What Is Requirements Elicitation? A Practical Guide for Discovery Professionals
What is requirements elicitation?
Requirements elicitation is the process of gathering, discovering, and understanding what stakeholders need from a system or solution. It's the critical first step in any software implementation, digital transformation, or process improvement project.
Unlike simply asking "what do you want?", effective elicitation involves structured techniques to uncover both stated and unstated needs — the requirements that stakeholders don't even know they have.
Why it matters
Poor requirements are the leading cause of project failure. Studies consistently show that projects with inadequate discovery phases are significantly more likely to exceed budgets, miss deadlines, or deliver solutions that don't meet business needs.
The cost of fixing a requirement error increases dramatically the later it's discovered. A misunderstood requirement caught during discovery costs almost nothing to fix. The same error found during testing or production can cost orders of magnitude more.
Common elicitation techniques
Stakeholder interviews
One-on-one or small-group conversations with key stakeholders. These are the most common technique and work best when guided by structured questions that ensure comprehensive coverage.
Discovery workshops
Facilitated sessions that bring multiple stakeholders together to discuss requirements collaboratively. Workshops are particularly effective for cross-functional requirements where different departments need to align.
Document analysis
Reviewing existing documentation, process maps, and system specifications to understand current state before designing future state.
Observation
Watching users perform their actual work to identify requirements they might not articulate in interviews — often revealing workarounds and pain points.
The modern approach
Traditional elicitation relies heavily on manual note-taking, Word documents, and spreadsheets. This creates several problems:
- Inconsistency: Every analyst structures their discovery differently
- Traceability gaps: Hard to link requirements back to stakeholder statements
- Coverage blind spots: No way to know what you haven't asked about
- Slow delivery: Days spent reformatting notes into client-ready documents
Modern discovery platforms like Exordia address these challenges by providing structured templates, real-time coverage tracking, and AI-powered requirements generation — turning messy workshop notes into formal specifications in minutes rather than days.
Getting started
Whether you're a Business Analyst running ERP discovery, a Solution Architect evaluating platforms, or a Management Consultant leading client workshops, the fundamentals are the same:
- Prepare: Build or select a discovery template with guided questions
- Facilitate: Run structured workshops with clear scope and objectives
- Capture: Take detailed notes linked to specific questions and areas
- Synthesize: Map notes to formal requirements with traceability
- Validate: Review requirements with stakeholders for accuracy and completeness
The goal isn't perfection in the first pass — it's systematic coverage that ensures nothing important is missed, with a clear trail from business need to formal requirement.