What are some common non-functional requirements pitfalls and how to avoid them?

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Non-functional requirements (NFRs) are the criteria that define how a system should perform, rather than what it should do. They are often overlooked or poorly defined in technical solution design, leading to various pitfalls that can compromise the quality, security, usability, and reliability of the system. In this article, we will explore some of the common NFRs pitfalls and how to avoid them.

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Edwin Harris II

Senior Software Developer @ Florida DCF | Azure Developer Associate
Roland Bühler

Berater für Organisationsentwicklung, Prozessoptimierung und Digitalisierung
Andrew Wright PhD ChPP

Mentoring both SME owners and senior leaders corporates, designing and delivering business effectiveness and…

1 Lack of clarity and specificity

One of the main challenges of NFRs is to express them clearly and specifically, so that they can be measured and verified. Vague or ambiguous NFRs can lead to misunderstandings, conflicts, and unrealistic expectations among stakeholders, developers, and testers. For example, saying that the system should be "fast" or "user-friendly" is not enough to guide the design and testing process. Instead, you should define what "fast" or "user-friendly" means in terms of quantifiable metrics, such as response time, throughput, error rate, user satisfaction, etc.

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Edwin Harris II

Senior Software Developer @ Florida DCF | Azure Developer Associate
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Using a generative artificial intelligence to help with rewording your technical documentation using the best practices mentioned above. Just use a little prompt engineering.

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Roland Bühler

Berater für Organisationsentwicklung, Prozessoptimierung und Digitalisierung
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To clearly define and document non-functional requirements (NFRs), engage stakeholders to gather input and categorize NFRs (e.g., performance, security). Use clear, specific language and measurable criteria, such as "The system should handle 5000 concurrent users with a response time under 2 seconds." Provide context and rationale, use standardized templates, and include acceptance criteria. Regularly review and update the documentation, ensuring it is accessible and validated by stakeholders.

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Michael Bender

Technology Advisor | Problem Solver | Big Thinker | Enterprise Architect
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NFR's should be quantified in the same way that any other application requirement would be. The acceptance test criteria and test cases related to the NFR's need to be defined, otherwise there is no way to validate that the system meets the requirements at the end.

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2 Inconsistency and contradiction

Another pitfall of NFRs is to have inconsistent or contradictory requirements that are impossible or impractical to satisfy. For example, you might have NFRs that demand high availability and low cost, or high security and high performance, without considering the trade-offs and implications of these requirements. This can result in confusion, frustration, and wasted resources. To avoid this, you should prioritize and align your NFRs with the business goals and user needs, and use techniques such as dependency analysis, risk analysis, and prototyping to identify and resolve any conflicts or gaps.

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Andrew Wright PhD ChPP

Mentoring both SME owners and senior leaders corporates, designing and delivering business effectiveness and efficiencies, to power successful change, growth and owner-manager exit.
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And overlooked! There are some requirements that are so obvious to those writing them down that it never occurs to them to write them down. Royal Navy submarine sonar array - "But we wanted it to be black!" meant a complete redesign.

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Roland Bühler

Berater für Organisationsentwicklung, Prozessoptimierung und Digitalisierung
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To handle contradictory non-functional requirements (NFRs), identify contradictions early and engage stakeholders to discuss them. Prioritize requirements using techniques like MoSCoW and perform trade-off analysis to understand impacts. Negotiate compromises and document decisions with clear rationale. Continuously review NFRs in each iteration, prototype and test solutions, and seek expert advice if needed. Maintain flexibility to revisit decisions as the project evolves, ensuring balanced and well-informed outcomes.

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3 Insufficient testing and validation

A third pitfall of NFRs is to neglect or underestimate the testing and validation of the system's non-functional aspects. Testing NFRs can be challenging, as it often requires specialized tools, methods, and skills, as well as realistic scenarios and data. However, skipping or skimping on testing NFRs can expose the system to serious risks, such as performance degradation, security breaches, user dissatisfaction, and compliance violations. To avoid this, you should plan and execute a comprehensive testing strategy that covers all the relevant NFRs, using appropriate techniques such as load testing, stress testing, usability testing, security testing, etc.

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Andrew Wright PhD ChPP

Mentoring both SME owners and senior leaders corporates, designing and delivering business effectiveness and efficiencies, to power successful change, growth and owner-manager exit.
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For many things, especially IT, interactive performance is a critical element of the user experience, yet this is often not tested. Can you imagine driving a car where the steering had a lag in response? How many times have you heard someone in a contact centre say "I'm sorry, the system is really slow today"? Always ensure that interactive response performance requirements are clearly defined, realistic and thoroughly tested! This has avoided problems for me on a number of occasions.

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4 Lack of documentation and traceability

A fourth pitfall of NFRs is to fail to document and trace them throughout the project lifecycle. Documentation and traceability are essential for ensuring that the NFRs are understood, communicated, implemented, and verified by all the involved parties. Without them, you might lose track of the NFRs, miss some important details, or introduce errors or inconsistencies. To avoid this, you should use a structured and standardized format to document your NFRs, such as user stories, use cases, scenarios, etc., and use tools such as requirements management software, traceability matrix, etc., to link them to the design, code, test cases, and other artifacts.

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Edwin Harris II

Senior Software Developer @ Florida DCF | Azure Developer Associate
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Use a tool like Azure DevOps to document the nonfunctional requirements and have them ready to address as soon as possible when the sprint backlog asked. Why? This proactive approach minimizes technical debt.

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5 Lack of feedback and improvement

A fifth pitfall of NFRs is to ignore or disregard the feedback and improvement opportunities that arise from the system's operation and maintenance. NFRs are not static or fixed; they can change or evolve over time, depending on the changing business environment, user expectations, technology trends, etc. Therefore, you should monitor and measure the system's non-functional performance and quality on a regular basis, using tools such as metrics, dashboards, logs, surveys, etc., and use the feedback to identify and implement any necessary improvements or adjustments.

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Edwin Harris II

Senior Software Developer @ Florida DCF | Azure Developer Associate
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Design your DevOps CI/CD pipelines to use tooling like Application Insights to measure system KPIs regularly and investigate anomalies. Many management interfaces allow you to set alerts or even scale automatically.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Edwin Harris II

Senior Software Developer @ Florida DCF | Azure Developer Associate
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Build for accessibility. Take the time to learn more about WCAG and other accessibility initiatives. This is too often an afterthought and not built in from the beginning. With generative AI making an interface more accessible is easier than even.

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What are some common non-functional requirements pitfalls and how to avoid them?

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1 Lack of clarity and specificity

2 Inconsistency and contradiction

3 Insufficient testing and validation

4 Lack of documentation and traceability

5 Lack of feedback and improvement

6 Here’s what else to consider

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