What is the purpose of tracking traceability during the elicitation phase?

Tracking traceability during the elicitation phase serves the purpose of determining the origin of the requirement for future changes. This practice is essential because it allows stakeholders to connect requirements back to their sources, such as customer needs, business objectives, or regulatory demands. By understanding where each requirement comes from, teams can ensure that any future modifications or enhancements to the project can be managed effectively, aligning them with the original intent and context of those requirements. This traceability also helps in prioritization and impact analysis when changes are proposed, ensuring that the project remains aligned with its goals over time.

In contrast to this, while understanding the source of requirements for user acceptance testing or verifying the validity of requirements is important, these are not the primary objectives of tracking traceability during the elicitation phase. The need to know who should pay for implementing a requirement also does not align with the overarching aim of ensuring future flexibility and alignment with the original purpose of the requirements.