Why do we need to ensure that requirements and designs are aligned to one another, and to manage the effects of change to each artifact? It’s to identify each requirement and document and connect it to other valuable information to form a lineage. A lineage could be a parent, child, or sibling. Traceability is used to help ensure that the solution conforms to requirements and to assist in scope, change, risk, time, cost, and communication management. When information is connected to each other it improves productivity by making it easier to find answers, and make decisions. When information is tightly coupled it strengthens the ability to communicate subjects. In this case the diagram describes the automation bot workflow. The diagram references a parent document called “WH-CTX-dia-1”, and a related document called “WH-WF-DIA-StartDate Chg-1” which is the diagrams relative. This diagram explains the function of a specific automation bot for managing dates. By connecting these the context, and overall operation is brought together. It’s no coincidence there’s a pointer to the objective. By doing this, it’s easier to focus stakeholders and keep direction.
Connecting documents, requirements, objectives, goals and risks, allows the business analyst to tell a sensible and logical, fact based story that has no holes in it. In addition, once requirements have been implemented, there are tools that trace bugs and issues. When we track bugs and issues we can determine performance measurements for assessing the performance of the solution.
By using defined templates for documents, diagrams, and more, puts the control of this information in place at the start. Below is an example.
The relationship can best be shown with the following diagram. A goal can have many objectives, and an objective could be served by many requirements, and a requirement could have many dependencies and potential bugs. Connecting this information gives the ability to assess the performance of the solution. The requirement can then be inked and connected to several documents which explain and cohesively form the solution as a synthesized whole.
The biggest benefit which is often not recognized is the productivity of having fast access to the information. How often have we asked, “where is the information found”? When we don’t have to go looking for everything our ability to capture the information, form a general understanding of what’s going on and why; rapidly, can be a major asset. Considering the view of Agile and its purpose, efficient organization of documents supports agile environments and contributes to productivity and cost savings.