Lessons · Project management · requirements traceability
Traceability: every requirement can be followed to the thing that proves it
A requirements traceability matrix links each requirement to the business need it serves, the WBS element that builds it, and the test that proves it was met.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
Testing finds that a report is missing. Who asked for it, why, and was it ever built? With a traceability matrix that is one row. Without it, it is a week of old emails, and the answer is still a guess.
How to think about it
Give every requirement an id. In one table, write for each id: the need it came from, the owner, the WBS element, and the test. A requirement with no test cannot be accepted; a WBS element with no requirement is scope creep, found early.
Worked example
R-07: export timesheets to payroll monthlyThe requirement, with an id it keeps for life.
From: the charter purpose, payroll closes in 2 days. Owner: the payroll managerWhy it exists and who will say it is right.
Built in: 1.3.2 Payroll export. Tested by: T-19, a full month exported with zero correctionsWhere it is built and how it is proved.
R-12: dashboard with animated charts. From: nobodyA requirement with no need behind it. Found in planning, not at handover.
Your turn
Write the column that makes a requirement acceptable.
Every requirement has a that proves it was met.
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Tracing forward only. From need to test catches missing tests; from test back to need catches work nobody asked for. Both directions, or half the value.