Requirements: writing testable requirements
For product owners, project coordinators, business analysts, developers and IT staff who write or review requirements for software, services or supplier work. No prior training is needed, though 'Product discovery: understanding the problem before building' helps with finding the need in the first place. You'll spot vague and unverifiable wording, write single 'shall' statements with a rationale and tolerances, write user stories with checkable acceptance criteria, and choose how each requirement will be verified. It uses the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook's requirement checklists and the GOV.UK Service Manual's guidance on user stories. Your company's requirements template and sign-off process come first.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 68 minutes
- Contents
- 4 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Identify ambiguous or unverifiable terms in a requirement and replace them with measurable criteria
- Write a requirement as a single 'shall' statement with a rationale and, for performance values, a tolerance
- Write a user story with a clear goal and acceptance criteria that can be checked
- Choose how each requirement will be verified and record it in a verification matrix
Course outline
- 1.Identifying ambiguous or unverifiable terms and replacing themLesson · 16 min
- 2.Writing a single 'shall' statement with a rationale and toleranceLesson · 17 min
- 3.Writing user stories with goals and checkable acceptance criteriaLesson · 13 min
- 4.Choosing how each requirement will be verifiedLesson · 10 min
- 5.Requirements: writing testable requirements: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 6.Requirements: writing testable requirements: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 7.Final exam8 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
See it with your own jobs and topics
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