Quality seems to be the holy grail of the business world. Everyone wants quality but few understand what quality actually is. The truth is that quality is different for different people. This should drive all companies to understand what quality means to the people that matter, the customer.
By developing a set of requirements based on customer needs, a project manager or product development team can focus on delivering what the customer perceives as a quality product. That is, a product that meets their needs.
The key to effective requirements development is to use an iterative or repetitive approach. A clear understanding of core features and functionality can be used as a base to build the requirements. By having a good understanding of the basic features, the business can then move on to the more detailed requirements a customer may demand or expect as essential to quality.
Requirements also change over time. It’s necessary to recognize that customer’s expectations change as they’re provided additional benefits from the product. A good example is air conditioning in an automobile. 30 years ago air conditioning was considered a high value product and a trait of quality cars. Today, the expectation is such that it’s almost impossible to buy a car without air conditioning. This is due to the changing expectations and requirements of the customer. Over time, features move from the “nice to have†to the “absolutely must have†column.
Good project management will recognize that the customer has changing expectations. These demands are not a hindrance to running a successful business but are an opportunity to gain market share and long term success.