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Functional Requirements

What is a Requirement?
 

A requirement is a description of the service that software must offer. A requirement can range from the high-level abstract statement of the sender's necessity to detailed mathematical functional requirement specifications. 

 

What is a Functional Requirement?
 

In software engineering, a functional requirement defines a system or its component. It describes the functions a software must perform. A function is nothing but inputs, its behavior, and outputs. It can be a calculation, data manipulation, business process, user interaction, or any other specific functionality which defines what function a system is likely to perform. Functional Requirements are also called Functional Specification.

Functional software requirements help you to capture the intended behavior of the system. This behavior may be expressed as functions, services or tasks or which system is required to perform.

 

What should be included in the Functional Requirements Document?

Functional Requirements should include the following things: 

  • Details of operations conducted in every screen

  • Data handling logic should be entered into the system

  • It should have descriptions of system reports or other outputs

  • Complete information about the workflows performed by the system

  • It should clearly define who will be allowed to create/modify/delete the data in the system

  • How the system will fulfill applicable regulatory and compliance needs should be captured in the functional document 

 
Benefits of Functional Requirement
 

Here, are the pros/advantages of creating a typical functional requirement document- 

  • Helps you to check whether the application is providing all the functionalities that were mentioned in the functional requirement of that application 

  • A functional requirement document helps you to define the functionality of a system or one of its subsystems. 

  • Functional requirements along with requirement analysis help identify missing requirements. They help clearly define the expected system service and behavior.

  • Errors caught in the Functional requirement gathering stage are the cheapest to fix. 

  • Support user goals, tasks, or activities

 
Types of Functional Requirements

 

Here, are the most common functional requirement types 

  • Transaction Handling

  • Business Rules

  • Certification Requirements

  • Reporting Requirements

  • Administrative functions

  • Authorization levels

  • Audit Tracking

  • External Interfaces

  • Historical Data management 

  • Legal and Regulatory Requirements

 
Example of Functional Requirements
 

  • The software automatically validates customers against the ABC Contact Management System

  • The Sales system should allow users to record customers sales

  • The background color for all windows in the application will be blue and have a hexadecimal RGB color value of 0x0000FF.

  • Only Managerial level employees have the right to view revenue data. 

  • The software system should be integrated with banking API

  • The software system should pass Section 508 accessibility requirement. 

 
Non Functional vs. Functional Requirements
 

Here, are key differences between Functional and Nonfunctional Requirements:

Best practice of Functional Requirement
​

Important best practice for developing functional requirement document is as follows: 

  • Do not combine two requirements into one. Keep the requirements granular.

  • You should make each requirement as complete and accurate as possible.

  • The document should draft all the technical requirements.

  • Map all requirements to the objectives and principles which contributes to successful software delivery 

  • Elicit requirements using interviews, workshops and casual communications. 

  • If there is any known, verified constraint which materially affects a requirement then it is a critical state that should be documented. 

  • It is necessary that you document all the assumption in the document. 

 
Mistakes While Creating a Functional Requirement 
​

Here, are some common mistakes made while creating function requirement document: 

  • Putting in unjustified extra information that may confuse developers

  • Not putting sufficient detail in the requirement document.

  • You add rules or examples, scoping statements or objectives anything except the requirement itself. 

  • Left out a piece of important information that is an absolute must to fully, accurately, and definitively state the requirement. 

  • Some professionals start to defend the requirements they have documented when the requirement is modified, instead of finding the correct truth. 

  • Requirements which are not mapped to an objective or principle. 

 
Summary
​

  • A functional requirement defines a system or its component

  • Functional Requirements Document should contain Data handling logic and complete information about the workflows performed by the system

  • Functional requirements along with requirement analysis help identify missing requirements

  • Transaction corrections, adjustments, and cancellations, Business Rules, Certification Requirements, Reporting Requirements, Administrative functions, Authorization levels, Audit Tracking, External Interfaces, Historical Data management, Legal or Regulatory Requirements are various types of functional requirements

  • As a good practice do not combine two requirements into one. Keep the requirements granular.

  • Putting in unjustified extra information that may confuse developers should be avoided in the functional requirement document.

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