Constructing User-Oriented ... 1 Constructing User-Oriented Requirements Specifications

Introduction A Software Requirements Specification (SRS) is a precise description of a functionality or capability that a software system has to provide. It can also describe a constraint that the software system has to respect (Wiegers, 2003). In this paper, the term Software Requirements Specification and the term Requirements Specification are used interchangeably. SRSs are often not well understood by the stakeholders (Davis, 1990). The most important stakeholders are considered to be the end-users, but often there are more stakeholders, such as project managers and project financiers. When stakeholders do not understand the SRS, this can lead to a situation in which the stakeholders are presented with a useless system at the very end of the software development process (Overmyer, 1999). This is not only a waste of development effort, but also causes high costs for redevelopment. Therefore, it is essential that stakeholders understand and are able to communicate about the SRS with the party that is responsible for the software development.