A Functional Requirements Document (FRD) is a document that is used to document the functionalities that the customer would like the solution to have.
It is used to document the business need, the current state and the future state of the organization.
The documented requirements are used to identify the gaps between the current state and the future state.
The documented requirements can be used to identify the business needs and what features the solution needs to have to fulfill the business needs.
The functional requirements document should include detailed descriptions of the functional and non-functional requirements of the solution.
It is important that the business need that is being fulfilled is stated in the business requirement document. This is because while the organization might have numerous business needs and the document should specify the particular business need that is being addressed.
Specifying the specific business need is also known as defining the project scope. The project scope definition would help with requirements, solutions and constraints identification.
Detailing these requirements would help manage the stakeholders expectations, prevent scope creep, changed requirements, delays and frustrations.
The functional requirement document should be used to answer the following questions:
- What are the business needs ?
- What does the solution need to have to fulfill the business needs.
- Do the key stakeholders agree with these requirements ?
- Which solution would be able to fulfill these needs ?
- What are the restrictions that should be considered?
The Business Analyst preparing the document should also ensure that they always abide by the organizational standard when creating a requirements document.
If the organization had standardized documents that they would like you to use, always ensure that you use them to prevent any misunderstandings or confusion.
So before you start working on any organizational document, always ensure that you ask for their standardized documents and if they do not have one then you can create your own.
If you have to create your own functional requirements document, it can include the following sections :
- Business Problem Statement
- Key Business Objectives
- Scope Statement
- Stakeholders List
- Current Business Process
- Future Business Process
- Functional & Non-Functional Requirements
- Risks & Limitations
- Assumptions
- Approvers
So how do you write a Functional Requirements Document ?
The first step is to identify the business need.
Once the business need is identified, then the key stakeholders can also be identified.
After the stakeholders are identified, then the right elicitation method should be identified and used to gather the requirements. Examples of elicitation methods include brainstorming, interviews, workshops, five whys and surveys.
Once the requirements are gathered, they should be clearly documented to prevent any misunderstandings.
Once the requirements are documented, they should be validated and verified with the key stakeholder to get their approval sign offs.