30th October 2011 - 7 minutes read time
Understanding what it is that the client needs is an integral part of software development. The client will usually help you out by telling you what they need the system to do. What you will generally have is a big list of the things that the system should do. Rather than explain the difference between the terms "function requirements" and "non-functional requirements" to the client, you can save time by using MoSCoW. This is an abbreviation for Must, Should, Could, Won't and can also be written as MSCW or a number of different ways. I prefer the addition of the o's as it makes it more easy to communicate the idea to clients. The idea behind MoSCoW is to go through everything that the client wants the system to do and applying one of the four terms to that feature.
