The challenges of requirements engineering in mobile telephones industry

Requirements engineering ranks as one of the most difficult and error-prone phases in the life cycle of devices such as mobile telephones. It is of critical importance because of the highly dynamic market and the constant evolution of product features. If carried out properly, it shortens development time and allows to build products that respond to the market needs. However, it is too often regarded as useless and overly time-consuming. An outlook on the state of practice allows to identify space for improvement of the requirements engineering process (REP). I propose three main challenges that stand on the way towards an optimal requirements engineering practice in our sector. A higher degree of co-operation between the industry and the research world is essential in order to achieve success in this informal yet critical phase of product development.