Functional Requirements vs User Requirements

Developers should learn and use functional requirements to ensure that software is built to meet user expectations and business goals, reducing rework and misalignment meets developers should learn and use user requirements to build software that effectively solves user problems, reduces rework, and increases project success rates. Here's our take.

Functional Requirements

Nice Pick

Developers should learn and use functional requirements to ensure that software is built to meet user expectations and business goals, reducing rework and misalignment

Pros

• They are essential during the requirements analysis and design phases of software development, particularly in projects following methodologies like Waterfall or Agile, where clear specifications help in creating accurate estimates, test cases, and validation criteria
• Related to: non-functional-requirements, requirements-analysis

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

User Requirements

Developers should learn and use user requirements to build software that effectively solves user problems, reduces rework, and increases project success rates

Pros

• This is critical during the initial phases of projects like web applications, enterprise systems, or mobile apps, where clear requirements help in planning, design, and testing
• Related to: requirements-gathering, user-stories

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Functional Requirements is a concept while User Requirements is a methodology. We picked Functional Requirements based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Functional Requirements wins

Based on overall popularity. Functional Requirements is more widely used, but User Requirements excels in its own space.