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Requirements Refinement is the second phase of the Government Project Lifecycle. It’s where structured, traceable requirements are produced from raw inputs — whether those inputs are solicitation materials or a legacy system. The output of Phase 2 is a set of approved user stories, acceptance criteria, and supporting documentation that drives Phase 3: System Design.

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Why Phase 2 has two paths

  • Path A is for Business Analysts working from solicitation materials and discovery notes after contract award.
  • Path B is for government offices or contracted teams who need to reverse-engineer an existing legacy system before they can write requirements for its replacement — this is the primary entry point for the modernization scenario. Path B uses CAB (Common Application Blueprint) as its primary tool.

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Choose your path

Path A: Post-Award Requirements Development

You have a contract, discovery findings, and are developing requirements from solicitation materials and stakeholder input.

Path B: Legacy System Modernization (CAB)

You have a legacy system that needs to be understood before requirements can be written — you need to know what it does before you can define what its replacement should do.
Not sure which applies? If you’re writing requirements from a contract and discovery materials, use Path A. If you’re starting from an existing system that needs to be understood first, use Path B.