Requirement, Request, and Solution
I.
Needs versus Solutions
- A.A requirement describes what a business outcome needs, not how it should be built.
- B.Stakeholders frequently describe solutions (for example, "add a button that does X") rather than needs (for example, "staff need a faster way to do X").
- C.Part of the OFA's job, even at the foundational level, is to notice this gap and ask enough questions to understand the underlying need.
II.
Definitions and Examples
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Request | Something a stakeholder asks for | "Can we get a report emailed every Monday?" |
| Requirement | The underlying need the request is meant to satisfy | "Leaders need weekly visibility into attendance trends without manually compiling data." |
| Solution | A specific way of meeting the requirement | "An automated weekly email summary generated from the attendance system." |
- A.A new OFA does not need to evaluate which solution is best - that is typically a later-level responsibility.
- B.Every OFA, from Level 1 onward, needs to recognize when a request has been treated as a requirement without anyone checking whether it actually reflects the underlying need.