Requirements engineering

The most difficult phase of typical large software projects is establishing which properties the system must have to succeed in the environment in which it will be used. This phase of requirements capture is perhaps the least understood, yet the most critical for software development. Errors made in this phase are often the most expensive to correct and the hardest to detect.

This book focuses on the relationship between social and technical issues in requirements engineering, and aims to present a number of representative positions in recent debates on this issue, ranging from classical approaches to those that are more innovative. The various contributors view the relationship between the social and the technical in widely different ways, reflecting the on-going debate about what requirements actually are.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 examines issues in current requirements engineering methods and practice. Part 2 details the way in which a particular orientation on the social aspect of the area can increase our understanding of the requirements process and also inform current requirements practice.

This book will be essential reading for all graduates and advanced undergraduates in software engineering and human-computer interaction (HCI). It will also be of great relevance to professional software and HCI practitioners, and those involved in the world of CSCW systems.