The target state of a software development is defined by means of functional and non-functional requirements. These are related to the initial project goals, to the addressed user group, the specified use contexts and discovered risks. Gender and diversity considerations have to be kept in mind.
How do we include the domain expertise of potential users in our research and development project? What techniques for participatory analysis and design might help us? (reflection aspect: knowledge)
Requirement definitions may take various forms, the most common of which are simple structured lists. In a project studying what design methods might be suitable for participatory design with and for senior citizens, a prototypical neighbourhood platform was developed in cooperation with future users. Maaß et al. (2018) decided to work with scenarios and paper prototypes in order to involve senior citizens in the formulation and review of requirements. Based on a detailed actual state assessment and its description by “retirement stories” they presented the requirements as “platform stories” that described the use of the intended platform by retired person(a)s. In a workshop, senior citizens easily took the roles of the various personas in these scenarios. The stories helped them discover, critique, and modify the functionality of a paper prototype of the platform. Eventually, the stories and the prototype became part of the requirements definition.