Non-functional Requirements Documentation in Agile Software Development: Challenges and Solution Proposal

TL;DR

This paper investigates the challenges of documenting non-functional requirements in agile development and proposes guidelines to improve their documentation practices based on practitioner interviews.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of current NFR documentation practices in agile settings and introduces guidelines to enhance their clarity and effectiveness.

Findings

NFRs are documented using epics, features, and user stories.

Practitioners face challenges in defining and prioritizing NFRs.

Guidelines are proposed to improve NFR documentation in agile processes.

Abstract

Non-functional requirements (NFRs) are determinant for the success of software projects. However,they are characterized as hard to define, and in agile software development(ASD), are often given less priority and usually not documented. In this paper, we present the findings of the documentation practices and challenges of NFRs in companies utilizing ASD and propose guidelines for enhancing NFRs documentation in ASD. We interviewed practitioners from four companies and identified that epics, features, user stories, acceptance criteria,Definition of Done(DoD), product and sprint backlogs are used for documenting NFRS. Please refer to the manuscript for the full abstract.