Why Software Engineering Lacks Consensus: Decoding Demand, Value, and Strategy

1. The Challenge of Consensus

Software engineering suffers from ambiguous natural‑language expressions, leading to misunderstandings among product, development, testing, and operations teams.

2. Three Core Domains

From requirement to code, three complex areas must be addressed: Requirement & Product Solution , Modeling , and Architecture Design .

3. The Three Brainheads

Technical staff need three perspectives: User Thinking (understanding the customer), Modeling Thinking (building domain models), and Architecture Thinking (designing systems).

4. Understanding Demand

Demand is not merely a market need; it is a function of technology, people, politics, economy, society, and culture. True demand equals recognition of reality, and can be broken down into increasingly specific descriptors (e.g., "eat cheap traditional Cantonese food").

5. Product Value

Value consists of user value (rational: price, convenience, durability; emotional: coolness, fun) and commercial value . User value is compared as new value – old value – switching cost. Misidentifying value leads to product failure.

6. User Experience

Defined as the minimal cost for a user to achieve their goal, user experience includes performance metrics (load speed, latency), UI design, and for physical goods, price is the core experience factor.

7. Strategy

Strategy is a scientific hypothesis—a set of choices that trade off alternatives. It encompasses market analysis, ecosystem (value chain) analysis, product/marketing tactics (STP, 4P, diffusion), core competencies, and business models.

8. ToC vs. ToB

Consumer‑oriented (ToC) products focus on user experience and emotional value, requiring deep insight into human nature. Business‑oriented (ToB) products prioritize commercial value and demand strong industry knowledge (e.g., retail, finance, compliance).

9. Software Engineering Streams

Two contrasting streams exist: the Classical School that seeks formalized, standardized artifacts (use cases, UML diagrams), and the Agile School that favors rapid iteration and minimal documentation.

10. Documentation Outputs

BRD (Business Requirement Document): strategy, market analysis, business value.

MRD (Market Requirement Document): target users, launch plan.

PRD (Product Requirement Document): features, UI/UX.

FSD (Functional Specification Document): technical details.

11. Role of Technical Staff in Requirements

Technical staff can either support product managers by challenging feasibility and spotting logical gaps, or act as technical product managers for platform products, where deep product thinking is essential.