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Alan Slater

Do you want to write great requirements quickly? Do you want to see real examples of great requirements on a typical backlog? Do you wish there was a straightforward way to turn customer wants and needs into something that can be build?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above then this course is ideal for you. Requirements can be a detailed subject, taking many years and lots of experience to master, but there reality is that by following a few key principles, you can learn to write great requirements quickly. This course is the ideal place when you’re starting out with requirements.

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Do you want to write great requirements quickly? Do you want to see real examples of great requirements on a typical backlog? Do you wish there was a straightforward way to turn customer wants and needs into something that can be build?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above then this course is ideal for you. Requirements can be a detailed subject, taking many years and lots of experience to master, but there reality is that by following a few key principles, you can learn to write great requirements quickly. This course is the ideal place when you’re starting out with requirements.

This course has been created to help you become a pro at writing requirements in only 118 minutes.   Whether you’re a Product Owner, Business Analyst or simply someone who needs to capture needs and write them as clear requirements.

There are dozens of hours you could spend learning about writing perfect requirements, but the truth is that with a few fundamental skills and knowledge, you can quickly write clear and effective requirements, without the need to spend 20+ hours studying.

The course provides everything you need to write great requirements, in 3 key parts:

1) The environment requirements are written in - you can’t write great requirements if you don’t understand who there’re for and where you get them from

2) Fundamentals of a great requirement - A simple set of core principles, covering the User Story format and Acceptance Critera styles

3) Mock project where we gather requirements and write them together on a real product backlog

We will cover:

Roles involved in writing Requirements

- Why we write requirements

- Who writes requirements

- Who needs Requirements

Where Requirements fit in Agile

- Product Backlog

- Sprints and Sprint Backlog

- Estimation

- EPICS, Features and User Stories

Fundamentals of Great Requirements

- Examples of high quality requirements

- Acceptance Critera Styles

- Principles of Great Requirements

Creating Requirements in a  real backlog management tool

- Storymapping

- Creating our Requirements Hierarchy

- Creating Links and Dependancies

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • The fundamentals of requirements
  • Who needs, writes and uses requirements
  • How to create a requirements hierarchy
  • Writing epics, features and user stories
  • Developing a product backlog
  • Managing requirements in sprints and sprint backlog
  • Key principles to great requirements
  • Acceptance criteria techniques
  • Create a requirement backlog in azure devops

Syllabus

Introduction
Welcome
Course Structure
Why We Write Requirements and Who for
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Test your knowledge!

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Provides a practical introduction to writing requirements, which is essential for product owners and business analysts who need to translate customer needs into actionable tasks
Covers the fundamentals of Agile requirements, which is a widely adopted methodology in software development and project management
Explores EPICS, Features, and User Stories, which are core components of Agile frameworks and crucial for managing product development
Uses Azure DevOps to create a requirement backlog, which is a popular tool used in the industry for managing software development projects
Teaches acceptance criteria techniques, which are essential for ensuring that requirements are clearly defined and meet the needs of stakeholders
Requires learners to use Miro and Azure DevOps, which may require learners to create accounts and familiarize themselves with these platforms

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Reviews summary

Agile requirements fast introduction

According to learners, this course offers a highly effective and concise introduction to Agile requirements. Students say it's ideal for beginners or those needing a quick refresh, delivering essential skills in approximately 2 hours as promised. Many reviewers highlight the clarity of the instructor and the usefulness of the practical examples, including the walkthroughs using Azure DevOps and Miro. While providing a solid foundational understanding, some feedback suggests it lacks depth for experienced practitioners seeking advanced techniques. Overall, it's viewed as a great value for learning the basics quickly.
Instructor explains concepts effectively.
"Instructor explained everything very clearly."
"The lecturer was easy to follow and engaging."
"Liked the instructor's pace and examples provided."
Demonstrates concepts with real-world tools.
"The examples using Azure Devops were very useful."
"I liked seeing how to apply it in Miro."
"Seeing the mock project helped a lot with understanding."
"Appreciated the practical walkthrough using tools."
Provides a solid base for new learners.
"This course was perfect for me as a beginner."
"Helped me understand the basics clearly and easily."
"Ideal for someone new to Agile requirements and user stories."
"Gave me a solid start with agile requirements."
Quickly covers fundamentals, saves time.
"Excellent quick overview of agile requirements."
"Covered the essentials in just 2 hours."
"It's a great fast overview for busy professionals."
"Perfect for a quick refresher or introduction to the topic."
Not detailed enough for experienced users.
"Too basic if you already know the fundamentals."
"Wish it went into more detail on some topics."
"It's more of an intro than a deep dive into complex scenarios."
"Not for experienced practitioners looking for advanced techniques."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Agile Requirements Mastery: Essential skills in just 2 hours with these activities:
Review Agile Principles
Reinforce your understanding of the Agile Manifesto and its principles to better grasp the context of Agile requirements.
Browse courses on Agile Principles
Show steps
  • Read the Agile Manifesto.
  • Reflect on how each principle applies to requirements gathering.
Review 'User Stories Applied'
Deepen your understanding of user stories, a core component of Agile requirements, by studying practical examples and techniques.
Show steps
  • Read the book 'User Stories Applied'.
  • Identify key takeaways related to writing effective user stories.
  • Apply the techniques learned to sample requirements.
Write User Stories for a Familiar Application
Practice writing user stories for an application you use regularly to solidify your understanding of the user story format and acceptance criteria.
Show steps
  • Choose an application you use frequently.
  • Identify key features of the application.
  • Write user stories for each feature, including acceptance criteria.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Review 'Agile Estimating and Planning'
Understand how requirements fit into the larger Agile planning process by exploring techniques for estimating and planning.
Show steps
  • Read the book 'Agile Estimating and Planning'.
  • Identify key takeaways related to estimating and planning requirements.
  • Reflect on how these techniques can improve requirements gathering.
Create a Requirements Template
Develop a reusable template for writing requirements to ensure consistency and completeness in your future projects.
Show steps
  • Research existing requirements templates.
  • Design a template that incorporates the principles learned in the course.
  • Test the template by writing sample requirements.
Refactor Existing Requirements
Apply your knowledge to improve poorly written requirements from a past project, focusing on clarity, testability, and value.
Show steps
  • Gather poorly written requirements from a past project.
  • Rewrite the requirements using the principles learned in the course.
  • Present the refactored requirements to stakeholders for feedback.
Mentor Junior Team Members
Reinforce your understanding by mentoring junior team members on Agile requirements writing best practices.
Show steps
  • Offer to mentor junior team members on requirements writing.
  • Review their requirements and provide constructive feedback.
  • Share your knowledge of Agile principles and best practices.

Career center

Learners who complete Agile Requirements Mastery: Essential skills in just 2 hours will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Business Analyst
The Business Analyst role involves understanding business needs and translating them into actionable requirements for development teams. This course helps you excel at capturing needs and writing them as clear requirements, using techniques like user stories and acceptance criteria. The course offers practical skills in creating a requirements hierarchy, managing requirements in sprints, and applying key principles for great requirements. Additionally, the course's coverage of story mapping and backlog creation is valuable for anyone in a Business Analyst position.
Product Owner
As a Product Owner, you are responsible for defining and prioritizing the product backlog. This course helps you master the essential skills needed to write clear and effective requirements quickly using the Agile framework. Specifically, you will learn how to translate customer needs into user stories, features, and epics. The course's emphasis on creating a requirements hierarchy and developing a product backlog directly aligns with the typical responsibilities of a Product Owner. This makes it an ideal learning opportunity for current and aspiring Product Owners.
Requirements Engineer
The Requirements Engineer elicits, analyzes, documents, and validates requirements for software or systems. This course provides the essential skills to write great requirements quickly, using Agile methodologies. The course will allow anyone in the Requirements Engineer role to successfully specify acceptance criteria, develop product backlogs, and structure user stories. This is the type of career trajectory for which this course provides great preparation.
Agile Coach
An Agile Coach guides teams in adopting and improving Agile practices. This course provides a solid understanding of Agile requirements, including epics, features, and user stories, which you can use to guide your teams. The course's focus on the product backlog, sprint backlog, and estimation will equip you with the knowledge to help teams manage requirements effectively. Furthermore, understanding the roles involved in writing requirements, as covered in the course, helps you coach stakeholders on their responsibilities.
Project Manager
This course provides essential skills for Project Managers to effectively manage project requirements within an Agile environment. The course teaches how to create and manage product backlogs, user stories, and acceptance criteria, ensuring that project goals align with stakeholder needs. Furthermore, the course's coverage of sprint planning and backlog management is directly applicable to this role. Understanding Agile requirements is crucial for Project Managers to ensure successful project execution.
Scrum Master
Scrum Masters facilitate the Agile process and ensure the team adheres to Scrum principles. This course helps you understand the fundamentals of Agile requirements, including epics, features, and user stories. The course's emphasis on managing requirements in sprints and the sprint backlog directly supports this role. The knowledge gained allows you to better guide the team in refining and prioritizing requirements, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow.
Product Manager
As a Product Manager, you are responsible for the strategy, roadmap, and feature definition of a product. This course helps you to create clear and effective requirements, which is essential for communicating the product vision to development teams. The course's emphasis on creating a requirements hierarchy and developing a product backlog will assist you in prioritizing features and managing the product roadmap. Understanding Agile requirements, as covered in the course, allows you to make informed decisions and deliver successful products.
Systems Analyst
This course may be useful for a Systems Analyst, who analyzes and designs information systems. Understanding how to gather and document requirements is critical for a Systems Analyst. The course helps you to create clear and effective requirements, which is essential for translating business needs into technical specifications. The course's emphasis on creating a requirements hierarchy and developing a product backlog is relevant to the responsibilities of a Systems Analyst. By learning Agile requirement practices, one can improve their efficiency.
Solution Architect
This course may be useful for Solution Architects. The course focuses on understanding the business's needs and translating them into a technical vision. This course helps Solution Architects by allowing them to better write requirements, which increases the overall effectiveness of the project. The course can, indirectly, improve communication between the client, Solution Architect, and the development team.
Quality Assurance Analyst
This course may be useful for Quality Assurance Analysts. The course focuses on how to write testable requirements. The course's demonstration of Acceptance Criteria styles is particularly relevant, as it helps QA Analysts in designing effective test cases. Understanding the principles of great requirements, as covered in the course, helps QA Analysts identify potential issues early in the development process, leading to higher-quality software.
User Experience Designer
This course may be useful for User Experience Designers. Although the course is not directly about UX design, understanding how requirements are gathered and documented is valuable for a UX designer. The course helps you to understand user stories and acceptance criteria, ensuring that the UX design aligns with the user's needs and expectations. The course's emphasis on the product backlog and sprint backlog allows UX designers to integrate designs effectively into the development process.
Software Developer
While not directly focused on coding, this course may be useful for Software Developers who work in Agile environments. A Software Developer needs to understand the requirements defined by product owners and business analysts. The course also can help a Developer contribute to the refinement of user stories and acceptance criteria. The course's emphasis on examples of high-quality requirements equips developers with the knowledge to implement features effectively. The knowledge helps bridge the gap between business needs and code implementation.
Technical Writer
Technical Writers create documentation for software and hardware products. This course may be useful because it provides a foundation for understanding the software development process, particularly within Agile frameworks. The course helps one better understand how to document user stories and acceptance criteria, ensuring that technical documentation accurately reflects the product requirements. Gaining insight into the Agile process, as covered in the course, enables Technical Writers to produce more relevant and user-friendly documentation.
Product Marketing Manager
This course may be useful for Product Marketing Managers. These managers need to deeply understand product features and benefits to effectively market them. The course helps you gather requirements, write user stories, and define acceptance criteria, enabling you to better understand the product's capabilities. The course's focus on Agile requirements helps Product Marketing Managers align marketing strategies with product development cycles, ensuring relevant and timely messaging.
Data Analyst
This course may be useful for Data Analysts. Although this course does not deal with data, it does cover the Agile process. The course's emphasis on writing clear and unambiguous requirements will help the Data Analyst be more effective when communicating their needs.

Reading list

We've selected one books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Agile Requirements Mastery: Essential skills in just 2 hours.
While the course touches on estimation, this book provides a comprehensive guide to agile estimating and planning techniques. It covers various methods for estimating user stories, features, and epics, as well as strategies for creating realistic release plans. is more valuable as additional reading for those who want to delve deeper into agile project management. It useful reference for project managers and team leads.

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