SCIE90011 - User Requirements Specifications (URS)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the definition, importance, categories, and frameworks of User Requirements Specifications as presented in the SCIE90011 lecture.

User Requirements Specification (URS)

A structured description of what users need a system or product to do and how well it must do it, expressed in user-centred, technology-agnostic terms, and in a way that can be verified.

Design/technical specifications

The description of "how" a product is built from the engineering or scientific perspective.

Verification

Internal testing that evaluates whether the product meets each specific requirement.

Validation

The process of determining if the product fulfills its intended use in a real context.

Functional Requirements

Category of requirements focused on exactly what the product must do.

Performance Requirements

Category of requirements describing how well the product must do its tasks, including metrics like speed, capacity, accuracy, and responsiveness.

Quality & reliability

A category of requirements focusing on the robustness and consistency of a product.

Usability & human factors

Category of requirements concerning how people interact with the product and the ease of learning and use.

Interoperability & supportability

Category of requirements dealing with maintenance, lifecycle, integration, and configurability.

Solution-agnostic

A characteristic of a good requirement that focuses on what is needed rather than how to implement it.

FURPS+

A framework for structuring requirements consisting of Functionality, Usability, Reliability, Performance, and Supportability.

Kano Model

A framework that categorizes requirements into Basic (must-be) requirements, Performance requirements, and Exciters/Delighters.

MoSCoW

A prioritization framework used to categorize requirements into Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have (for now).

Third-party requirements

Requirements originating from external entities such as regulators (TGA, FDA, EMA), standards bodies (ISO, IEC), institutional policies, and payers.

Measurable/verifiable requirement example ($Time$)

A specific requirement stating that the time from sample insertion to result must be $\le 30\,\text{minutes}$ in $95\%$ of standard tests.

Measurable/verifiable requirement example ($Training$)

A specific requirement stating that a new lab technician must be able to perform a standard test safely after $\le 2\,\text{hours}$ of training.