The Quality Analysis uses the following set of Key Quality Indicators in its algorithms to score each requirement.
|
Quality Indicator |
Description |
Best Practice |
Recommendation |
|
Imperatives |
Words and phrases that command that something must be done. |
A proper requirement has exactly one imperative. |
Ensure a single imperative is present in your requirement or split a requirement with more than one imperative into multiple requirements. |
|
Negative Imperatives |
Words and phrases that command that something must not be done. |
A proper requirement does not use negative imperatives as it is difficult to verify. |
Restate requirements with negative imperatives as one or more requirements with (positive) imperatives. Specify what the system shall do, not what it shall not do. |
|
Vagues |
Words and phrases that are imprecise, unclear, and ambiguous. They introduce uncertainty and leave room for multiple interpretations. |
A proper requirement does not use vague words or phrases. |
Restate the requirement with vague words as one or more requirements with clear and definite intent. |
|
Optional Escape Clauses |
Words and phrases that loosen the requirement specification and give latitude in implementation, reducing control and increasing risk. |
A proper requirement does not use optional words or phrases. |
Replace optional escape clauses with a verifiable statement and mark as required or optional as intended. |
|
Optional Open-Ended Clauses |
Open-ended clauses say that there is more required without stating exactly what. Open-ended clauses can lead to ambiguous, unverifiable requirements that do not reflect accurately the stakeholder expectations. |
A proper requirement does not use open-ended clauses. |
Replace the open-ended clause with the information that is being alluded to. |
|
Superfluous Infinitives |
Additional and unnecessary verbs or verb phrases in the requirements. |
A proper requirement should avoid superfluous infinitives. |
Remove superfluous verbs that cause verification issues. |
|
Cross-Referencing Pronouns |
Word and phrases to reference a person or an object without specifying who or what it is; for example, words such as “it”, “this”, “that”, “he”, “she”, “they”, and “them.” |
A proper requirement should avoid the use of pronouns and cross-referencing pronouns. |
Repeat nouns in full instead of using pronouns to refer to nouns in other requirements. |
|
Immeasurable Quantification |
Words or phrases that indicate an unmeasured quantification, such as” great”, "small",” medium-sized”,” best practice”, and ”user-friendly.” |
A proper requirement should avoid the use of immeasurable quantifiers. |
Replace with a quantity that can be objectively measured. |
|
Non-specific Temporal Words |
Words and phrases that reference non-specific timing, such as “eventually”, “until”, and “before”. These words are not verifiable and can cause confusion or unintended meaning. |
A proper requirement does not use non-specific timing references. |
Replace with specific timing constraints. |
|
Continuances & Combinators |
Word and phrases that follow the requirement’s imperative and introduce more detail to the specification. |
A proper requirement avoids excessive use of continuances (generally no more than two). |
Restate requirements with excessive use of continuances as multiple requirements each with simpler specifications. |
|
Directives |
Words and phrases pointing to information that aims to strengthen and clarify the specification, such as examples, tables, figures, or reference to other sections in the document. |
When necessary, a proper requirement uses directives to increase the understanding and clarity of context. |
Assess the need and the benefit of directives in the requirement. Careful and clear use of directives is recommended. |
|
Universal Quantifiers & Absolutes |
Words or phrases that generalize a quantity or quantities relating to a subject. |
Universal quantifiers should be used carefully and sparingly as they make a requirement difficult or impossible to verify without a thorough understanding of the context. |
Unless clear by its context, aim to restate the requirement with specific values for any quantities mentioned. NOTE: QVscribe will show this indicator as a warning and will not affect the score. |
|
Justification |
Extra information that is not needed within the requirement and that define a purpose for why the requirement exists. |
Information that defines why a requirement exists should not be within the requirement itself. Rather, this extra information should be defined within an accompanying "rational statement”. |
Remove information regarding purpose/justification from the requirement – add this information to the rationale statement or create a new rationale. NOTE: QVscribe will show this indicator as a warning and will not affect the score. |
|
Passive Voice |
A sentence written in passive voice has a receiver-acted-by- doer structure, rather than a more direct doer-acts-on-receiver structure. |
Requirements should be written in active voice and passive voice should be avoided. |
Restate the requirement into a doer-acts-on-receiver structure. NOTE: QVscribe will show this indicator as a warning and will not affect the score. |
|
Incomplete Sentences |
Incomplete sentences are such where the object, action, or subject may be poorly specified or missing altogether. |
Incomplete sentences should be avoided in general. |
Read the incomplete sentence and add the necessary details such that the object, action, and subject are clearly identified in the requirement. NOTE: QVscribe will show this indicator as a warning and will not affect the score. |