Eliciting requirements for a contract lifecycle management application : a model driven approach to technique selection and assessment

Abstract

The development of new software products requires a clear understanding of what the product must do before development begins. Requirements Elicitation (RE) is the process by which this understanding is established, yet the selection of an appropriate elicitation technique remains a persistent challenge. Human factors, such as the experience of the analyst and the properties of targeted stakeholders are important but rarely considered together in existing frameworks.

This thesis proposes a lightweight conceptual model for elicitation technique selection that integrates the assessment of both analyst and stakeholders prior to method selection. The model is applied in a case study context at a Finnish SME, Company X, which is developing a new Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) application. Two domain experts and four internal operators participated in elicitation sessions using semi-structured interviews and a facilitated workshop. The elicited requirements were categorised according to the phases of the CLM lifecycle and assessed using an adapted quality scoring framework based on completeness, scope, and benefit.

Twenty-six requirements were gathered across the three sessions, representing sixteen unique features. The findings support the value of assessing analyst and stakeholder properties as a precursor to technique selection. It also shows that interviews and workshops can yield a validated initial set of requirements for early-stage software development. The results also provide insights into how requirements are conveyed by stakeholders as well as the types of desired features in a CLM system.