Feature or Function what goes in the scope document? 2010-10-01 BY LIND !

!"# $ When developing a solution, one of the main activities performed by business analysts is to define the boundaries of the solution. The solutions boundary can be defined in either the product vision document or the scope document or in the business requirement document (BRD . !dentifying the product scope is not al"ays a straight for"ard process. When it comes to choosing "hat to include in the scope, "hat comes to your mind# Do you "rite your scope based on the functions or on the features of the solution# What is the difference bet"een these t"o# Let%s de&ine them' &eature is a component of the solution. !t is "hat the solution should have. &unction is the ability that is provided by your solution. !t is "hat the users desire for the solution to enable them to do. $%ample& 'ro(ect Build a cell phone application )eatures *essaging )unctions +bility to retrieve messages +bility to "rite message

Build a "eb site

+rticle *anagement

+bility to send messages +bility create articles +bility to store articles +bility to vie" articles +bility to maintain articles

(hen wou)d *ou use them? ,ince the product scoping activities are usually performed before diving into the detailed requirements, you "ould need to decide "hat to include in your scope. !f you are "or-ing on a ne" solution implementation, most li-ely, your sta-eholders "ont have an idea of "hat the solution should have (the .component/ . Therefore, it may be hard for you to describe the features that should be included in the scope. 0o"ever, your sta-eholders "ould have a good idea of "hat they "ant the solution to enable them to do (the .abilities/ . !n a ne" solution implementation, you may find yourself starting to describe the desired functions instead of the features of a solution. Based on the grouping of those functionalities, you "ill be able to create features. !f ho"ever, your pro(ect is to enhance an e%isting solution, it "ill be easier for you to list those e%isting features. The difference in your scope statements "ill be the changes made to the functionality of those features. !t may be the case that you need to enhance e%isting functions or that you need to add more functionality to e%isting features.