Adverts for business analyst, associate product manager and product operations roles in Ghana often include one duty in particular: turning what users and the business need into clear requirements and user stories. Master this and you can contribute to a product team from your first week.
Requirements
A requirement is a statement of something the system must do or a quality it must have.
- Functional requirements describe behaviour: "The system sends an SMS receipt after every savings deposit."
- Non functional requirements describe qualities: "The USSD menu responds within two seconds", "Data is stored securely and only visible to authorised staff."
Good requirements are specific, testable and free of hidden assumptions. "The system should be user friendly" is not testable. "A first time user can save money in under three USSD screens" is.
User stories
A user story describes a need from the user's point of view. The common template is:
As a [type of user], I want [something], so that [benefit].
For example: "As a market trader, I want my savings to be deducted automatically each evening, so that I do not have to remember."
The "so that" part is important. It explains why, which lets engineers and designers suggest better ways to meet the need.