How to specify Non-functional Requirements to support seamless modeling? A Study Design and Preliminary Results

摘要

Context: Seamless model-based development provides integrated chains ofmodels, covering all software engineering phases. Non-functional requirements(NFRs), like reusability, further play a vital role in software and systemsengineering, but are often neglected in research and practice. It is stillunclear how to integrate NFRs in a seamless model-based development. Goal: Ourlong-term goal is to develop a theory on the specification of NFRs such thatthey can be integrated in seamless model-based development. Method: Our overallstudy design includes a multi-staged procedure to infer an empirically foundedtheory on specifying NFRs to support seamless modeling. In this short paper, wepresent the study design and provide a discussion of (i) preliminary resultsobtained from a sample, and (ii) current issues related to the design. Results:Our study already shows significant fields of improvement, e.g., the lowagreement during the classification. However, the results indicate tointeresting points; for example, many of commonly used NFR classes concernsystem modeling concepts in a way that shows how blurry the borders betweenfunctional and NFRs are. Conclusions: We conclude so far that our overall studydesign seems suitable to obtain the envisioned theory in the long run, but wecould also show current issues that are worth discussing within the empiricalsoftware engineering community. The main goal of this contribution is not topresent and discuss current results only, but to foster discussions on theissues related to the integration of NFRs in seamless modeling in general and,in particular, discussions on open methodological issues.