Requirementwhat

Requirementwhat is a term used in requirements engineering to describe the explicit, end-to-end outcome a system must achieve from the user's perspective. It focuses on the 'what' of a requirement—the observable result, capability, or constraint—while deliberately avoiding prescriptive statements about how the system should be built.

The term contrasts with requirementhow, which specifies design choices or implementation methods. Advocates of requirementwhat argue that emphasizing the end result helps stakeholders discuss needs clearly, supports testability, and reduces premature design decisions during early project phases.

A requirementwhat statement is usually written in plain language and structured to be verifiable. A common form is: The system shall [do something] so that [achieved outcome], under [conditions]. Example: The system shall generate a quarterly sales report in PDF within five minutes of closing the quarter.

In practice, requirementwhat complements other artifacts such as user stories and acceptance criteria. It supports traceability by linking stakeholder needs to testable outcomes and allows teams to write corresponding acceptance tests that verify the what rather than the how.

Limitations include potential ambiguity in natural language and the need to pair what statements with measurable criteria, including nonfunctional constraints. Critics warn that focusing too narrowly on the 'what' can neglect architecture, performance, and security considerations. See also requirements engineering, user stories, acceptance criteria, functional requirements.