# Gathering requirements vs. assessing needs

- Link: https://www.solmesz.com/articles-en/gather-requirements-assess-needs
- Published: 2019-08-21T14:50:06-03:00
- Author: Sol Mesz

_[Este artículo también está en Español.](https://www.solmesz.com/blog/levantar-requerimientos-o-relevar-necesidades)_

It would seem that gathering requirements and assessing needs are two ways of saying
the same. However, methodologically speaking they are not, and this difference is
key.

The only thing that gathering requirements and assessing needs have in common is
that users are involved. But similarities stop there.

## Gathering** requirements**

Gathering requirements is about asking clients what they want and what they need.
But we know that there’s a big difference between what clients ask, want, and need:

 * **What the client wants** is to increase online sales
 * **What they ask for** is a digital marketing campaign
 * **What they actually need** is to improve product information on their site because
   users don’t understand what it is and that prevents sales

So, when we gather requirements we focus on what the client wants and asks, which,
as we just saw, may not necessarily be what they need.

The output of this activity is usually a (long) list of requirements. And the problem
with that is that when we ask clients what they want, if we don’t include their 
request in our solution they will be disappointed and will feel like we didn’t listen.
Worse yet, they may think we didn’t do our job right, especially if the requirements
gathering process involved talking to stakeholders.

## Assessing** needs**

When we assess needs all we do is observe. That’s it, we just observe. We don’t 
ask, we simply watch clients use the product, how they use it, what problems they
encounter, what other tools they use, what the pain points are, frustrations and
satisfaction too.

And only after we have observed them we can define the problem they need to solve
and what the best solution is.

And the good part is, since the client didn’t ask for anything in particular, we
don’t need to deliver any specific artefact, solution or feature. We’re free to 
think the best solution.

## **In** short…

… Gathering requirements is like asking the patient to perform a self diagnosis 
and ask us what they want us to give them. Assessing needs is about listening to
the patient, understanding the symptoms and based on that define a treatment plan.

Because if the patient has a headache it is our responsibility to decide whether
to give them an aspirin or perform a few tests to see if what they really need is
a pair of glasses.

In the first case we’re foregoing our responsibility and doing what the patient 
asks, in the second we’re using our skills to understand and address what they need.