TELLING STORIES: A Short Path to Writing Better Software Requirements -- About the Author -- Credits -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Telling Stories -- What Must We Do? -- Why Do We Learn Better From Stories? -- How Do Story Elements Relate to Requirements? -- What Are Software Requirements, and Who Are They For? -- Why Projects Collapse (Without Detailed Requirements) -- Why Have We Turned from the Path of Righteousness? -- Can Stories Get Us Back on Track? -- Making Structured Analysis into a Story -- Who Should Do This Work? -- Summary -- Chapter 2: The Language of Your Story -- Clarity -- Precision -- Using a Consistent and Appropriate Level of Detail -- Summary -- Chapter 3: Drawing Pictures -- Why Data Flow Diagrams? -- Data Flow Diagram Elements -- Basic Rules -- Summary and Detail Diagrams -- About Creating Rough Diagrams -- Guidelines for Design Clarity -- Other Types of Diagrams -- Summary -- Chapter 4: Explaining Processes and Finding Requirements -- Naming Processes -- Success Criteria -- Started by -- Results of -- Elements of -- Actions -- Cross-References to Other Processes -- Extracting Requirements -- Options for Structuring Diagrams and Text -- Adding Diagram and Section Introductions -- Summary -- Chapter 5: Finding and Structuring the Content -- You Are a Very Important Team Member -- Building Rapport with the Project Team -- Capturing the Critical Information -- Writing the Outline -- Summary -- Chapter 6: Creating the Body of the Document -- Is Documenting the Current State Really Necessary? -- Go Back to the Team -- Writing the Future State -- Checking for Completeness -- Reference Material After the Story -- Summary -- Chapter 7: And Finally, the Beginning -- Recommendations -- A High-Level Diagram -- Problem and Context Statement -- Requirements Process -- General Considerations -- Scope.

Other Potential Sections -- A Complete Example -- Summary -- Chapter 8: Reviewing, Reusing, and Maintenance -- Review Cycles -- Sign Off -- What Happens Next -- Managing Requirements Through the Project Life Cycle -- Maintaining Requirements After the Application Is in Production -- Summary -- Appendix A: Software Requirements Document Template -- Executive Summary -- Current State -- Future State -- Gap Analysis -- Requirements Summaries -- Data Specifications -- Report Specifications -- Version History -- Index.