Gap Analysis Worksheet

Gap Analysis Worksheet

Analyzes an initial requirements document for gaps, ambiguities, and missing information. Produces gap-analysis-worksheet.md — a structured worksheet for a business analyst to complete before proceeding to /business-requirements-interview.

Purpose

Initial requirements from stakeholders typically contain:

• Vague or ambiguous statements
• Missing personas or user types
• Undefined scope boundaries
• Unstated assumptions
• Missing non-functional requirements
• Undefined success criteria

This skill surfaces those gaps as targeted questions, ensuring the formal requirements interview builds on validated, complete inputs.

Prerequisites

• An initial requirements document in any format: plain text, Markdown, YAML, PDF summary, meeting notes, product brief, or similar

Usage

/gap-analysis-worksheet path/to/requirements [base-directory]

If no base directory is provided, auto-detect by looking for requirements/ folder in the current directory.

If not found, prompt the user: "Where should I create the gap analysis worksheet?"

Wait for the user to provide a path before proceeding. Store as base_directory.

Process

Step 1: Load & Read the Requirements

Read the input document in full. Identify all stated requirements, goals, personas, constraints, and assumptions.

Step 2: Analyze for Gaps by Category

For each category below, scan the document and identify gaps. A gap is any of:

• Missing — Information that should be present but isn't stated at all
• Ambiguous — A statement that could be interpreted multiple ways
• Incomplete — A requirement that is only partially specified
• Contradictory — Statements that conflict with each other
• Assumed — Something implied but never explicitly stated

Gap Categories (evaluate all eleven):

1. Problem & Goals — Is the core problem clearly defined? Are goals specific and measurable?
2. Personas & Users — Are all user types identified? Are their needs and pain points described?
3. Scope — What is explicitly in scope vs. out of scope? Where are the boundaries?
4. Functional Requirements — Are all features described with enough detail to build? Are edge cases addressed?
5. Non-Functional Requirements — Performance, security, scalability, accessibility, reliability expectations?
6. Success Criteria — How will success be measured? What does "done" look like?
7. Assumptions — What is being assumed but not stated? What dependencies are implied?
8. Constraints — Technical, timeline, budget, regulatory, or team constraints?
9. Dependencies & Integrations — External systems, APIs, third-party services, or team dependencies?
10. Risks — What could go wrong? Are any mitigation strategies needed?
11. UI/UX Implications — Does the project involve user-facing interfaces? Are all screens/pages identified? Are interaction patterns described? Are accessibility requirements stated? Is there a design system or component library? Are responsive/mobile considerations addressed? When gaps are found, add recommendation: "UI work detected — wireframe planning will be triggered after implementation planning (Step 6)."

Skip any category that has no gaps — do not include empty sections in the output.

Step 3: Write gap-analysis-worksheet.md

Write {base_directory}/requirements/gap-analysis-worksheet.md.

Create directory if it doesn't exist:

mkdir -p {base_directory}/requirements

Output Format

Write {base_directory}/requirements/gap-analysis-worksheet.md.

The output is a Markdown document with a header (document path, generated date, status, total gaps) followed by sections for each gap category. Each gap includes a requirement snippet, a specific question, and an answer field.

See references/output-spec.md for the complete document specification with all categories, gap structure, and validation rules.

See references/example.yaml for a full example.

Writing Good Gap Questions

Be specific — Reference the exact requirement or missing area.

Good: What is the maximum file size a user can upload? Bad: Are there any limits?

Be answerable — The business analyst should be able to respond with a concrete answer.

Good: Should unauthenticated users be able to view public workflows, or is login required for all access? Bad: What about authentication?

One gap per question — Do not combine multiple gaps into one question.

Good: What should happen when a workflow task fails — should the entire workflow stop, or continue with remaining tasks? Bad: What should happen with errors and timeouts and retries?

Prioritize critical gaps — Questions about core functionality, personas, and scope come before nice-to-have clarifications.

Requirement Snippet Guidelines

• Use a direct quote from the document when possible — keep it under 15 words
• If the gap is about something entirely missing, use: "Not addressed in requirements"
• If the gap applies to a whole section rather than a specific line, reference the section: "[Goals section]"

Example Output

See references/example.yaml for a complete sample based on the spec example input.

Self-Review

After generating the worksheet, perform the following checks and output a brief summary inline.

Checks

• All 11 categories were evaluated (skipped categories had no gaps worth capturing)
• Every question is specific and answerable by a business analyst
• No two questions address the same gap
• Critical gaps (scope, personas, core functionality) are listed first within their category
• Requirement snippets accurately reflect the source document
• No category with real gaps was omitted

Inline Summary

## Worksheet Summary

**Input:** [requirements file]
**Output:** gap-analysis-worksheet.md
**Total Gaps Found:** [n]

By Category:
  Problem & Goals:              [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Personas & Users:             [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Scope:                        [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Functional Requirements:      [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Non-Functional Requirements:  [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Success Criteria:             [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Assumptions:                  [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Constraints:                  [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Dependencies & Integrations:  [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  Risks:                        [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
  UI/UX Implications:           [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]

Next step → Complete the worksheet, then run:
  /business-requirements-interview