Tech
System Requirements: True or False? BeReal's "2-minute countdown" feature addresses the non-functional requirement of users spending 30 minutes posing for "authentic" photos.
False. This time-limiting feature addresses the functional requirement of encouraging genuine authenticity by preventing excessive preparation time.
User Needs & Roles: True or False? Netflix's "are you still watching?" prompt is classified in their design documents as a technical requirement of "enabling bathroom breaks" rather than "preventing wasted bandwidth."
False. This feature would be classified as a technical requirement for bandwidth optimization and user engagement verification.
System Requirements: True or False? When fitness apps like Strava allow users to hide their home location from activity maps, they're addressing a functional requirement rather than a security and privacy requirement.
False. When fitness apps allow users to hide their home location, they're primarily addressing a security and privacy requirement to protect users' personal information and physical safety, rather than a functional requirement related to the core purpose of tracking fitness activities.
Project Vision & Scope: True or False? If your roommate says, "We need milk" without specifying the type, quantity, or deadline, they've provided a complete and effective requirement statement according to system requirement principles.
False. According to system requirement principles, effective requirements must be specific, measurable, and include success criteria. "We need milk" lacks specifics about type (whole, 2%, oat), quantity, deadline, and quality expectations - all necessary for a complete requirement.
Non-Functional Requirements: True or False?
If Tinder states "The app must support 10 million daily active users with response times under 2 seconds," this is describing a security requirement.
False. This statement describes a scalability requirement (supporting 10 million users) and a performance requirement (response times under 2 seconds), not a security requirement. Security requirements would address data protection, authentication, and threat prevention.
Project Vision & Scope: True or False? A good vision statement for a food delivery app should focus on technical features like GPS tracking rather than how it solves hunger problems in busy people's lives.
False. A good vision statement for a food delivery app should focus on solving real human problems (like hunger for busy people) rather than technical features. Technical details belong in requirements documentation, while the vision should capture the essence of what the product aims to achieve for users.
Project Vision & Scope: True or False? Dating apps that promise to "create meaningful connections" rather than "optimize matching algorithms" are expressing a more effective vision statement according to product development principles.
True. According to product development principles, vision statements should focus on the human value and outcomes ("meaningful connections") rather than technical implementations ("optimize matching algorithms"). This creates a more compelling and enduring vision for the product.
Non-Functional Requirements: True or False? According to sustainability principles, if you leave your laptop running overnight to download updates, you're optimizing for carbon efficiency rather than energy efficiency.
False. Leaving a laptop running overnight primarily concerns energy efficiency (using more energy than necessary), not carbon efficiency. Carbon efficiency would involve questions about when energy is used (relating to grid carbon intensity) rather than how much is used.
System Requirements: True or False? If Gmail introduces a new spam filter that blocks 99.9% of unwanted emails but occasionally sends important emails to spam, this represents a trade-off between security and reliability requirements.
True. This situation represents a classic trade-off between security requirements (blocking unwanted emails) and reliability requirements (ensuring legitimate emails reach the inbox). Overly aggressive security measures can impact system reliability from the user's perspective.
User Needs & Roles: True or False? According to persona research, most millennials who use dating apps would be accurately represented by a single "average user" persona rather than multiple distinct personas.
False. Best practices recommend creating multiple distinct personas representing different user groups with unique needs and behaviors rather than a single "average user" persona. Dating app users have diverse goals, from seeking long-term relationships to casual connections, requiring different personas.
Non-Functional Requirements: True or False? When a meditation app works offline during airplane mode, this primarily addresses a security requirement rather than an availability requirement.
False. A meditation app working offline primarily addresses an availability requirement (making the service available without network connectivity) rather than a security requirement. While offline functionality may have security benefits, its primary purpose is ensuring availability in various connectivity situations.
User Needs & Roles: True or False? According to your course readings, if your professor creates a persona named "Procrastinating Peter" who starts assignments the night before they're due, they're following the best practices for unbiased persona creation.
False. Best practices for unbiased persona creation caution against stereotypical or judgmental naming conventions like "Procrastinating Peter." Such names introduce bias and reduce empathy by defining users primarily by perceived negative behaviors rather than their goals and needs.
Non-Functional Requirements: True or False? According to Microsoft's Principles of Sustainable Software Engineering, an app that processes data only when your phone is plugged in is implementing the principle of carbon efficiency.
True. According to Microsoft's Principles of Sustainable Software Engineering, carbon efficiency includes optimizing when processing occurs. Processing data when a device is plugged in potentially uses grid electricity rather than battery power, which can be more energy-efficient and reduce overall carbon impact.
Non-Functional Requirements: True or False? When Spotify warns users about explicit content, this addresses an accessibility requirement rather than a compliance requirement.
False. Warnings about explicit content primarily address compliance requirements related to content ratings and legal regulations rather than accessibility requirements. Accessibility would focus on making the warning perceivable by all users, but the warning itself serves compliance purposes.
User Needs & Roles: True or False? According to persona design principles, when creating personas for a grocery delivery app, understanding how users feel about shopping while hungry is less important than their demographic information.
False. According to persona design principles, understanding behavioral and emotional factors (like how users shop when hungry) is more important than demographic information. These psychological insights provide deeper understanding of user needs and motivations that drive effective design.
Project Management: True or False? When you finally organize your chaotic Google Drive folders after months of promising to do it, you've successfully implemented what project managers would call "technical debt reduction."
True. In project management terms, organizing long-neglected file systems is indeed a form of "technical debt reduction" - addressing accumulated organizational inefficiencies that developed due to expedient but suboptimal past decisions, which now require dedicated effort to resolve.
System Requirements: True or False? When cybersecurity experts advise that "authentication requirements should be described in terms of what hackers cannot do," they're following best practices according to OWASP.
False. According to OWASP guidance, security requirements should be phrased positively in terms of what the system should do to protect assets rather than negatively in terms of what attackers cannot do. This creates clear, testable requirements focused on protection mechanisms.
User Needs & Roles: True or False? According to NNGroup research, one reason personas fail is because designers create them after the design process, using them only to justify decisions already made.
True. According to NNGroup research on why personas fail, one key reason is creating them after key design decisions have been made, using them to justify predetermined solutions rather than to inform the design process from the beginning.
System Requirements: True or False? When a smart home system allows users to turn lights on/off via voice commands, the primary requirement being addressed is an accessibility requirement rather than a convenience feature.
True. While voice control provides convenience for all users, it primarily addresses an accessibility requirement by enabling people with mobility limitations to control their environment independently. Good accessibility features often benefit all users but are essential for those with disabilities.
System Requirements: True or False? If your significant other says "I don't care where we eat tonight" but then rejects your first five suggestions, they're exhibiting what requirements engineers call "unstated requirements" rather than "requirements volatility."
True. This situation perfectly illustrates "unstated requirements" in requirements engineering - needs that exist but haven't been explicitly articulated. The rejection of suggestions reveals unstated constraints or preferences that weren't initially communicated but are critical to satisfaction.