Towards Lightweight Requirements Documentation
ABSTRACT
Most requirements management processes and associated tools are designed for document-driven software development and are unlikely to be adopted for the needs of an agile software development team. We discuss how and what can make the traditional requirements documentation a lightweight process, and suitable for user requirements elicitation and analysis. We propose a reference model for requirements analysis and documentation and suggest what kind of requirements management tools are needed to support an agile software process. The approach and the reference model are demonstrated in Vixtory, a tool for requirements lightweight documentation in agile web application development.
Most requirements management processes and associated tools are designed for document-driven software development and are unlikely to be adopted for the needs of an agile software development team. We discuss how and what can make the traditional requirements documentation a lightweight process, and suitable for user requirements elicitation and analysis. We propose a reference model for requirements analysis and documentation and suggest what kind of requirements management tools are needed to support an agile software process. The approach and the reference model are demonstrated in Vixtory, a tool for requirements lightweight documentation in agile web application development.
KEYWORDS
Lightweight, Requirements Documentation, Requirements Management Tool, Agile Software Development
Lightweight, Requirements Documentation, Requirements Management Tool, Agile Software Development
Cite this paper
nullZ. Zhang, M. Arvela, E. Berki, M. Muhonen, J. Nummenmaa and T. Poranen, "Towards Lightweight Requirements Documentation," Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, Vol. 3 No. 9, 2010, pp. 882-889. doi: 10.4236/jsea.2010.39103.
nullZ. Zhang, M. Arvela, E. Berki, M. Muhonen, J. Nummenmaa and T. Poranen, "Towards Lightweight Requirements Documentation," Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, Vol. 3 No. 9, 2010, pp. 882-889. doi: 10.4236/jsea.2010.39103.
References
[1] K. Beck, “Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change,” Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, USA, 2001. [2] A. Cockburn, “Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game,” 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2002. [3] G. Kotonya and I. Somerville, “Requirements Engineering: Processes and Techniques,” John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1998. [4] IEEE Recommended practice for software requirements specification. IEEE Standard 830-1998, 1998. [5] H. F. Hofmann and F. Lehner, “Requirements Engineering as a Success Factor in Software Projects,” IEEE Software, Vol.18, No.4, 2001, pp. 58-66. [6] U. Nikula, J. Sajaniemi and H. K?lvi?inen, “A State-of- the-practice Survey on Requirements Engineering in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises,” Research Report, Telecom Business Research Center, Lappeentanta, 2000. [7] Vixtory, “Tell your story”. http://www.vixtory.com/ [8] K. Pohl. “The Three Dimensions of Requirements Engineering: A Framework and its Applications,” Information Systems, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1994, pp.243-258. [9] C. Rolland and N. Prakash, “From Conceptual Modelling to Requirements Engineering,” Annals of Software Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 1-4, 2000, pp.151-176. [10] The Standish Group, “Chaos Chronicles Version 3.0.”, 2003. http://www.standishgroup.com/chaos/ [11] Agile manifesto, 2001. http://agilemanifesto.org/ [12] E. Berki, “Formal Metamodelling and Agile Method Engineering in MetaCASE and CAME Tool Environments,” The 1st South-East European Workshop on Formal Methods, South-Eastern European Research Center (SEERC): Thessaloniki, 2004, pp. 170-188. [13] B. Ramesh and M. Jarke, “Toward Reference Models for Requirements Traceability,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. 27, No.1, 2001, pp.58-93. [14] C. Ghezzi, M. Jazayeri and D. Mandrioli, “Foundamen- tals of Software Engineering,” 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2003. [15] E. Georgiadou, K. Siakas and E. Berki, “Agile Methodologies and Software Process Improvement,” Proceedings of the Virtual Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, Virtual Online Conference, 2005, pp. 412-417. [16] P. Zave, “Classification of Research Efforts in Requirements Engineering,” ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 29, No. 4, 1997, pp. 315-321. [17] P. Louridas, “Using Wikis in Software Development,” IEEE Software, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2006, pp. 88-91. [18] B. Decker, E. Ras, J. Rech, P. Jaubert and M. Rieth, “Wiki-Based Stakeholder Participation in Requirements Engineering,” IEEE Software, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2007, pp. 28-35. [19] C. Lee and L. Guadagno, “FLUID: Echo–Agile Requirements Authoring and Traceability,” Proceedings of the 2003 Midwest Software Engineering Conference, Chicago, June 2003, pp. 50-61. [20] B. Boehm, “Requirements that Handle IKIWISI, COTS, and Rapid Change,” Computer, Vol. 33, No. 7, 2000, pp. 99-102. [21] Z. Zhang and J. Kaipala, “A Conceptual Framework for Component Context Specification and Representation in a MetaCASE Environment,” Software Quality Journal, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2009, pp.151-175. [22] O. Gotel and A. Finkelstein, “An Analysis of the Requirements Traceability Problem,” Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Requirements Engineering (ICRE '94), Colorado, 18-22 April 1994, pp. 94-101. [23] INCOSE requirements Management Tool Survey. http:// www.paper-review.com/tools/rms/read.php [24] A. Forward and T. C. Lethbridge, “The Relevance of Software Documentation, Tools and Technologies: A Survey,” Proceedings of the 2002 ACM symposium on Document engineering, McLean, Virginia, USA, ACM Press, pp. 26-33. [25] A. Persson and J. Stirna, “Advanced Information Systems Engineering,” 16th International Conference, CAiSE, Riga, Latvia, June 7-11, 2004, Proceedings. [26] A. Manninen and E. Berki, “An Evaluation Framework for the Utilisation of Requirements Management Tools- Maximising the Quality of Organisational Communication and Collaboration,” Proceedings of BCS Software Quality Management 2004 Conference, British Computer Society: Swindon, 2004, pp. 139-160. [27] C. Heitmeyer, J. Kirby and B. Labaw, “Tools for Formal Specification, Verification, and Validation of Requirements,” Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference (COMPASS’97). [28] B. Kernighan, “Sometimes the Old Ways are Best,” IEEE Software, Vol. 25, No. 6, 2008, pp. 18-19. [29] G2One Inc., Grails Web Application Framework, http:// grails.org/ [30] M. Arvela, M. Muhonen, M. Piipari, T. Poranen and Z. Zhang, “Agile Tool-Managing Requirements in Agile WWW Projects,” Proceedings of BIR 2008, Gdansk, 2008, pp. 211-215.
[1] K. Beck, “Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change,” Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, USA, 2001. [2] A. Cockburn, “Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game,” 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2002. [3] G. Kotonya and I. Somerville, “Requirements Engineering: Processes and Techniques,” John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1998. [4] IEEE Recommended practice for software requirements specification. IEEE Standard 830-1998, 1998. [5] H. F. Hofmann and F. Lehner, “Requirements Engineering as a Success Factor in Software Projects,” IEEE Software, Vol.18, No.4, 2001, pp. 58-66. [6] U. Nikula, J. Sajaniemi and H. K?lvi?inen, “A State-of- the-practice Survey on Requirements Engineering in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises,” Research Report, Telecom Business Research Center, Lappeentanta, 2000. [7] Vixtory, “Tell your story”. http://www.vixtory.com/ [8] K. Pohl. “The Three Dimensions of Requirements Engineering: A Framework and its Applications,” Information Systems, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1994, pp.243-258. [9] C. Rolland and N. Prakash, “From Conceptual Modelling to Requirements Engineering,” Annals of Software Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 1-4, 2000, pp.151-176. [10] The Standish Group, “Chaos Chronicles Version 3.0.”, 2003. http://www.standishgroup.com/chaos/ [11] Agile manifesto, 2001. http://agilemanifesto.org/ [12] E. Berki, “Formal Metamodelling and Agile Method Engineering in MetaCASE and CAME Tool Environments,” The 1st South-East European Workshop on Formal Methods, South-Eastern European Research Center (SEERC): Thessaloniki, 2004, pp. 170-188. [13] B. Ramesh and M. Jarke, “Toward Reference Models for Requirements Traceability,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. 27, No.1, 2001, pp.58-93. [14] C. Ghezzi, M. Jazayeri and D. Mandrioli, “Foundamen- tals of Software Engineering,” 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2003. [15] E. Georgiadou, K. Siakas and E. Berki, “Agile Methodologies and Software Process Improvement,” Proceedings of the Virtual Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, Virtual Online Conference, 2005, pp. 412-417. [16] P. Zave, “Classification of Research Efforts in Requirements Engineering,” ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 29, No. 4, 1997, pp. 315-321. [17] P. Louridas, “Using Wikis in Software Development,” IEEE Software, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2006, pp. 88-91. [18] B. Decker, E. Ras, J. Rech, P. Jaubert and M. Rieth, “Wiki-Based Stakeholder Participation in Requirements Engineering,” IEEE Software, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2007, pp. 28-35. [19] C. Lee and L. Guadagno, “FLUID: Echo–Agile Requirements Authoring and Traceability,” Proceedings of the 2003 Midwest Software Engineering Conference, Chicago, June 2003, pp. 50-61. [20] B. Boehm, “Requirements that Handle IKIWISI, COTS, and Rapid Change,” Computer, Vol. 33, No. 7, 2000, pp. 99-102. [21] Z. Zhang and J. Kaipala, “A Conceptual Framework for Component Context Specification and Representation in a MetaCASE Environment,” Software Quality Journal, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2009, pp.151-175. [22] O. Gotel and A. Finkelstein, “An Analysis of the Requirements Traceability Problem,” Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Requirements Engineering (ICRE '94), Colorado, 18-22 April 1994, pp. 94-101. [23] INCOSE requirements Management Tool Survey. http:// www.paper-review.com/tools/rms/read.php [24] A. Forward and T. C. Lethbridge, “The Relevance of Software Documentation, Tools and Technologies: A Survey,” Proceedings of the 2002 ACM symposium on Document engineering, McLean, Virginia, USA, ACM Press, pp. 26-33. [25] A. Persson and J. Stirna, “Advanced Information Systems Engineering,” 16th International Conference, CAiSE, Riga, Latvia, June 7-11, 2004, Proceedings. [26] A. Manninen and E. Berki, “An Evaluation Framework for the Utilisation of Requirements Management Tools- Maximising the Quality of Organisational Communication and Collaboration,” Proceedings of BCS Software Quality Management 2004 Conference, British Computer Society: Swindon, 2004, pp. 139-160. [27] C. Heitmeyer, J. Kirby and B. Labaw, “Tools for Formal Specification, Verification, and Validation of Requirements,” Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference (COMPASS’97). [28] B. Kernighan, “Sometimes the Old Ways are Best,” IEEE Software, Vol. 25, No. 6, 2008, pp. 18-19. [29] G2One Inc., Grails Web Application Framework, http:// grails.org/ [30] M. Arvela, M. Muhonen, M. Piipari, T. Poranen and Z. Zhang, “Agile Tool-Managing Requirements in Agile WWW Projects,” Proceedings of BIR 2008, Gdansk, 2008, pp. 211-215.