Clause 6.3.1: Purpose: stakeholder needs and requirements definition
The process defines stakeholder requirements for a system able to deliver the capabilities that users and other stakeholders need in a stated environment.
What clause 6.3.1 asks
The process defines stakeholder requirements for a system able to deliver the capabilities that users and other stakeholders need in a stated environment. It identifies the stakeholders and their needs, then analyzes and transforms those needs into one shared stakeholder requirement set that describes the intended interaction with the operational environment. That set is the reference against which each operational capability is validated. The process succeeds when nine outcomes are true: stakeholders identified; required characteristics and context of use defined; constraints identified; needs defined; needs prioritized and transformed; critical performance measures defined; stakeholder agreement achieved; enabling systems available; and traceability to stakeholders and needs established.
Why it matters
The outcome list is the acceptance test for the process. Two outcomes are commonly weak: explicit stakeholder agreement and critical performance measures. A set can be written, reviewed and still fail both. The clause also makes the operational environment part of the requirement, not background.
No clause level change is public for this unit; the DIS keeps the title and scope, and the requirement text is not released.
What good looks like
Use the nine outcomes as the exit criteria for the process. For each, name the artefact that proves it. Do not close the process on the document approval alone.
Evidence an assessor asks for
The assessor will take one outcome, usually agreement or critical performance measures, and ask for the record. A specification approval by the project manager is not stakeholder agreement.
- Stakeholder requirements specification The baselined set, with the context of use and the constraints
- Outcome checklist The nine outcomes with the evidence for each
- Agreement record The stakeholder agreement, including any subset agreements and open conflicts
- Critical performance measures The measures that will show the capability was achieved
Where it commonly fails
- The StRS is approved by the project manager only, with no user or acquirer sign-off
- Critical performance measures are left to test, so no one knows what success means
- The context of use is a single sentence copied from the project brief
What to do before the revision
Review the nine outcomes at the end of the process and record a pass or a gap for each. The gaps become the first actions in the plan.
Read across
- 6.1 Requirement processes
- 6.3.3.2 Prepare for stakeholder needs
- 6.3.3.3 Define stakeholder needs
- 6.3.3.7 Manage stakeholder needs and requirements
← 6.2.3.6 Manage the business or mission analysis 6.3.3.2 Prepare for stakeholder needs →
Source for clause 6.3.1: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2018, Clause 6.3.1, retrieved 19 October 2026. The revision note rests on ISO page 94091. The requirement, evidence and gaps are written from our record. Every source.