 2 follows soon.
