Description
Requirements Practice in Conceptual Design, Second Edition: A Practical Guide presents a rigorous, fully actionable methodology for developing formal system requirements at the earliest and most decisive stage of the system life cycle. Grounded in the reality that flawed requirements cannot be corrected downstream, the book shows how to establish a complete, consistent, and validated foundation before design decisions harden.
Bridging the gap between international standards and handbooks such as ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 and the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook and the realities of day-to-day practice, this timely resource translates abstract mandates into clear, step-by-step activities for system-level logical design and requirements development. The book introduces a structured conceptual design methodology (CDM) that guides practitioners from stakeholder identification and business needs analysis through functional decomposition, system requirements definition, and change control. It explains the logic, flow, and documentation needed to produce requirements that are feasible, traceable, and verifiable, using worked examples and integrated case studies to demonstrate how business intent is aligned with engineering execution. Throughout, it highlights requirements practice as the critical interface linking systems engineering, project management, and business analysis.
Written for systems engineers, project managers, business analysts, and requirements engineers working in defense, aerospace, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing, this authoritative reference balances academic rigor with practical clarity. With chapter review questions and real-world application throughout, Requirements Practice in Conceptual Design equips professionals and students alike to perform formal requirements engineering with precision and confidence—ensuring every system begins on the right foundation.
Table Of Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Definition of a System
1.3. A Generic System Lifecycle
1.4. Acquisition Phase and Utilization Phase
1.5. The Role of Systems Engineering
1.6. The Role of Project Management
1.7. What is Requirements Engineering?
1.8. Benefits of Requirements Engineering
1.9. Development Approaches
1.10. Verification and Validation (V&V) and Test and Evaluation (T&E)
1.11. The Purpose of this Book
1.12. Some Qualifications Before Continuing
2. Requirements Practice Framework
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Concepts, Needs, and Requirements
2.3. Requirements Elicitation and Elaboration
2.4. Requirements Validation
2.5. Requirements Management
2.6. Requirements-engineering Tools
3. Introduction to the Conceptual Design Methodology
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Guidance for the Conduct of Conceptual Design
3.3. Introduction to the Conceptual Design Methodology (CDM)
3.4. Summary of CDM Processes and Artifacts
3.5. Example Systems Used as Case Studies
3.6. Summary
4. Identify Major Stakeholders and Constraints
4.1. Introduction
4.2. C1.1.1—Identify Major Stakeholders
4.3. C1.1.2—Identify Business and Project Constraints
4.4. C1.1.3—Identify External Constraints
4.5. C1.1.4—Identify Design Constraints
4.6. Some Caution When Considering Constraints
5. Define Business Needs
5.1. Introduction
5.2. The Need for a Mission Statement
5.3. C1.2.1—Develop Mission, Goals, and Objectives
5.4. C1.2.2—Define Preliminary Lifecycle Concepts
5.5. C1.2.3—Define Preliminary Validation Criteria
5.6. Summary
6. Scope System
6.1. Introduction
6.2. C1.3—Scope System
6.3. C1.4 Conduct Feasibility Analysis
6.4. C1.5—Finalize Business Needs and Requirements
7. Define Stakeholder Needs and Requirements
7.1. Introduction
7.2. C2.1—Define Stakeholder Needs
7.3. C2.2—Define Stakeholder Requirements
7.4. C2.3—Finalize Stakeholder Needs and Requirements (SNR)
8. Define System Requirements
8.1. Introduction
8.2. C3.1—Establishing the Requirements Framework
8.3. C3.2—Perform Requirements Analysis and Allocation
8.4. C3.3—Draft System Requirements Specification
8.5. C3.4—Define Technical Performance Measures (TPM)
8.6. C3.5—Conduct System Requirements Review (SRR)
8.7. C4. Conduct System-Level Synthesis
8.8. C5. Conduct System Design Review (SDR)
8.9. Summary
9. Requirements Writing
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Some Guidelines for Writing Good Requirements
List of Acronyms
Author Biographies