Requirements Elicitation Workshops Using the Six Thinking Hats Creativity Technique

Abstract

[Context and Motivation] Communication and collaboration among stakeholders are crucial in the requirements elicitation process, as they help create complete, high-quality, and creative requirements that align closely with stakeholder needs and project goals. [Question/ problem] One challenge in requirements elicitation is that stakeholders often face uncertainty in articulating their needs, as they may not fully realize what they know or genuinely want from the system. This issue is compounded when stakeholders come from diverse backgrounds, leading to communication barriers that make it difficult to co-create a project. [Principal ideas] Utilizing the Six Thinking Hats method is a beneficial approach to address the challenges in stakeholder communication and collaboration. Facilitating “parallel thinking” can help eliminate confusion and enhance engagement while fostering stakeholder creativity. [Contributions] This work presents our experience conducting requirements elicitation workshops using the Six Thinking Hats method, highlighting the challenges encountered and offering practical insights that can benefit both the scientific community and industry practitioners.