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- [Instructor] Starting any project requires

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understanding key business requirements,

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articulating a vision and defining the project scope.

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The picture here shows a linear waterfall like flow

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from requirements to scope, but that is not what it means.

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The key message in this simple diagram is two folds.

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One, that business requirement drives the product vision

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which then defines the project scope.

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It should never be the other way around.

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We should make sure that we are trying

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to solve a clearly defined business problem.

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We should never be in a situation where we have

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a solution in a product that is looking

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for the business problem to solve.

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And two, as our product gets built up

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and evolves over time, we should keep checking

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that it aligns with the business requirements.

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Yes, the business requirements will change

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and so will the product,

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but they should never go out of sync.

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Keeping these two ideas in mind

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will help us build the right product.

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So fist, meet up with your stakeholders

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and understand what they're looking for and why.

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These meetings can be formal or informal,

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depending on the culture and norms

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of your and your customers organization.

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It is also critical to understand

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the industry your stakeholders are in.

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Working with a bank is very different from,

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say, working with a restaurant chain

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or a media and entertainment company.

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The more you understand their domain,

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the better you understand their needs,

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and higher are the chances of your success.

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So, as you meet with the stakeholders,

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get your best domain experts in these meetings

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to ask the right questions.

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Also, this is a good time to start mapping

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your stakeholders into groups.

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Each group brings a different perspective

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and categorizing them helps organize their requirements.

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One simple technique is to draw a stakeholder map.

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You may draw it in the form of a detailed table

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or just a simple Venn diagram as shown here.

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In our case study, we have members

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for whom the application is being developed,

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there are coaches who use the data entered

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by these members and we have

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the current IT team that is going to support

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and manage the product once it is built up and launched.

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All these groups are part of H+ Sport.

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We need to identify representatives

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from these groups to be part of the project team.

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The project team consists of the development team

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from Red30 and representatives from all

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the other key stakeholder groups.

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Finally, there are external users who are potential members

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that H+ Sport wants to attract by offering them some simple,

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but useful features on its website.

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Let us see some examples of how two

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of these groups express their needs from their perspectives.

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Coaches say that diet logs

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in their current form are often incomplete,

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prone to errors and difficult to analyze.

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Members say that these diet logs are hard to maintain

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and do not offer much value.

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Both refer to diet logs from different perspectives.

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Combining all these perspectives helps us identify

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the core business requirements which then help us arrive

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at a problem statement.

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Here is how I have articulated

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the problem statement in this case study.

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I have used the Open UP template

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which is just a matter of choice.

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Such templates help us ensure that we are

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not missing any critical aspect of the problem.

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The statement captures the problem,

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that is basically the paper based diet logs,

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it identifies who it affects, that is coaches and members.

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What is its impact,

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which is coaches not able to analyze the data

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and members not getting the value they expect.

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So, what should a successful solution look like?

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Well, it should make it easier for members to log their data

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and for coaches to analyze their data.

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This is our problem statement.

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From here, we can now arrive at the product vision.

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Once again, I have used the Open UP template.

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Here, I identify the target user of the product,

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that is members and coaches,

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who want a diet tracking application that gives them

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intuitive and insightful ways

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to analyze nutrition in their diets.

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Notice that I have given a name to our product,

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Red30, that we are going to build.

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Also, in this statement,

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it is good to identify how your product will be different

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from whatever is available in the market.

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In this example, H+ Sport doesn't want

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to use any other product in the market

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because it wants total control over its customer data.