How to Elicit, Write, and Analyze Requirements in the AI Era

Learn Business Analysis using Traditional and Generative AI Techniques to Create Effective Requirements for IT Solutions

Preview CourseDuration: 5.5 hours
Format: Online course
Author: Tom and Angela Hathaway

Also covered in this eWorkbook and in an instructor-led course (live and online classroom).

Sneak preview

What is this course about?

Who Needs Requirements, Anyway?

In the dynamic and competitive world of business analysis, the quality of requirements often serves as the determining factor between project success and failure. This comprehensive online training course is designed to equip you with essential skills, techniques, and best practices for crafting high-impact, clear, and concise requirements that drive project success. While emphasizing techniques for creating requirements independent of technology, the course also features demonstrations of cutting-edge AI writing assistants, such as ChatGPT-4, to efficiently produce high-quality, effective business and user requirements.

Here is a question worth sitting with: if AI can now write requirements, analyze documents, interview stakeholders, and generate user stories in seconds, why are you here?

Because AI does not replace the need for good requirements. It amplifies it. When AI produces output at ten times the speed of a human analyst, the cost of a flawed requirement multiplies by the same factor. The tools have changed. The fundamentals have not. And right now, for the first time, strong fundamentals give you genuine leverage over the most powerful productivity tools in the history of our profession.

What Will I Learn?

The course moves through three interconnected areas of practice, each one integrated with hands-on AI tool demonstrations.

Requirements Writing

Write clear, concise, well-structured requirements that communicate stakeholder intent without ambiguity. Use AI to draft, check, and refine — and know what to do when it gets things wrong.

Requirements Elicitation

Identify the right stakeholders, ask the right questions, and extract requirements from documents, interviews, surveys, observations, and workshops — with AI accelerating each technique.

Requirements Validation

Apply a four-step framework for catching defective requirements before they enter development, whether they came from a stakeholder, your own drafting, or an AI tool.

Running through all three areas are two disciplines that define effective AI-assisted requirements work:

Context engineering New — building the right information environment for your AI tools before you ever type a request. If you have worked in business analysis, you already understand the core principle. This lecture puts the label on the skill you have been practicing for years.
Output validation New — knowing what to look for when the AI delivers something that sounds right but is not. Because it will. And the analyst who catches those errors is not being replaced. That person is indispensable.

How Will That Help Me?

The analyst who can work effectively with AI tools, direct their output with precision, and catch their errors before those errors reach a developer is not being replaced. This course is designed to make you that person.

Whether you are a practicing BA sharpening your fundamentals, a product owner trying to write better user stories, or a project manager who needs to understand what good requirements actually look like, the framework here works with or without AI — and works better because of it.

Who should take this course?

Product Owners
Practicing and aspiring Business Analysts
Subject Matter Experts (SME)
Requirements Engineers
Business Process Managers
Business Process Users
Product and Project Managers
Agile Team Members
Project Leaders and Managers
Systems Analysts and Designers
Quality Assurance Professionals
User Experience (UX) Designers
Students and Educators in Information Technology and Business Fields
AKA: Anyone who is looking to enhance their skills with the latest AI tools and methodologies for requirements elicitation, writing, and validation

What Can You Do After the Course?

Upon completion of this course, you can:

Master the art of crafting clear, concise requirements that resonate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Explain why AI amplifies the need for strong requirements skills rather than reducing them, and apply that understanding throughout your work.
Configure the information environment for AI tools using context engineering principles drawn directly from established business analysis practice.
Navigate the evolving impact of AI on requirements processes to stay ahead in the digital era.
Prevent misunderstandings and scope creep by recognizing and resolving ambiguous and subjective language in requirements.
Discover efficient methods to extract essential user requirements from documents, accelerating project timelines.
Strengthen communication and collaboration between business users and developers to build well-defined business and user requirements.
Write measurable and testable requirement statements at the right level of detail for each decision-maker and project stage.
Use elicitation techniques to gather comprehensive information through interviews, surveys, observation, and brainstorming.
Minimize missing information by creating well-defined, actionable requirements that provide sufficient context.
Apply a four-step validation framework to catch defective requirements before they enter development, regardless of whether the source is a stakeholder, your own drafting, or an AI tool.

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Detailed Course Outline

Section 1: Effective Requirements Pave the Way to Success for IT Projects

NEW Lecture 1: Why AI Makes Requirements More Critical, Not Less
Lecture 2: Welcome to the World of High-Impact Requirements (Preview enabled)
Lecture 3: Muddying the Water: What Is Wrong with Your Requirements? (Preview enabled)
Lecture 4: The Best Requirements Define the Right Level of Detail for Each Decision-Maker (Preview enabled)
Quiz 1: Understanding the Importance and Challenges of Requirements for IT Projects

Section 2: AI Unleashed: Revolutionizing Requirements Writing with AI Writing Assistants

Lecture 5: Welcome to the Future of Requirements Definition: AI Augmented Business Analysis (Preview enabled)
NEW Lecture 6 Your AI Is Only as Good as the Environment You Give It (Context Engineering)
Lecture 7: Prompt Engineering Tips that Boost ChatGPT’s Value for Writing Requirements (Preview enabled)
Lecture 8: DEMO: Using ChatGPT to AI-Storm Initial User Requirements and User Stories
Lecture 9: AI Writing Assistants and Business Analysis: Opportunity or Threat
Quiz 2: Understanding How AI Writing Assistants Can Augment Business Analysis

Section 3: Writing Crystal-Clear Business and Stakeholder / User Requirements

Lecture 10: The Simple Art of Writing Clear, Complete, Well-Structured Requirements (Preview enabled)
Lecture 11: DEMO: Using an AI Writing Assistant’s Value to Analyze Requirement Compliance (Preview enabled)
Quiz 3: Writing Effective Requirements in Plain English
Lecture 12: Stellar User Requirements for Digital Solutions Explain Who Needs What and Why
Quiz 4: The Major Components of Effective User Requirements
Lecture 13: Taming the Scope Creep Monster: Strategies for Effective Requirement Management
Assignment 1: Avoiding the Elusive “How” in Your Requirements Statements

Section 4: The Gateway to Requirements: Stakeholder Identification and Questions to Ask

Lecture 14: New Look and a Prequel to Requirements Writing: Effective Elicitation Techniques
Lecture 15: Unraveling the Enigma: Why Writing Requirements Precedes Elicitation
Lecture 16: Talk the Talk of Your Subject Matter Experts: Learn Domain Language with ChatGPT
Quiz 5: Clarifying Elicitation and Domain Expertise in Business Analysis
Lecture 17: Requirement Elicitation Starts at Identifying Stakeholders (with ChatGPT’s Help)
Lecture 18: AI-Powered Business Analysis: ChatGPT Suggests Questions to Ask Stakeholders
Lecture 19 From Chaos to Clarity: ReqQues Organizes the Questions to Ask Stakeholders
Quiz 6: Stakeholder Insights and Product Features in MoneyCaster Project

Section 5: Document Analysis: Your First Stop for Initial Business Needs and Requirements

Lecture 20: The Art Of Document Analysis: A Must-Have Skill for Eliciting User Requirements
Lecture 21: Revolutionizing Requirement Elicitation: ChatGPT’s Role in Document Analysis
Lecture 22: Analyzing Dataflow Diagrams: Reveal Hidden Needs & Boost Efficiency with ChatGPT
Lecture 23: Unlock Customer Insights in Minutes with Generative AI’s Document Analysis Power
Lecture 24: 16 More Ways ChatGPT Can Enhance and Streamline Document Analysis
Quiz 7: Use of Document Analysis for Effective Requirements Elicitation

Section 6: Interactive Requirements Elicitation: Sherlock Holmes Meets User Experience

Lecture 25: Unleashing Stakeholder Secrets: Crafting the Elicitation Questionnaire or Survey
Lecture 26: See It, Feel It, Solve It: Dive Deep with Site Visits and Job Shadowing
Lecture 27: Peek Through the Screen: Virtual Site Visits & Job Shadowing for Comprehension
Quiz 8: Exploring Business Analysis Elicitation Techniques

Section 7: Problem-Discovery in Business Analysis: A Journey Through Innovative Techniques

Lecture 28: An Introduction to Simplified Root Cause Analysis for Digital Solutions
Lecture 29: Unlocking Stakeholder Perspectives: A Deep Dive into Problem-Solving in Business
Lecture 30: Mastering the APSRT Approach: Unraveling Real Problems in Business
Quiz 9: Problem Analysis: A Quiz on APSRT and Effective Solutions
Lecture 31: Master the 5 Whys Technique for Effective Problem-Solving in Business Analysis
Lecture 32: Navigate Conversations with Compassion: Humanizing the 5 Whys Technique
Lecture 33: Problem Analysis with Fishbone Diagrams: A ChatGPT and LucidChart Integration
Quiz 10: Mastering Problem-Solving Techniques: The 5 Whys and Fishbone Diagram

Section 8: Creative Problem-Solving in Business Analysis: From Brainstorm to Breakthrough

Lecture 34: Innovative Ideation Techniques for Revealing Solutions to Business Problems
Lecture 35: From Bland to BAM! Unleash the Ideation Beast Hiding in You and Your Team
Lecture 36: Applying Armageddon Storming: A Revolutionary Approach to Problem-Solving
Lecture 37 AI Storming: Unleashing Creativity in Ideation with Generative AI Tools
Lecture 38: Master Affinity Analysis: Transform Brainstorming Chaos into Clarity
Quiz 11: Creative Solution-Finding Techniques for Business Analysts

Section 9: Managing Requirements Meetings: Interviews, Conversations, and Workshops

Lecture 39: Core Tools for Business Analysts: From Eliciting Needs to Enchanting Meetings
Lecture 40: Agenda Creation: Harnessing ChatGPT for Requirements Meetings and Workshops
Lecture 41: Maximize ROI for Virtual Requirements Meetings: Turning Challenges into Triumphs
Quiz 12: ChatGPT Facilitates Live and Virtual Meeting and Workshop Facilitation
Lecture 42: Masterful Communication: Elevate Your Listening Skills for Professional Success
Lecture 43: Handling Conflict: How to Deal with Tough Conversations in Requirements Meetings
Lecture 44: Leveraging ChatGPT ‘s Guidance: How to Deal with Difficult Personalities
Lecture 45: ChatGPT Simulates Difficult Conversations: Learn How to Deal with the Dominator
Quiz 13: Business Analysis: Communication Styles and Strategies

Section 10: Requirements Validation: Removing Ambiguity from Business and User Requirements

Assignment 2: The Subjectivity of Language – Part 1
Assignment 3: The Subjectivity of Language – Part 2
Lecture 46: Finding Ambiguity and Subjectivity: Twin Towers of Misunderstood Requirements
Lecture 47: Unmasking Ambiguity: Defining Clear Requirements for Digital Solutions
Quiz 14: Dismantling Ambiguity and Subjectivity: Mastering Clear IT Project Requirements
Lecture 48: How to Clarify Your Business and User Requirements with the IOW Technique
Lecture 49: Irresistible Requirements: Unlocking Clarity with Precision and Brevity
Quiz 15: Unveiling the Secrets of IOW and Precision Writing
Assignment 4: Finding Ambiguity with the Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Section 11: The Subtle Art of Writing Comprehensible Requirements that Convey User Intent

Lecture 50: Leverage Acronyms and Industry-Standard Terms to Minimize Misunderstanding
Lecture 51: Avoid the Linguistic Minefield Filled with the Misuse of Contractions and Idioms
Quiz 16: Clarity in Business Communication: Acronyms, Standards, Contractions, and Idioms
Lecture 52: Banishing Ambiguity: Writing Clear and Effective User Requirements in Context
Assignment 5: Appropriate Context Reduces Ambiguity
Lecture 53: Clear Requirements Use the Power of Readability Levels of the Target Audiences
Lecture 54: Measurable Requirements Add Clarity and Precision to Effective Requirements
Quiz 17: Writing Clear and Readable Requirements for Effective Communication
NEW: Lecture 55 Ten Minutes Now or Gen Days Later: Why Requirements Validation Isn’t Optional

Section 12: Wrapping It All Up: Writing Requirements in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Lecture 56: Join the Next Generation of Business Analyst: Skills, Tools, and Generative AI
Lecture 57: BONUS LECTURE: More Business Analysis Courses from Tom and Angela Hathaway