Requirements Engineering Framework Research Articles

A Framework for Agile Requirements Engineering in Large-Scale Projects

A Framework for Agile Requirements Engineering in Large-Scale Projects

Sustaining human health: A requirements engineering perspective

In our current day and age, Earth suffers under the human ecological footprint, which influences our health and well-being. Technological solutions, including software-related ones, may help tackle these concerns for humanity. However, the development of such solutions requires special attention and effort to overcome human, public, and social barriers that might prevent them from being effective. The Requirements Engineering for Well-Being, Aging, and Health (REWBAH) workshop gathering in 2021 focused on addressing the challenge of how Requirements Engineering (RE) knowledge and practices can be applied to the development of information systems that support and promote long-lasting, sustained, and healthier behavior and choices by individuals. An interactive discussion among subject matter experts and practitioners participating in the REWBAH’21 revolved around several questions. In a subsequent qualitative analysis, the emerging themes were arranged in the sustainable-health RE (SusHeRE) framework to describe RE processes that address both sustainability and health goals. In this vision paper, we present our framework, which includes four main SusHeRE goals defined according to the changes in RE that we deem necessary for achieving a positive contribution of RE on sustainability and health. These goals involve improved RE Techniques, Multidisciplinary Expertise, Education Agenda, and Public and Social Ecology.

Provenance-Based Trust-Aware Requirements Engineering Framework for Self-Adaptive Systems

With the development of artificial intelligence technology, systems that can actively adapt to their surroundings and cooperate with other systems have become increasingly important. One of the most important factors to consider during the process of cooperation among systems is trust. Trust is a social concept that assumes that cooperation with an object will produce positive results in the direction we intend. Our objectives are to propose a method for defining trust during the requirements engineering phase in the process of developing self-adaptive systems and to define the trust evidence models required to evaluate the defined trust at runtime. To achieve this objective, we propose in this study a provenance-based trust-aware requirement engineering framework for self-adaptive systems. The framework helps system engineers derive the user’s requirements as a trust-aware goal model through analysis of the trust concept in the requirements engineering process. We also propose a provenance-based trust evidence model to evaluate trust and provide a method for defining this model for the target domain. Through the proposed framework, a system engineer can treat trust as a factor emerging from the requirements engineering phase for the self-adaptive system and understand the factors affecting trust using the standardized format.

A Freelancer-Supported Requirement Engineering Framework for Software Start-Ups

Resource-constrained start-up communities, faced with higher market failures, can take advantage of freelancers as useful resources in requirement engineering activities. This article proposes a framework that provides multiple criteria, which could help start-ups strategically select freelancers.

A Timeline Optimization Approach of Green Requirement Engineering Framework for Efficient Categorized Natural Language Documents in Non-Functional Requirements

The system's functional requirements (FR) and non-functional requirements (NFR) are derived from the software requirements specification (SRS). The requirement specification is challenging in classification process of FR and NFR requirements. To overcome these issues, the work contains various significant contributions towards SRS, such as green requirements engineering (GRE), to achieve the natural language processing, requirement specification, extraction, classification, requirement specification, feature selection, and testing the quality attributes improvement of NFRs. In addition to this, the test pad-based quality study to determine accuracy, quality, and condition providence to the classification of non-functional requirements (NFR) is also carried out. The resulted classification accuracy was implemented in the MATLAB R2014; the resulted graphical record shows the efficient non-functional requirements (NFR) classification with green requirements engineering (GRE) framework.

A Requirement Engineering Framework for Electric Motors Development

The applications using electric motors have increased in the last decade. Some of these applications encounter the need for tailor-made motors that must meet demanding requirements. Therefore, the specification stage of an electric motor is a critical part of its development. If this stage is properly addressed, then future failures in the development process can be avoided. This paper presents a requirement engineering framework to support small-medium electric motors designers/manufacturers with the development of their product. The framework identifies the stakeholders and the tasks that they should undertake to finish a successful requirements specification stage. The framework is made from the designer/manufacturer’s perspective and it emphasizes the derivation of specialized requirements (lower-level). The result of the framework is well-defined requirements that form the design requirements specification of the motor that leads to the beginning of the design stage.

Runtime Reasoning of Requirements for Self-Adaptive Systems Using AI Planning Techniques

Over the years, the domain of Self-Adaptive Systems (SAS) has gained significant importance in software engineering community. Such SAS must ensure high customizability and at the same time effective reasoning to meet their objectives by meeting end-user goals more effectively and efficiently. In this context, techniques related to Automated Planning have acquired substantial precedence owing to their adaptability to diverse scenarios based upon their enhanced knowledge extraction from available Knowledge Base. These AI planning techniques help in supporting self-adaptation mechanism of SAS. We have investigated these techniques to perform runtime reasoning of SAS requirements. This paper proposes an architecture for implementing the reasoning component of previously proposed Continuous Adaptive Requirement Engineering (CARE) framework. The proposed architecture has been experimentally verified by implementation of a prototype application using JSHOP2 (Java implementation of SHOP2, an HTN Planner).

Proposing a new requirements engineering framework for m-learning applications

Recently, mobile learning applications (m-learning apps) are gaining high popularity all over the world. For the development of effective and successful M-learning Apps, it is important to engineer high quality requirements used for mobile devices as learning tools. A great challenge to improve teaching, learning and education is to make it more interesting and collaborative environments. Mobile Technology can make it more motivated, enjoyable and pleasurable. However, there are two components need to be considered, which are: Technology Infrastructure and Learning Content. So, there is a need to discover an appropriate way to engineer requirements according to users' needs and preferences. The main objective of this research is to propose appropriate Requirements Engineering (RE) framework that suits M-learning Apps capabilities to engineer proper requirements. That is expected to guide the developers for a successful RE process of M-learning Apps. Finally, it defines the interaction process between the proposed framework components.

High Perceived-Value Requirements Engineering Practices for Outsourced Software Projects

This paper identifies high perceived-value requirements engineering (RE) practices specifically for outsourced software development projects. This is part of a study that aims to develop a framework for critical requirements engineering (RE) practices for outsourced software development projects. We used a survey questionnaire as the primary approach to collect data from 193 software development practitioners from 62 companies in Malaysia. The practitioners were asked to identify which RE practices, out of the 66 practices of Sommerville’s framework, are considered critical for outsourced projects. Specifically, the practitioners were asked to assess and categorize the practices into four categories: high, medium, low and zero value. Only two RE practices were assigned a ‘high value’ by the practitioners and another 26 practices were assigned a ‘medium’ value. The findings show that there is an increased awareness of the importance of RE practices among Malaysian practitioners because only a very low percentage of the respondents selected most of the practices as zeroor low-value practices. Secondly, all the 28 practices ranked as ‘high’ and ‘medium’ value practices are critical and should be given high emphasis in the outsourced projects. Moreover, due to the many more specific characteristics of outsourced projects, the study also implies that there is an urgent need to identify other RE practices or other related software engineering practices that are critical for outsourced projects but that have not been captured within Sommerville’s framework.

Requirements communication and balancing in large-scale software-intensive product development

ContextSeveral industries developing products on a large-scale are facing major challenges as their products are becoming more and more software-intensive. Whereas software was once considered a detail to be bundled, it has since become an intricate and interdependent part of most products. The advancement of software increases the uncertainty and the interdependencies between development tasks and artifacts. A key success factor is good requirements engineering (RE), and in particular, the challenges of effectively and efficiently coordinating and communicating requirements. ObjectiveIn this work we present a lightweight RE framework and demonstrate and evaluate its industrial applicability in response to the needs of a Swedish automotive company for improving specific problems in inter-departmental requirements coordination and communication in large-scale development of software-intensive systems. MethodA case study approach and a dynamic validation were used to develop and evaluate the framework in close collaboration with our industrial partner, involving three real-life cases in an ongoing car project. Experience and feedback were collected through observations when applying the framework and from 10 senior industry professionals in a questionnaire and in-depth follow-up interviews. ResultsThe experience and feedback about using the framework revealed that it is relevant and applicable for the industry as well as a useful and efficient way to resolve real problems in coordinating and communicating requirements identified at the case company. However, other concerns, such as accessibility to necessary resources and competences in the early development phases, were identified when using the method, which allowed for earlier pre-emptive action to be taken. ConclusionOverall, the experience from using the framework and the positive feedback from industry professionals indicated a feasible framework that is applicable in the industry for improving problems related to coordination and communication of requirements. Based on the promising results, our industrial partner has decided upon further validations of the framework in a large-scale pilot program.

FreGsd: A Framework for Global Software Requirement Engineering

Software development nowadays is more and more using global ways of development instead of normal development environment where development occurs in one location. This paper is aimed to propose a requirement engineering framework to support Global Software Development environment with regards to all requirement engineering activities from elicitation to finally managing requirement change. Global software environment is more and more gaining better reputation in software development with better quality is resulting from developing in this environment yet with lower cost. However, failure rate developing in this environment is high due to inappropriate requirement development and management. This paper will add to the software engineering development environments discipline and many developers in GSD will benefit from it.

KBRE: a framework for knowledge-based requirements engineering

Detecting inconsistencies is a critical part of requirements engineering (RE) and has been a topic of interest for several decades. Domain knowledge and semantics of requirements not only play important roles in elaborating requirements but are also a crucial way to detect conflicts among them. In this paper, we present a novel knowledge-based RE framework (KBRE) in which domain knowledge and semantics of requirements are central to elaboration, structuring, and management of captured requirements. Moreover, we also show how they facilitate the identification of requirements inconsistencies and other-related problems. In our KBRE model, description logic (DL) is used as the fundamental logical system for requirements analysis and reasoning. In addition, the application of DL in the form of Manchester OWL Syntax brings simplicity to the formalization of requirements while preserving sufficient expressive power. A tool has been developed and applied to an industrial use case to validate our approach.

Eliciting and prioritizing quality requirements supported by ontologies: a case study using the ElicitO framework and tool

AbstractAs software complexity grows and clients demand higher quality software, quality requirements can no longer be considered to be of secondary importance. Thus, eliciting, specifying, prioritizing and validating quality requirements is a prerequisite to the development of effective and efficient information systems. Despite the critical importance of quality requirements, there is a considerable gap in the breadth and depth of quality requirements engineering (RE) support in most RE approaches. In practice, it is often the case to have quality requirements considered as an afterthought in the systems development process. While there is a wealth of modelling techniques and tools for functional requirements, there is very limited support for quality requirements in RE. Support for quality requirements is usually ad‐hoc, without clear guidelines on how to capture, specify and manage quality requirements and also without proper usage of standardized terminologies based on established quality models such as the ISO/IEC 9126 quality model. In this paper, we discuss a quality‐driven RE framework and tool that applies knowledge management techniques and quality ontologies to support RE activities. The ontology implements the quality characteristics and metrics prescribed by the ISO/9126 quality model, providing a common vocabulary to address quality concerns/aspects across RE activities. We empirically validate how the framework and tool can be used to effectively support the requirements elicitation and prioritization activities through a case study addressing the development of an intranet portal project at the University of Manchester.

Description of a process development methodology

AbstractThe creation of a development process is a challenging task. The most‐widely published process models, such as the Waterfall model, are very generic, and their application and customization to a specific problem domain requires major effort. Additionally, their refinement into fine‐grained process steps demands a lot of dedicated work. There is definitely a lack of aid for the customization of processes to specific domains and projects. This article first reviews a generic framework for Requirements Engineering (RE) as well as a domain‐specific framework. It then outlines a methodology and tool called (Process Development Assistant) PDA that helps the process engineer develop a process model in an iterative manner. The methodology requires as input from the developer items of major concern, constraints and priorities specific to a certain domain and a particular project. It uses mathematical definitions to generate an initial process model that is then iteratively refined using the feedback of the process designer. The PDA methodology and tool can also be used for more general systems engineering process modeling. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A goal-driven and agent-based requirements engineering framework*

The paper presents a requirements engineering framework (REF), where advanced requirements engineering techniques are combined with software quality modelling approaches to provide an environment within which the stakeholders and the analysts can easily cooperate to discover, organise, reconcile and validate the requirements for a new system. By adopting a basic and essential graphical notation, and a clear top-down methodology, REF allows for an effective involvement of the stakeholders, assisting and driving them to an early definition of the desired system's functionalities and quality attributes, while supporting the redesign of the encompassing organisational context to better exploit the new system's capabilities. As a case study, REF is applied to support the requirements engineering process for a complex software-intensive simulation system. Results demonstrate the feasibility of REF and the benefits it offers to the requirements engineering process, but also to the subsequent system development phases. As illustrated through the case study REF can, in fact, be usefully applied as a forerunner for unified modelling language (UML)-based approaches.

Requirements Engineering-Based Conceptual Modelling

The software production process involves a set of phases where a clear relationship and smooth transitions between them should be introduced. In this paper, a requirements engineering-based conceptual modelling approach is introduced as a way to improve the quality of the software production process. The aim of this approach is to provide a set of techniques and methods to capture software requirements and to provide a way to move from requirements to a conceptual schema in a traceable way. The approach combines a framework for requirements engineering (TRADE) and a graphical object-oriented method for conceptual modelling and code generation (OO-Method). The intended improvement of the software production process is accomplished by providing a precise methodological guidance to go from the user requirements (represented through the use of the appropriate TRADE techniques) to the conceptual schema that properly represents them (according to the conceptual constructs provided by the OO-Method). Additionally, as the OO-Method provides full model-based code generation features, this combination minimises the time dedicated to obtaining the final software product.

Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering: A Unifying Framework

The study of contemporary requirements engineering (RE) methodologies indicates that modelling of organisational goals constitutes a central activity of the RE process. In particular, goals provide the rationale and drivethe elaboration of the requirements that operationalise them. They also provide the criteria against which the completeness and correctness of the requirements specification is validated. In other words, requirements implement goals in the same way that programs implement design specifications. Despite the significance of goals in RE, research in the field is fragmented. No research has so far taken place in order to define the overall role that goals play in RE. This paper puts forward a unifying view of goal analysis in the context of RE. This allows the identification of similarities and differences between the different conceptions of goal used by different approaches and promotes the understanding of the overall role of goal analysis in RE. Based on this understanding the various approaches can be put together, thus leading to a stronger goal-driven RE framework that takes advantage of the contributions from the many streams of goal-oriented research.

The three dimensions of requirements engineering: A framework and its applications

There is an increasing number of contributions on how to solve the various problems within requirements engineering (RE). The purpose of this paper is to identify the main goals to be reached during the RE process in order to develop a framework for RE. This framework consists of three dimensions: • • the specification dimension • • the representation dimension • • the agreement dimension. We show how this framework can be used to classify and clarify current RE research as well as RE support offered by methods and tools. In addition, the framework can be applied to the analysis of existing RE practise and the establishment of suitable process guidance. Last but not least, the framework offers a first step towards a common understanding of RE.