Scenarios are narrative descriptions or stories that concisely outline how something will work in practice.

In the context of a content management system (CMS) project, scenarios are a very effective way of documenting key CMS requirements, and they complement the formal lists of functional requirements typically found in tender documents.

Content management scenarios provide a ‘day in the life’ description of how the CMS will be used, for example:

Richard enters the text for the page, and creates a link to the supporting PDF. Once the content has been spell-checked, Richard submits the page for review by Jane, his manager.

By using this story format, a large number of details can be conveyed in relatively few words. In practice, a single scenario can cover the same scope as several pages of functional requirements.

Scenarios are most effectively used during vendor demonstrations, to provide a ‘script’ for vendors to follow. This ensures that the vendor shows how the product will work in practice, meeting the specific needs of the organisation.

Having a common script across vendor demos also makes it easier to compare solutions, as well as providing a strong foundation for scoring the products against functional requirements.

This article will outline how to create effective scenarios, including concrete examples, guidelines and suggestions.

[September KM Column, read the full article]