requirements_skill

Overview

This skill helps product teams turn customer insights into precise, actionable specifications engineers can build from. It focuses on writing INVEST-compliant user stories, defining BDD-style acceptance criteria, and managing scope with MoSCoW and change-control practices. The outcome is clearer work items, fewer ambiguities, and faster delivery with predictable scope.

How this skill works

The skill walks you through creating user stories using the INVEST checklist and a standard template, then converts requirements into BDD-style scenarios and acceptance criteria. It prescribes a requirements document structure (executive summary, functional and non-functional requirements, user stories/epics, flows, data models, UI references) and offers scope-management workflows including MoSCoW prioritization and a formal change request process. It also flags common pitfalls and provides a review checklist to ensure testability and alignment.

When to use it

• Drafting feature specs before a sprint planning session
• Converting research or stakeholder requests into testable user stories
• Defining acceptance criteria for QA and automation
• Scoping an MVP and separating must-have vs nice-to-have items
• Managing requests that risk scope creep

Best practices

• Write stories in As a [role] / I want / So that format and ensure each meets INVEST
• Use Given/When/Then for acceptance criteria and include edge cases
• Define measurable non-functional requirements (performance, availability, security)
• Prioritize with MoSCoW and document explicit out-of-scope items
• Log every change request, assess impact, present trade-offs, and get stakeholder sign-off

Example use cases

• Create a 1-page executive summary and 5–10 page requirements overview for a new feature
• Break an epic into 10–20 INVEST stories with story points, dependencies, and mockups
• Write BDD scenarios for critical flows like password reset, payments, or onboarding
• Run a scope review to separate MVP from nice-to-have and prevent scope creep
• Use the review checklist to validate readiness before handoff to engineering