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Requirements vs Features - A Definition

  2 Comments  Latest comment by: Michael
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A common question that comes up in discussions is what qualifies as a Requirement and what qualifies as a Feature.

I've always thought of a Feature as something that would go as a bullet point in a product datasheet or brochure. A Feature is a capability that provides an end user the ability to achieve a business goal.

A Feature then is usually made up of a set of Requirements.

EXAMPLE
A Feature of Amazon.com is "One-Click Purchase".

Some of the associated Requirements may be:

  • Software shall check to see whether the user has enabled 'One-Click Purchase' in his preferences
  • Software shall retrieve all items stored in the cart
  • Software shall process order using default credit card and shipping address stored in the account
  • etc...

A Feature thus consists of a set of Requirements that need to be implemented to provide the user the ability to achieve a goal.

About the Author: I'm your author, Michael Shrivathsan, an expert in product management and product marketing with successful experience spanning two decades. I live in Silicon Valley, USA. For my day job, I manage the product management & marketing teams at Accompa, makers of requirements management software and product management tools.

Comments

Your examples of requirements seem too granular. Not sure this is a good example.

I think you're right John. Upon further thought I agree with you - my examples of requirements do seem too granular.

For what it is worth, the IEEE definition of "requirement":

  1. a condition or capability needed by a user to solve a problem or achieve an objective
  2. a condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a system or system component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed document
  3. a documented representation of a condition or capability as in (1) or (2)

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