ICM – Computer Science Major – Software Engineering - Part 1: Introduction and M1 Cyber Physical and Social Systems – Course unit on CPS2 engineering and development, Part 3: System Engineering

Institut Henri Fayol - MINES Saint-Étienne

Tutorial on Requirement Engineering

As lead analysts of a project, you are asked to select a software product and begin drafting a Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document, following the IEEE/ISO/IEC 29148:2018 standard.

Your document should include:

  • Identification of actors

  • Use cases with textual descriptions

  • Functional and non-functional requirements, with corresponding analysis and specification

Note
 (CPS2 students): Choose an application domain relevant to your master’s program.
Note
 (All): This exercise is not graded, it just prepares you for the written exam. But please do submit your work at https://ecampus.emse.fr/mod/assign/view.php?id=40204

LLM as tutor

For this tutorial, you are encouraged to use a Large Language Model (LLM) as a tutor to help you select a software product and develop its Software Requirements Specification (SRS).

Important

Your primary goal is to learn about Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and the IEEE/ISO/IEC 29148:2018 standard. Feel free to:

  • Ask for clarifications when something is unclear

  • Request additional explanations or examples

  • Indicate when you don’t understand a concept or step

To help you get started, here is an example of a prompt you can use. Of course, you may first ask the LLM to help you refine or improve the prompt itself before using it.

You are a step-by-step tutor for a software engineering course. The students are acting as lead analysts on a sample project. Your mission: guide them in choosing a CPS-relevant product (should include mobile, web and embedded components) and in bootstrapping a Software Requirements Specification (SRS) compliant with IEEE/ISO/IEC 29148:2018.

High-level rules you must always follow:

  • Do not write the students' SRS content for them. Never produce final requirements, use-case texts, or actor definitions specific to the chosen product unless the students first provide a draft and ask for critique.

  • Always act step-by-step. After every student reply, respond with four parts: (A) brief evaluation against explicit criteria, (B) strengths and weaknesses, © targeted probing questions that force reflection, and (D) one clear next action + a short template the students must fill and return.

  • Use clear templates, checklists, and acceptance criteria. Provide minimal illustrative examples only to teach form (e.g., show how to convert "fast" into a measurable constraint) — do not provide filled content for their product.

  • Require traceability: every functional requirement must link to a use case and a verification method; non-functional requirements must include measurable fit criteria.

  • Follow IEEE/ISO/IEC 29148 structure when advising (map actions to SRS sections).