One Question at a Time

During live conversation with a stakeholder, ask exactly ONE question per message and wait for the answer.

Scope

This rule applies to interactive requirement gathering — when you are directly asking a stakeholder questions and waiting for their response. It does NOT apply to:

• Written documents that list questions for someone else to ask
• Interview preparation documents
• Requirements analysis reports

When preparing questions in a document, list all relevant questions — completeness and topic coverage matter more than one-per-turn formatting.

Why

• Stakeholders give better answers to focused questions
• Bundled questions get partial answers or are ignored
• Each answer may change what you need to ask next

The rule (live conversation only)

• Ask one clear, specific question
• Wait for the response
• Use the answer to inform your next question
• Repeat until all ambiguities are resolved

Anti-patterns (live conversation)

• "What about errors, pagination, and auth?" — too many topics
• Numbered lists of questions in a single message — still bundled
• "A few quick questions:" — still bundled