IBM Software Group
Non-Functional Requirements
Peter Eeles [Link]@[Link]
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Agenda
Definitions Types of requirement Classifying requirements Capturing NFRs Summary
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Definitions
Functional Requirement
Functional requirements describe the behaviors (functions or services) of the system that support user goals, tasks or activities. [Malan]
Non-Functional Requirement
Non-functional requirements include constraints and qualities. [Malan] [System] qualities are properties or characteristics of the system that its stakeholders care about and hence will affect their degree of satisfaction with the system. [Malan] A constraint is a restriction on the degree of freedom we have in providing a solution. [Leffingwell]
[Leffingwell] Managing Software Requirements a Unified Approach, Dean Leffingwell and Don Widrig. [Malan] Defining Non-Functional Requirements, Ruth Malan and Dana Bredemeyer.
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Agenda
Definitions Types of requirement Classifying requirements Capturing NFRs Summary
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Types of Requirement
Use Cases
Defines the behavior of the system from an external perspective
System-Wide Requirements
Legal and regulatory requirements, application standards, qualities that the system exhibits (such as usability, reliability, scalability, performance), operating system and environment requirements, compatibility requirements, and other design and implementation constraints
Change Cases
Likely future changes to either the system, in terms of its capabilities and properties, or its environment. Although such changes may not be accommodated in the initial release of the system, they may impact future releases, and therefore the architecture
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Examples of Requirements
The product will support multiple human languages The persistence will be handled by a relational database The database will be Oracle 8i The system will run 7 days a week, 24 hours a day An online help system is required All presentation logic will be written in Visual Basic
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Agenda
Definitions Types of requirement Classifying requirements Capturing NFRs Summary
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Classifying Requirements
FURPS
Functionality Usability Reliability Performance Supportability
Functional requirements
+
Design requirements Implementation requirements Interface requirements Physical requirements
*The FURPS classification was devised by Robert Grady at Hewlett-Packard
Non -functional requirements Non-functional
IBM Software Group | Rational software
FURPS+ - Functionality
All functional requirements Usually represent main product features
E.g. Order Processing requirements
Can also be architecturally significant
Auditing, Licensing, Localization, Mail, Online help, Printing, Reporting, Security, System management, Workflow
IBM Software Group | Rational software
FURPS+
Usability
User interface issues such as accessibility, aesthetics and consistency
Reliability
Availability, accuracy, recoverability
Performance
Throughput, response time, recovery time, start-up time
Supportability
Testability, adaptability, maintainability, compatibility, configurability, installability, scalability and localizability
IBM Software Group | Rational software
FURPS+
Design requirement
Constrains the design E.g. a relational database is required
Implementation requirement
Constrains the coding or construction E.g. required standards, platform or implementation language
Interface requirement
A requirement to interact with an external item
Physical requirement
A physical constraint imposed on the hardware used to house the system; for example, shape, size and weight
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Classifying Requirements
The product will support multiple human languages
is a supportability requirement
The persistence will be handled by a relational database
is a design requirement
The database will be Oracle 8i
is an implementation requirement
The system will run 7 days a week, 24 hours a day
is a reliability requirement
An online help system is required
is a functional requirement
All presentation logic will be written in Visual Basic
is an implementation requirement
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Agenda
Definitions Types of requirement Classifying requirements Capturing NFRs Summary
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Architectural mechanisms
Analysis Mechanism Design Mechanism RDBMS Persistence OODBMS Implementation Mechanism Oracle Ingres ObjectStore Orbix VisiBroker MSMQ MQSeries
Object Request Broker Communication Message Queue
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Analysis mechanisms
Auditing Communication Debugging Error management Event management File management Graphics Information exchange Licensing Localization Mail Mega-data Memory management Meta-data Online help Persistence Printing Process management Reporting Resource management Scheduling Security System management Time Transaction management Workflow
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Requirements and mechanisms
Requirements FURPS requirements Analysis influence Design Implementation
Analysis mechanisms Design requirements Implementation requirements influence
are refined into
Design mechanisms
are refined into
influence
Implementation mechanisms
IBM Software Group | Rational software
The NFR dichotomy
NFRs are difficult to gather
Domain-specific requirements typically more visible NFRs are unfamiliar to stakeholders Few techniques for gathering NFRs
Yet NFRs drive the foundations of our system (the architecture)
Often relevant in a system-wide context Can be more significant than domain-specific requirements Consider the availability (up time) of a life support machine
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Eliciting NFRs
1. Maintain a complete list of NFRs 2. For each NFR, formulate one or more questions 3. Give visibility of the impact of answering a question one way or another 4. Capture the responses to each of the questions 5. Give each NFR a priority or weighting
IBM Software Group | Rational software
The NFR questionnaire
NFR Questions
Are there any requirements regarding system "up time"? This may be specified in terms of Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
Impact
The higher the availability, the longer the time to market.
Answers
Availability is a key product feature. The product must have a MTBF of 60 days.
Priority
Availability
High
IBM Software Group | Rational software
The questionnaire and RUP
Requirements workflow
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Activity - Elicit stakeholder requests
Elicit Elicit Stakeholder Stakeholder Requests Requests RequisitePro Word
NFR questionnaire
Stakeholder requests
Includes Includes completed completed questionnaire questionnaire
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Activity - Elicit stakeholder requests
NFR questionnaire in RequisitePro
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Activity - Find actors and use cases
Elicit Elicit Stakeholder Stakeholder Requests Requests RequisitePro Word
Find Find Actors Actors And And Use Use Cases Cases Rose Word
NFR questionnaire
Stakeholder requests
Use case model Supplementary specification
Includes Includes completed completed questionnaire questionnaire
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Activity - Find actors and use cases
Supplementary Supplementary Specification Specification Use-Case Use-Case Model Model
Use-Case Use-Case Specification Specification
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Activity - Manage dependencies
Elicit Elicit Stakeholder Stakeholder Requests Requests RequisitePro Word
Find Find Actors Actors And And Use Use Cases Cases Rose Word
Manage Manage Dependencies Dependencies RequisitePro
NFR questionnaire
Stakeholder requests
Use case model Supplementary specification
Requirements attributes
Includes Includes completed completed questionnaire questionnaire
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Activity - Manage dependencies
Specify requirements attributes in RequisitePro
E.g. risk, priority, stability
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Common pitfalls
The shopping cart mentality
Analyst: Stakeholder: Analyst: Stakeholder: Analyst: Stakeholder: "Does the product need support multiple human languages"? "That sounds good. We should plan to address foreign markets "And what about security?" "Oh yes, the product should be secure "Tell me about your reliability expectations" "Definitely 24 by 7 - no down time. That'll show our competitors
Ensure stakeholders understand the cost of their purchases
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Common pitfalls (2)
The NFR Questionnaire is technical
Ensure stakeholders understand the value of the questionnaire
All requirements are equal
Prioritize requirements
The requirement parking lot
Ensure that the requirements are used throughout development
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Common pitfalls (3)
Requirements are not measurable
Ensure that requirements are unambiguous and as measurable as possible
Lack of time
Constantly remind stakeholders of the importance of these requirements
Lack of ownership
Ensure that the System Analyst actively creates/tailors and understands the questionnaire
Talking to the wrong people
Identify the type of stakeholder responsible for answering each question
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Common pitfalls (4)
Requirements are too general
Be as specific as possible Scope Example
Due to the nature of our target markets, the system must be deployed in English, French, Chinese and Arabic. Any order that is processed can contain up to 10,000 items.
Location in a RUP artifact
Supplementary specification. Special requirements section in a use case specification. A flow of events section in a use case specification.
Most general
The system as a whole A use case as a whole
Most specific
A particular flow of events within a use case
If in the basic flow, the plane undercarriage fails to engage, then an alarm will be sent to the central monitoring station in less than one second.
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Realizing NFRs
Each realization is very NFR-dependent
Realizing availability is very different to realizing usability
Can represent an NFR as a UML class
Supported in RSA
Can represent an NFR Realization as a UML collaboration
Supported in RSA
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Summary
Requirements can be classified using FURPS+ Understanding the role of architectural mechanisms can help determine the questions to be asked An NFR Questionnaire can help ensure that requirement gathering is systematic Gathering stakeholder requests can be automated Avoid the common pitfalls!
