I’m trying to figure out if Jira is a good tool for tracking requirements. Our team uses it for dev and support tickets, but I’m not sure if we’re using it right for requirements management.
Right now, it looks like team members are creating all the tickets. This makes it seem like they’re the source of the requirements, which isn’t true. I don’t have admin access, so I can’t change how it’s set up.
Has anyone successfully used Jira for requirements traceability? What’s your setup like? Are there better ways to show where requirements actually come from?
I’d love to hear about your experiences or any tips you might have. Thanks!
I’ve been using Jira for requirements management for a few years now, and it can definitely work well if set up correctly. One approach that’s been successful for us is creating a separate project just for requirements. We use epics to represent high-level requirements, then break those down into user stories and tasks.
To address the traceability issue, we’ve started using custom fields to indicate the source of each requirement (e.g., stakeholder, regulatory body, market research). This helps clarify where requirements originate from.
Another helpful practice is linking related issues across projects. So a requirement in the requirements project can be linked to the corresponding development tickets in the main project.
It does take some initial setup and probably requires admin access to configure properly. If you can’t get that, you might consider using a requirements-specific tool that integrates with Jira, like Confluence or ReqSuite.
Overall, Jira can work for requirements management, but it needs thoughtful configuration to be truly effective.
Jira can be a powerful tool for requirements management, but it does require proper configuration. In my experience, the key is to establish a clear hierarchy and workflow. We use a dedicated project for requirements, with epics representing major features or objectives. User stories then break these down into manageable chunks.
To address traceability, we’ve implemented a custom field for ‘Requirement Source’ and make it mandatory. This ensures every ticket has a clear origin. We also use the ‘Issue Links’ feature extensively to connect related items across projects and show dependencies.
One challenge we faced was keeping requirements separate from implementation details. We solved this by using Jira’s ‘Components’ feature to categorize requirements by business area or system module. This helps maintain a clean, organized structure.
While Jira isn’t perfect for requirements management, with some creativity and discipline, it can be quite effective. The biggest advantage is having everything in one system, which improves visibility and collaboration across teams.
jira can work for requirements but u gotta set it up right. we use a seperate project for requirements and link em to dev tickets. custom fields help show where requirements come from. might need admin access tho. if u cant get that, maybe look at other tools that work with jira?