A requirements management tool, where each requirement is defined by one or more design element values. Each of the design element values is a unique value and is a member of a group of design element values defined for the project. As each requirement is created, the design element values for the requirement are selected from the group of design element values, or alternatively, a new design element value may be entered by a user, and the new design element value will be added to the group of element values. Each design element value corresponds to a category that each of the requirements are broken down into. Design element values in the created requirement are compared to design element values in existing requirements, and results of this duplication check are presented to a user of the requirements management tool.