I remain completely befuddled by the number of so-called project savvy organizations that still do such a miserable job of defining project requirements. Those who bother to answer you when you ask about it say that they have the technical requirements. What else could possibly be important? How about how the sponsor wants to have those technical requirements deployed They respond that the sponsor just doesn't seem to know or that they're going to change their minds anyway!
Here's a way to get them! People might not be able to articulate exactly what they want, but they sure can aarticulate what they don't want or don't like. Document that. Ask them for examples of what they don't want or like. For instance, suppose you are designing a web site. Having a compiled list of bad examples gives you a pretty good start at helping the sponsor and other stakeholders what they actually want. I once had to develop a major powerPoint presentation for a superior in the organization. This was fraught with pitfalls and traps. So, I asked him what he didn't like. He gave me 25 examples of what he not only didn't like, but hated! It was pretty easy to come up with a design and method that absolutely pleased him.Try it.
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