Talk:Requirement

Are Requirements required, or merely suggestions?
The opening paragraph of the article suggests the latter, viz "In product development and process optimization, a requirement is a singular documented physical or functional need that a particular design, product or process aims to satisfy.", but many would argue that Requirements are obligatory for a given system. It seems dangerous to hold two contradictory definitions at the same time if this leads to confusion in projects. Even if one were to introduce qualifiers (canonical vs non-canonical requirements), or prefer the term 'suggestions', this can influence the way that projects are developed.

As a case in point, a project which divides features into requirements and suggested features might simply file all suggestions into the "circular file". Is this an issue? 204.44.137.252 (talk) 13:15, 25 December 2022 (UTC)


 * A requirement is as its name implies: required. It not just an aim. For a thing to be acceptable, it must satisfy its requirements. ... FWIW, That its 'singular' is a good practice, but not necessary. That it's document is also a good idea, but also not necessary. ... I re-wrote the first line to focus on the core meaning. Stevebroshar (talk) 04:22, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

Definition is a bit weak
WRT a requirement is a need that a particular item must satisfy for it to be acceptable. That's what requirement means in general. What makes it special enough to warrant a WP page? Whatever that is, should be in the first sentence.

... I changed first sentence to mention work effort. A req't is about what the customer wants out of a work effort; what the engineers will build for the cust; what the cust is paying for. Stevebroshar (talk) 17:51, 26 June 2024 (UTC)