What process is essential for ensuring that stakeholder requirements meet the needs of the users?

The process that is essential for ensuring that stakeholder requirements meet the needs of the users is validation. Validation is the activity of determining whether the developed system or its components fulfill the intended use and meet the needs of the stakeholders and users. It focuses on confirming that the right product is being built, ensuring alignment with user requirements and stakeholder expectations.

During the validation phase, various strategies such as user testing, feedback sessions, and review meetings are employed to gather input from end-users and stakeholders. This helps confirm that the requirements not only reflect what the stakeholders have expressed but also effectively address the actual needs and desires of the ultimate users.

While verification checks if the system meets the specified requirements, it does not directly address whether those requirements are the right ones for the end-users. Analysis may help in understanding and defining requirements, and documentation is critical for maintaining clear records, but neither of these processes guarantees that the requirements truly align with user needs like validation does. Thus, the emphasis on validation in the context of stakeholder requirements and user needs is what makes it the correct answer.