# Eliciting, validating and prioritizing requirements

*Business Analyst Study Guide · Requirements · Last updated October 15, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/business-analyst/requirements/eliciting-validating-and-prioritizing-requirements*

How a business analyst finds the right stakeholders, fills gaps and reconciles conflicts, checks each requirement is testable and traceable, confirms it with its owners, and facilitates a priority order the business agrees.

- Certification: Salesforce Business Analyst
- Exam section: Requirements
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/business-analyst

**Official exam objective:**

> Engage stakeholders to identify, validate, and prioritize requirements.

## What the exam expects

- Identify who must be consulted before requirements are trusted, and respond when a missing stakeholder appears late.
- Fill gaps and reconcile conflicting descriptions with further, targeted elicitation.
- Check that each requirement is testable, unambiguous, a single need, and traceable to an objective and an owner.
- Validate requirements by playing them back to stakeholders and recording the accountable approval.
- Facilitate prioritization by value, effort, risk, dependencies and mandatory obligations, with the business owning the order.

Key terms:
- **Elicitation:** drawing forth information from stakeholders or other sources; the main path to discovering requirements.
- **Stakeholder:** anyone who has an interest in, or may be affected by, the issue under consideration.
- **Needs vs wants:** essential requirements that must be included vs desired ones that can be negotiated out or deferred.
- **Confirm elicitation results:** validating that the stated requirements match the problem and the stakeholders' real intentions.
- **Accountable (RACI):** the person ultimately accountable for the outcome.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is a stakeholder | Anyone with an interest in, or affected by, the issue; internal or external | [Explore Techniques for Information Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/explore-techniques--information-discovery) |
| Elicitation stages | Prepare, conduct, confirm results | [Explore Techniques for Information Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/explore-techniques--information-discovery) |
| Valid requirement | Quantifiable and verifiable; kept short and concise | [Become A Business Analysis Detective](https://admin.salesforce.com/blog/2020/become-a-business-analysis-detective) |
| Requirement owner | The stakeholder, not the BA who wrote it | [Become A Business Analysis Detective](https://admin.salesforce.com/blog/2020/become-a-business-analysis-detective) |
| Accountable in RACI | Person ultimately accountable for the outcome | [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation) |
| Gap analysis document | Gaps between current and intended processes | [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation) |
| Backlog priority owner | The product owner | [Learn the Elements of the Scrum Workflow](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/scrum-and-kanban-at-salesforce/learn-the-elements-of-the-scrum-workflow) |
| Prioritization inputs | Business impact and implementation effort | [Select and Prioritize Features](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/advanced-salesforce-release-readiness-strategies/select-and-prioritize-features) |
| Late scope additions | Schedule or cost must change, or the item is deferred | [Gather Requirements](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/best-practices-for-project-management/gather-requirements) |

## Check yourself

- Why run a stakeholder analysis before trusting a list compiled by one department?
- When can wants be dropped from a release?
- Who owns a requirement the BA wrote down?
- Which two dimensions does Salesforce suggest for ranking candidate features?

## Sources

- [Explore Techniques for Information Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/explore-techniques--information-discovery)
- [Review Requirements](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/salesforce-business-analyst-certification-prep/review-requirements)
- [Become A Business Analysis Detective](https://admin.salesforce.com/blog/2020/become-a-business-analysis-detective)
- [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation)
- [Gather Requirements](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/best-practices-for-project-management/gather-requirements)
- [Select and Prioritize Features](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/advanced-salesforce-release-readiness-strategies/select-and-prioritize-features)
- [Learn the Elements of the Scrum Workflow](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/scrum-and-kanban-at-salesforce/learn-the-elements-of-the-scrum-workflow)
- [Construct a User Story](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/user-story-creation/construct-a-user-story)
- [Learn About the Salesforce Business Analyst Role](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/salesforce-business-analyst-quick-look/learn-about-the-salesforce-business-analyst-role)
- [See Business Process Mapping in Practice](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-process-mapping/see-business-process-mapping-in-practice)
- [Agile Methodology: A Comprehensive Guide for Modern Project Management](https://www.salesforce.com/au/blog/complete-guide-to-agile-methodology/)
- [Optimize Customer Journey Workshops](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/journey-mapping/run-a-journey-mapping-workshop)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 26 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Business Analyst pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams