What are the likely impacts of unvalidated assumptions in the requirements-gathering process?

Unvalidated assumptions in requirements gathering are a significant project risk. They lead to a flawed foundation for development. When different stakeholders operate on conflicting, unstated assumptions, the resulting requirements will inevitably be in conflict. These hidden conflicts and incorrect assumptions surface later in the project lifecycle, typically during testing or user acceptance, causing significant unplanned downstream impacts and costly rework. The primary goal of validation is to mitigate these risks by ensuring all requirements are based on confirmed facts.

A. Longer code reviews: Code review duration is tied to code complexity and adherence to standards, not the correctness of the business requirement itself.

C. Increased developer unit test defects: Unit tests validate that code works as the developer intended. Requirement defects are typically found in later, higher-level testing phases.

E. Higher sprint velocity: Rework and confusion caused by faulty requirements will slow the team down, leading to a lower, not higher, sprint velocity.

1. Guidewire Education. (2022). Guidewire Analyst Fundamentals. Guidewire Press. Module 2, "The Inception Phase," Section 2.3, "Risk of Assumptions," p. 25.

2. Guidewire Whitepaper. (2021). Best Practices in Requirements Management for InsuranceSuite Projects. WP-RM-2021. "Identifying and Validating Assumptions," pp. 8-9.