Impact of Requirements Discovery Pattern on Software Project Outcome: Preliminary Results

Requirements discovery during project development is known to be the most critical risk in any software project, and managing this is paramount to success in software development. Requirements can change in various ways during the course of a project, and the effect of change on the outcome can differ widely. In this paper we study the effect of different patterns of requirements discovery on a software project. Using a validated model of software process we show that the effect on the total effort, the completion time and the workforce deployment patterns can be counter intuitive as different patterns of change impact software project dynamics in different ways. The insight into the relationship between requirements discovery pattern and project outcome can help managers decide appropriate risk mitigation policy and workforce augmentation plan.