Practice · Requirements Engineering I: Discovering Needs

Q1

Which statement is a requirement rather than a design decision?

A "Call the AI service with a 10-second HTTP timeout using library X." B "Students can see which classmates in the same course are free at the same time." C "Use a HashMap to group students by course." D "Store free time slots in a MySQL table called slots."

Q2

An instructor says: "I want a button that exports all forum posts to Excel." What is the best first reaction of a requirements engineer?

A Refuse, because Excel is not modern. B Add "Excel export button" to the backlog exactly as stated. C Ask why — what will the instructor do with the file? — to find the underlying need. D Ask an AI to design the button.

Q3

"StudyBuddy must be hosted on the university's cloud servers in mainland China." This is best classified as…

A a functional requirement B a design pattern C a constraint D a user story

Q4

"A reported post is hidden from other students within 1 minute." What kind of requirement is this?

A A constraint on the programming language B Not a requirement, because it has a number C Functional only D A non-functional (quality) requirement about performance/timeliness attached to a function

Q5

What is the main difference between user requirements and system requirements?

A User requirements are written in the stakeholders' language to agree on the need; system requirements are detailed and precise, for developers and testers. B User requirements are optional; system requirements are mandatory. C There is no difference; the terms are synonyms. D User requirements describe the hardware; system requirements describe the software.

Q6

Using a power/interest grid, the university IT office has high power but only medium-to-low interest in StudyBuddy. The best strategy is to…

A ignore them until release B invite them to every Daily Scrum C let them write all the user stories D keep them satisfied: consult them early on hosting, security and policy, without overloading them with details

Q7

An experienced TA forgets to mention that posts are never deleted before the course's appeal period ends — "everybody knows that". This is an example of…

A a non-functional requirement B scope creep C tacit knowledge D a design decision

Q8

Which elicitation technique is best for discovering how students actually prepare for exams, including workarounds they do not think to mention?

A Observation of real study sessions (ethnography) B A closed-question survey C Asking an AI to describe typical students D Reading the course catalog

Q9

After five interviews the team has found three problems. They want to know how common each problem is among 1,200 students. Which technique fits best?

A Document analysis B A paper prototype C More one-hour interviews D A survey / questionnaire

Q10

Which interview question is leading?

A "Wouldn't it be great if an AI answered your homework questions at night?" B "How did you find a study partner last semester?" C "Tell me about the last time you prepared for a midterm." D "What happens when you get stuck on an exercise late at night?"

Q11

Why is "Tell me about the last time you looked for a study partner" better than "Would you use a study-partner matching feature?"

A It is a closed question. B It is shorter. C It asks about real past behaviour; questions about the future invite polite guesses ("yes, I would"). D It mentions the feature name.

Q12

Which user story best follows the "As a… I want… so that…" template and keeps the reason?

A "As a student, I want a matching algorithm." B "The system shall use cosine similarity on availability vectors." C "Matching feature for students." D "As a first-year student, I want to see classmates in my course who are free when I am, so that I can form a study group before the midterm."

Q13

"As a developer, I want to set up the database schema." Which INVEST quality does this story most clearly violate?

A Valuable — it gives no value a user or customer can see B Independent C Small D Estimable

Q14

"As a student, I want the whole Q&A board with posting, answering, voting, search and moderation." Which INVEST quality is violated most?

A Negotiable B Small C Valuable D Testable

Q15

In Ron Jeffries's "3 Cs" of user stories, what is the Confirmation?

A The estimate in story points B The acceptance criteria that show when the story is done C The code review D The Product Owner's signature

Q16

In a Given/When/Then scenario, what belongs in the When step?

A The name of the Java class B The starting data and context C The expected result D The single action or event being tested

Q17

Which "Then" step is testable by a tester without reading the code?

A "Then Ben appears in Ana's list with the shared time 'Thu 19:00-21:00'" B "Then the system is user-friendly" C "Then the matching algorithm works correctly" D "Then the database is updated efficiently"

Q18

The acceptance criteria for "find study partners" cover only two students with overlapping free time. Which additional scenario is most important to add?

A A student who uses dark mode B A student who has entered no free time at all C A student whose name has 12 letters D A student who logged in on a Tuesday

Q19

What is a persona?

A A fake user account for testing B A realistic, specific description of a typical user, based on research, that keeps the team focused on real needs C The Product Owner's personal opinion D An AI chatbot that pretends to be a user

Q20

How does a story map help define an MVP?

A It arranges stories along the user journey and by priority, so a horizontal cut gives the smallest release that covers the whole journey. B It replaces the Product Backlog with a Gantt chart. C It estimates the cost of each story in yuan. D It sorts stories alphabetically.

Q21

In a Kano survey, most students answer "I expect it" if the app has WKU single sign-on, and "I dislike it" if it does not. The feature is…

A Attractive (delighter) B Indifferent C Reverse D Must-be (basic)

Q22

Students answer "I like it" if Buddy links to the exact lecture slide it used, and "I am neutral" if it does not. In the Kano model this is…

A Attractive (a delighter) B One-dimensional C Questionable D Must-be

Q23

Lina asks an AI chatbot: "List the requirements for a university study app." It returns 25 requirements including badges, dark mode and a social feed. What should the team do?

A Ask a second AI to confirm the list. B Add all 25 to the Product Backlog. C Treat them as ideas at most; a requirement needs a real source (a stakeholder, document or data), so check each with real users before adding it. D Delete the Product Backlog and use the AI list instead.

Q24

The team recorded a one-hour interview with an instructor and wants an AI tool to summarize it. What must they do first?

A Nothing; summaries are harmless. B Delete the recording. C Make sure the instructor consented to recording and to this use, and use an approved tool or remove identifying details — the recording is personal data. D Translate it into English.

Q25

Which is a well-formed requirement for Buddy's behaviour under uncertainty?

A "Buddy uses the best AI model available." B "If no relevant course material is found, Buddy says it does not know and suggests posting the question on the Q&A board." C "Buddy should be smart." D "Buddy never makes mistakes."

Q26 Short answer

Rewrite this weak story so that it satisfies INVEST, and add two Given/When/Then acceptance criteria (one happy path, one edge case):

"The app should have notifications."

Q27 Short answer

Compare interviews and observation as elicitation techniques: one strength and one weakness of each, and a StudyBuddy situation where you would choose each.

Q28 Short answer

Write three non-functional or policy requirements for Buddy (the AI tutor) that would not be needed for a normal feature. Make each one testable.

Q29 Short answer

Explain the Kano categories must-be, one-dimensional and attractive, with one StudyBuddy feature for each, and explain why delighters "decay" over time.

Q30 Short answer

List four ways an AI assistant can help requirements engineering and three risks, each with a way to control it.