Determining interdependency among non-functional requirements to reduce conflict

Abstract

Dependency among non-functional requirements (NFRs) is one of the major issues to handle for delivering quality software. These dependency relations are the reasons of conflict, though there are also relations where one NFR help to ensure another NFR. Interdependence relations, not treated from the beginning of a software development, may cause requirement dismissal in the later phases of development. To solve those issues, interdependencies among NFRs have been determined. A framework has been proposed to deal with interdependent NFRs from the early stages of development project. The proposed NFR interdependency framework keeps the NFRs with the functional requirements they are associated with which helps to design the system without leaving the NFRs for later stages of development. A case study is done with the proposed framework. Dealing the interdependence relation among NFRs using the framework reduces the chance of conflict and help to design the software with better management of NFRs.