Non-Functional Requirement Prioritization Approach

Abstract

This paper proposes a non-functional requirement prioritization technique where
\nboth functional and non-functional requirements are prioritized and that is based on
\nAHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) technique employing suitable aspects.
\nThe non-functional requirements are further re-prioritized based on their
\ndependency with high priority functional requirements and usage counts. The usage of
\nthe proposed method is illustrated with a hypothetical example. The technique is also
\nexecuted on a case study of the evolving software and the technique resulted in
\nselection of 16 requirements out of 30, yielding considerable reduction in the number
\nof requirements to be implemented. Although the use of the AHP technique may limit
\nthe optimization, the use of the numerical assignment technique based on the usage
\ncount and dependency count do considerably reduce the number of requirements.
\nThe proposed technique prioritizes non-functional requirements independently from
\nfunctional requirements but they are further selected in terms of their dependencies
\nand usage counts with respect to functional requirements.