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Requirements Gathering in System Design

What Are Requirements?

Requirements define what the system should do and how it should perform. They guide the entire design process.

Two Main Types:

  1. Functional Requirements: Describe specific features or functions the system must support. Example: “Users can upload photos.”

  2. Non-Functional Requirements: Describe system qualities like performance, security, scalability, etc. Example: “The system should handle 10,000 uploads per minute.”

Why Are Requirements Important?

  • Aligns stakeholders’ expectations
  • Helps prioritize features and design decisions
  • Prevents scope creep and costly redesigns later

How to Gather Requirements?

  • Stakeholder Interviews: Talk to users, business teams, engineers.
  • Use Cases: Describe interactions between users and system.
  • User Stories: Short descriptions of user needs (“As a user, I want to…”)
  • Documentation Review: Existing specs, market analysis, competitor research.

Visual: Requirements Flowchart

[Stakeholders]
     |
     v
[Gather Needs & Constraints]
     |
     v
[Define Functional Requirements] ----> [User Stories & Use Cases]
     |
     v
[Define Non-Functional Requirements]
     |
     v
[Prioritize & Validate Requirements]

Quick Exercise:

Pick a simple app you know. Write down 2 functional and 2 non-functional requirements you think are important for it.