How does a software engineer elicit requirements through non verbal communication,from his customer/client ?
I don’t know anyone who does it through non-verbal communications. Usually, it’s done through verbal communications. Generally, you simply ask questions. At first, you use open-ended questions like “What do you want this software to do?” Later, you can use more pointed question like “Do the business rules change often?”. You should definitely assume your customer/client does not know his requirements or is not able to express them. That’s why you have to ask questions in a form the customer/client can understand. If the problem seems to be that the customer doesn’t want to tell you the requirements, then simply give the customer/client exactly what they asked for, instead of what they need. This is strong medicine, and is rarely needed more than once per customer/client. Always be willing to tell the customer/client “no” if you don’t believe they’re asking for what they need. You may irritate them in the short term, but over time they’ll appreciate the fact that when you do deliver som
