Collaborative requirements elicitation in a european research project

A relevant part of the research activities performed in European computer science institutions is funded through European Union (EU) projects. Eliciting and defining requirements for a software system in a distributed environment with heterogeneous stakeholders is generally challenging. In EU projects partners can have different objectives and views, needs are not sharply defined and communication is hampered both by differences in native spoken languages and by the physical distance of the stakeholders. This paper presents the definition and the results of applying an innovative requirements elicitation and refinement approach in the context of an EU financed project (Learn PAd). The approach combines the KJ-method and collaborative wiki-based requirement sessions to come to a set of consolidated requirements. The paper includes the lessons learnt from this experience, also it discusses both the advantages, and the drawbacks of the instantiated approach.