How do you gather and clarify requirements?

Question

Accepted Answer

**Requirements gathering** is the process of finding out what actually needs to be built — and *why* — before building it. The biggest mistake juniors make is taking a request literally without understanding the underlying problem.

## How to approach it

```text
1. ASK WHY → understand the problem behind the request, not just the request
2. TALK to the real users / stakeholders, not just the requester
3. CLARIFY scope → what's in, what's out, what "done" looks like
4. SURFACE assumptions and constraints (deadlines, budget, tech limits)
5. WRITE IT DOWN → confirm your understanding back to them
```

## Distinguish the ask from the need

A stakeholder says "add an export-to-PDF button." The real need might be "I need to share reports with my boss." Email, a shared link, or a dashboard could solve it better. Asking *why* opens up better solutions.

## Good clarifying questions

```text
✓ "What problem does this solve for the user?"
✓ "What happens today without it?"
✓ "How will we know it worked?"
✓ "What's explicitly out of scope?"
✓ "What are the edge cases / what could go wrong?"
```

## A common pitfall

Assuming you understood and starting to build. Always reflect requirements back — "so what you need is X, by Y, and Z is out of scope?" — to catch gaps early.

## Why it matters

A fixed requirements mistake at the idea stage costs minutes; the same mistake found after release costs days or weeks of rework.

Clear requirements are the cheapest insurance against building the wrong thing.

Asking *why* turns you from an order-taker into a problem-solver.