Define Scope is the process of developing a detailed description of the project and product.

 

The key benefit of this process is that it describes the product, service, or result boundaries by defining which of the requirements collected will be included in and excluded from the project scope.

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Since all of the requirements identified in Collect Requirements may not be included in the project, the Define Scope process selects the final project requirements from the requirements documentation delivered during the Collect Requirements process.

 

It then develops a detailed description of the project and product, service, or result.

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The preparation of a detailed project scope statement is critical to project success and builds upon the major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints that are documented during project initiation.

 

During project planning, the project scope is defined and described with greater specificity as more information about the project is known. Existing risks, assumptions, and constraints are analyzed for completeness and added or updated as necessary.

 

The Define Scope process can be highly iterative. In iterative life cycle projects, a high-level vision will be developed for the overall project, but the detailed scope is determined one iteration at a time and the detailed planning for the next iteration is carried out as work progresses on the current project scope and deliverables.