Understanding User Needs

Do the research necessary to understand the types of users that the solution targets, their needs, and the expected benefits to them. For example, the following list provides one way to categorize users:

• Current employees only

• Current and previous employees

• Administrators

• Active customers

• All customers

• Membership site

• General public

• Restricted access

Clearly stating the expected benefits to users helps drive design decisions. For example, here are some benefits that a solution can provide to users:

• Remote access to company resources

• Enterprise collaboration

• Simplification of daily tasks

• Sharing of resources by remote teams

• Increased productivity

• Self-administration by end-users

Developing Operational Requirements

Express operational requirements as a set of functional requirements with straightforward goals. Typically, you create operational specifications for areas such as:

• End-user functionality

• Reduced response time

• Availability and uptime

• Reduced error rate

• Information archival and retention

Express operational requirements in measurable terms that all stakeholders can understand. Avoid ambiguous language, such as “adequate end-user response time.” Examples of operational requirements could be the following:

• Ability to restore services within 10 minutes of an outage

• Ability to replay the last 48 hours of inbound message delivery

• Online transactions completed within 60 seconds during peak periods

• End-user authentication completed within four seconds during peak periods

Supporting Existing Usage Patterns

Express existing usage patterns as clearly measurable goals. The following questions can help determine such goals.

• How are current services utilized?

• What are the usage patterns (for example, sporadic, frequent, or heavy usage)?

• To which sites do your users typically connect?

• What size messages do users commonly send?

• How many transactions do users typically complete per day or per hour?

Study the users who access your services. Factors such as when users access existing services and for how long are keys to identifying your goals. If your organization’s experience cannot provide these patterns, study the experience of similar organizations.