SCRUM ProductManagementJournalVolume 7 11 Writing requirements Requirementsaredocumentedinavarietyofwaysdependingon theirpriority.Tostartwithallrequirementsaredescribedatahigh level,termedanEpic,whichdescribesthethemeforparticular functionality.Foranemailapplicationthismightbetosend,forward andreplytoemails,fileandsortemailsandusecontacts.Those requirementsofmediumpriorityarethenbrokendowninto3to5key featurestogivesufficientinsighttothedevelopmentteamsothatthey understandwherethedevelopmentmightbeheading. Thehighestpriorityrequirements,i.e.tobebuiltinthenextsprint, aredescribedinfarmore detail.Forthese,ratherthan writealongabstract document,theproductowner isencouragedtowriteuser stories.Theseareshort, simpledescriptionsofa featuretoldfromthe perspectiveoftheperson thatwantsit(typicallyauser). Asa,Iwantto sothat.Forexample,asa userofemail,Iwanttochange mypasswordsothatIcan maintainthesecurityofmy account.Theyaretypically writtenonstickynotesorsmallcards. Thesesprintbacklogrequirementsshouldalsobewrittensoasto: • Minimisedependencyonotherrequirements,enablingthemto bedevelopedinanyorder(andtominimiseproblemsifsomedonot getdevelopedatall) • Bevaluabletoanenduser • Besmallenoughtofitintoasprint • Beclearenoughtobeestimated • Betestable. Highest priority requirements Prepared ready for next sprint – prioritised based on business value – written at a detailed level ready for estimation, e.g. detailed user stories. Detail Next level of priority features Give forward look into feature requirements. Written at a fairly high level. Lowest priority requirements Written at a very high level describing themes as ‘epics’. Product backlog of requirements Fig.6The product backlog