NORMATIC: A visual tool for modeling Non-Functional Requirements in agile processes

Abstract

There is consensus in the research community that agile software development methodologies, such as Scrum, are becoming more and more popular in delivering quality Functional Requirements (FRs). However, agile methodologies have not adequately modeled Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs) and their potential solutions (operationalizations) with FRs in early development phases-let alone having tools to support such initiatives. This research proposes NORMATIC, a Java-based simulation tool for modeling non-functional requirements for semi-automatic agile processes. NORMATIC is the semi-automatic tool that supports the more general Non-Functional Requirements Modeling for Agile Processes (NORMAP) Methodology. Early results show that the tool can potentially help agile software development teams in reasoning about and visually modeling NFRs as first-class artifacts early on during requirements gathering and analysis phases. The tool can also aid project managers and Scrum teams in user story estimate and risk calculations as well as risk-driven planning and visualization of the proposed plans.