requirementshave

Requirementshave is a term used in product and software development to describe a systematic approach to shaping and refining requirements by trimming unnecessary scope while preserving core value. It integrates practices from requirements engineering, lean methodology, and agile prioritization to improve clarity, reduce ambiguity, and enable incremental delivery through a focused set of must-have features or a minimum viable product.

The core idea is to move from a broad collection of stakeholder requests to a lean, value-driven scope. This typically involves gathering baseline requirements, classifying items into must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have categories, analyzing dependencies, and applying a shave step to remove items that do not directly contribute to user value or project constraints. The process emphasizes traceability, clear acceptance criteria, and stakeholder validation to ensure that essential functionality remains intact while unnecessary features are pruned.

Benefits of requirementshave include reduced project risk, shorter time to market, clearer prioritization, and easier change management. By focusing on high-value capabilities, teams can allocate resources more effectively and respond to feedback with smaller, reversible iterations.

Origins of the term are informal and primarily used among practitioners who seek pragmatic scoping methods within agile and lean environments. Critics caution that excessive shaving can omit important capabilities or harm user experience if value criteria are not well defined. Successful adoption hinges on governance, collaboration, and explicit value metrics. Related concepts include requirements engineering, lean software development, and minimum viable product.