Generate Requirements from Meeting Transcripts
1. Sift Through the Transcripts
- Collect All Notes and Transcripts: Gather every meeting transcript in one place (e.g., a shared folder or a collaboration tool).
- Highlight Key Topics: Skim or use text analytics (like NLP-based tools) to automatically locate recurring themes, issues, or desires mentioned by stakeholders.Tip: You can manually highlight or color-code critical points if tools aren’t available.
2. Distill Clear Requirements
- Identify Core Problems & Goals: For each highlighted topic, ask, “What problem is being described or what outcome do stakeholders want?”
- Document Preliminary Requirements: Example: “The customer wants a simpler checkout process” or “We need automated alerts for overdue tasks.”Output: A short list or table pairing each problem with the desired solution or outcome.
3. Categorize by Stakeholder & System Area
- Group by Stakeholder Persona: (e.g., End User, Admin, Manager, Customer Support).
- Group by System Functionality: (e.g., User Account Management, Reporting, Integrations).Outcome: You’ll begin seeing “themes” that might eventually form the basis for Epics in your backlog.
4. Convert Themes into Epics
- Define Epics: Large bodies of work representing a broad goal, such as:
- “User Management” – everything related to registration, login, permissions.
- “Payment & Billing” – everything related to checkout, invoices, payment methods.
- Validate With Stakeholders: Ensure the epics capture everything they care about.
5. Write User Stories
For each Epic, create specific user stories.
Use the standard format:
As a [type of user], I want to [accomplish something], so that [benefit or reason].
- Example:
As a returning customer, I want to log in with social media so I don’t have to remember another password.
6. Establish Acceptance Criteria
For each user story, define “done” conditions—clear, testable requirements:
- Example Acceptance Criteria for the story above:
- A “Login with Facebook” button is visible on the login page.
- Successful authentication logs me into my existing account.
This prevents ambiguity during development and testing.
7. Prioritize the Backlog
Not everything can be done at once. Rank user stories:
- MoSCoW Method (Must Have, Should Have, Could Have, Won’t Have).
- Value vs. Effort: High-Value, Low-Effort stories often come first.
8. Build Your Iterative Roadmap
- Sprint Planning: Decide which stories to tackle in the next iteration.
- Visualize: Use a product roadmap tool (Jira, Trello, Notion, or Azure DevOps) to manage epics and stories.
9. Create a Continuous Feedback Loop
- Demonstrate Working Software: After each sprint or milestone, show progress to stakeholders.
- Refine Further: Gather feedback and refine user stories or add new ones as new insights appear.
10. Keep Everything in One Source of Truth
Store final user stories, backlog, and plans in a centralized location. This way, stakeholders and developers can easily find and update requirements.
Questions to Ask Gen AI To Do This
Below is a sequence of questions you could pose to ChatGPT (or any similar tool) to methodically extract the necessary data from your meeting transcripts and transform it into a software development plan and user stories. Feel free to adapt or reorder these questions based on your workflow.
1. Identify Core Topics and Goals
“From the meeting transcripts, can you list the main goals or problems that were discussed and summarize them briefly?”
- Purpose: Quickly capture the most important high-level points.
2. Highlight Stakeholders and Their Needs
“Who are the key stakeholders or user types mentioned in the transcripts, and what specific needs or pain points do they have?”
- Purpose: Surface all the different audiences and their respective challenges or objectives.
3. Extract Constraints or Specific Requirements
“Did the transcripts mention any technical constraints, compliance requirements, or specific deadlines we need to consider?”
- Purpose: Ensure you account for external factors such as regulations, timelines, or platform limitations.
4. Clarify Dependencies or Integrations
“Were there any references to systems we need to integrate with or dependencies on other teams or software?”
- Purpose: Capture integration points and dependencies so they can be planned for in the backlog.
5. Group Insights into Themes or Epics
“Based on the extracted issues and desired outcomes, can you group them into higher-level themes or epics?”
- Purpose: Begin organizing your requirements into logical categories (e.g., “User Management,” “Reporting,” “Analytics,” etc.).
6. Refine Themes into Potential Features
“Within each epic or theme, what specific features or functionalities are implied by the transcripts?”
- Purpose: Dig into the details and list the functionality that might solve each problem.
7. Formulate User Stories
“Can you help me draft user stories using the format ‘As a [type of user], I want to [goal], so that [value]’ based on these features?”
- Purpose: Translate each feature into user-centric statements.
8. Specify Acceptance Criteria
“What acceptance criteria can we assign to each user story to define ‘done’?”
- Purpose: Clarify expectations so that developers and stakeholders know exactly when a story is complete.
9. Prioritize Based on Value or Urgency
“Which user stories or epics appear most critical, and how can we rank them based on business value or urgency?”
- Purpose: Decide the order for development, focusing on high-impact items first.
10. Confirm Requirements and Finalize
“Is there anything we might have overlooked or any conflicting requirements we need to resolve before creating our final plan?”
- Purpose: Catch any inconsistencies or gaps in your backlog before moving into development.
How to Use These Questions
- Collect and Contextualize: Ask each question step-by-step.
- Iterate: Re-visit or refine questions if you discover new details or unearth ambiguities.
- Document Answers: Keep the answers in a shared workspace (e.g., Jira, Notion, Confluence).
- Build Your Backlog: Convert the final user stories and acceptance criteria into a backlog for your team.
- Review with Stakeholders: Make sure each question’s output aligns with real business objectives.
By following this sequence, you’ll systematically transform raw meeting transcripts into structured software requirements and user stories that are ready for your development process.