Software Engineering Institute

The Elicitation of Unstated Requirements at Scale (EURS) research team at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute developed and validated a method for determining the unstated needs of the varied stakeholders typical of today’s large, diverse programs (e.g., sociotechnical ecosystems). This method, called KJ+, is scalable to address the needs of multiple categories of stakeholders; usable by a diverse, non-collocated team performing requirements analysis; and results in a more complete set of requirements as the basis for subsequent system design, implementation, and continued sustainment.

This participatory session will include presentations and short exercises. The presentations cover the KJ method, as initially practiced 20 years ago, as well as extensions that allow KJ to be used in a virtual environment (KJ+). The results of a KJ+ case study conducted in 2014 will also be presented. Two brief exercises will be conducted to give participants an opportunity to exercise their interviewing and affinitization skills.