Classification and Qualitative Analysis of Non-Functional Requirements Approaches

A considerable number of methods and tools have been proposed for the treatment of non-functional requirements (NFRs). There is ample evidence that NFRs play a significant role in the Information Systems Engineering process. However, there is surprisingly an absence of an agreed position regarding the definition of NFRs, their classification and presentation. This paper reports on a systematic literature review of the documented NFR approaches, classifies these approaches according to different criteria and provides a qualitative analysis of their scopes and characteristics. The results of this analysis can serve system developers as the means of deriving appropriate methods and tools of NFRs engineering process in the system development.