Achieving customer satisfaction through requirements understanding

Abstract

Achieving and measuring customer satisfaction is a key aim in systems development. However, widespread customer satisfaction is not normally attained largely due to problems of inadequate ‘requirements understanding’. This lack of understanding is a function of a semantic gap that exists between customers and system developers while exploring requirements. What is required is a universal and non-technical customer-oriented process that supports the attainment of customer satisfaction through minimising any barriers to understanding. This paper describes a process improvement theme and a case study that has been directed towards better customer satisfaction through improved through-life requirements engineering and management. The case study examines the suitability and attributes of the ‘Dynamic Systems Development Method’ which was chosen as a candidate for evaluation as a customer-oriented process.