Overview
Categories are custom groupings that help you organize requirements by functional area, feature, or module. They provide a simpler way to relate requirements than complex dependency tracking.
What Are Categories?
Categories are user-defined labels that group related requirements together:
Customizable - You create categories that match your project structure
Reusable - Categories can be used across multiple projects
Flat structure - No nesting or hierarchy (categories can't contain other categories)
One per requirement - Each requirement belongs to only one category
Example Categories
Typical category structures by project type:
For CRM Implementation:
Contacts & Accounts
Opportunity Management
Reporting & Analytics
Email Integration
For E-commerce Platform:
Product Catalog
Shopping Cart
Payment Processing
Order Management
Customer Accounts
For Data Migration:
Data Extraction
Data Transformation
Data Loading
Data Validation
Rollback Procedures
Creating Categories
During Project Creation
When creating a new project, you can:
Choose existing categories from previous projects to apply to this one
Create new categories specific to this project
Skip categories and add them later
Adding Categories to Existing Projects
Go to your project
Navigate to Categories tab
Click Add New Category
Select from existing categories and click Add Selected, OR
Enter category name and description (you can create multiple)
Adding Categories from the Categories Navigation Tab
There's also a Categories tab in the main navigation:
Click Categories in main navigation
View all categories across all projects
Create new categories here
These categories are available for use in any project
Using Categories
Assigning Requirements to Categories
Bulk assignment:
Click the Add Requirements to Categories button on the project dashboard, Requirements tab, or Categories tab
AI will assign each requirement to existing categories
Review unassigned requirements on the Requirements list view, sorted by Category
Individual assignment:
Open the requirement
Edit the Category field
Choose a category from the dropdown
Save
Viewing Requirements by Category
In the Categories view:
Go to Categories tab in your project
Click on View Details within a category
See all requirements in that category
View category-specific insights on the Score Insights tab
In the Requirements table:
Filter by Category to see requirements in one or more categories
Sort by Category to group related requirements together
Category-Specific Features
Conflict Detection: When viewing a category, you see only the conflicts between requirements in that category, not all project conflicts. This makes it easier to:
Focus on issues within a functional area
Resolve related contradictions together
Hand off clean categories to different development teams
Jira Integration: You can select multiple requirements within a category and send them to Jira together, making it easy to:
Send an entire feature area to Jira at once
Organize Jira epics by Glossa categories
Plan sprints by functional category
Managing Categories
Editing Categories
To edit a category:
Navigate to the category
Click the pencil icon on the top right corner
Modify the name or description
Save changes
Impact: Changes affect all requirements using this category across all projects.
Reusing Categories Across Projects
Categories you create are automatically available in all projects in your organization:
Benefits:
Consistent organization across similar projects
Save time by not recreating categories
Standard categorization for reporting across projects
Considerations:
All team members see all categories when categorizing requirements
Keep category names clear to avoid confusion
Delete unused categories to reduce clutter
Example: If you create categories for a Salesforce implementation, those same categories are available when creating your next Salesforce project.
Categories vs. Other Organization Methods
Categories vs. Requirement Types
Categories (user-defined, organizational):
Functional area or feature grouping
Examples: "Contact Management", "Reporting"
Flexible, project-specific
Used for organizing work
Types (system-defined, classification):
Kind of requirement
Options: Functional, Non-functional, Security, Compliance
Fixed list, same across all projects
Used for quality and analysis
You should use both: Type tells you what kind of requirement it is; Category tells you which part of the system it relates to.
Categories vs. Dependencies
Glossa does not support explicit requirement dependencies (Requirement A depends on Requirement B).
Use categories instead:
Group related requirements in the same category
Implementation order can be managed in your development tools
Reduces complexity compared to dependency tracking
Best Practices
Creating Categories
Start with requirements, not categories:
Generate requirements from your first batch of files
Review what kinds of requirements emerged
Create or add categories based on natural groupings you see
This prevents creating categories you don't actually need.
Use functional groupings:
Organize by user-facing features or modules
"Contact Management" not "Requirements 1-50"
"Payment Processing" not "Backend Stuff"
Keep it simple:
5-15 categories is typical for most projects
Too few categories (2-3) don't provide enough organization
Too many categories (30+) become overwhelming
Be consistent:
Use similar category structures across similar projects
Match category names to how stakeholders describe the system
Align with existing architecture or module names when possible
Organizing Requirements
Assign categories immediately:
Review requirement categories as you review requirements
Don't leave requirements uncategorized indefinitely
Automatically categorize new requirements after each file upload
Use categories for workflow:
Assign categories to different team members or vendors
Review and approve requirements category by category
Send categories to Jira as they're ready
Team Collaboration
Agree on category structure early:
Get team and stakeholder input on categories
Document what belongs in each category
Create a category definition guide for large teams
Use categories in status updates:
"Contact Management is 80% approved"
"All Payment Processing requirements sent to Jira"
"Still resolving conflicts in Reporting category"
Common Category Structures
By Functional Area
Most common approach:
Groups requirements by what they do
Maps to user-facing features
Easy for stakeholders to understand
Example: User Management, Reporting, Integrations, Mobile App, Admin Tools
By System Component
For technical teams:
Groups by architectural component
Useful for complex systems
Aligns with development team structure
Example: Frontend UI, Backend API, Database, Integration Layer, Infrastructure
By User Role
For user-centric systems:
Groups by who uses the feature
Useful when different roles have distinct needs
Good for complex permission systems
Example: Administrator Functions, End User Features, Manager Tools, API Consumers
By Project Phase
For large, phased projects:
Groups by when features will be built
Useful for long projects with clear phases
Helps with release planning
Example: Phase 1 - Core Features, Phase 2 - Integrations, Phase 3 - Advanced Features
Hybrid Approaches
Combine methods as needed:
"Phase 1 - User Management"
"Mobile - Contact Management"
"Admin - Reporting"
Tip: Keep it as simple as possible—complex category schemes become hard to maintain.
Troubleshooting
I can't assign a requirement to multiple categories
This is by design. Each requirement can only have one category.
Solution:
Choose the primary category for the requirement
If a requirement truly spans multiple categories, consider if it should be split into separate requirements
Use tags or labels in requirement descriptions for secondary categorization
My category list is cluttered with old categories
Because categories are reused across projects, old categories persist.
Solution:
Delete unused categories to clean up the list
Rename categories to be more specific ("Q4 2024 - Reporting" vs just "Reporting")
Be selective about creating new categories
Requirements aren't showing up in my category
Check:
Are there requirements actually assigned to that category? (Open it and verify)
Are you viewing the right project?
Try refreshing the page
I want subcategories or nested categories
Glossa doesn't support nested categories (categories within categories), but this is on the roadmap.
Alternatives:
Use naming conventions: "Reporting - Dashboards", "Reporting - Exports"
Create more granular top-level categories
Use requirement descriptions to note sub-groupings