The Implications of ‘Soft’ Requirements

Alistair Sutcliffe; Pete Sawyer; Nelly Bencomo

doi:10.1109/RE54965.2022.00022

The Implications of ‘Soft’ Requirements

Alistair Sutcliffe, Pete Sawyer, Nelly Bencomo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

Abstract

A new focus for RE is investigated as ‘soft’ requirements which extends non-functional requirements/soft goals with a collection of people-oriented phenomena: values, motivations, emotions, and other socio-political issues that may influence the requirements specification. The convergence of RE with user experience (HCI) and technology acceptance from the information systems literature is reviewed from a temporal perspective: pre-use, through initial to longer-term use. A taxonomy of soft requirements is proposed that extends non-functional requirements and soft-goal concepts to direct attention towards user characteristics and beliefs that may have implications for functional as well as system support requirements, such as training, help, explanation and trust in software. A timeline model of soft and hard (functional) requirements is presented with a focus on customization, adaptation and other soft requirements to, improve product acceptance and persuade users to take appropriate action. The paper concludes with a research agenda for soft requirements to improve the probability of system acceptance and the effectiveness of applications that aim to influence people’s decisions and behaviour in internet apps and other discretionary-use applications.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE)
Publisher	IEEE
Pages	178-188
Number of pages	11
ISBN (Electronic)	9781665470001
ISBN (Print)	978-1-6654-7001-8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/RE54965.2022.00022
Publication status	Published - 19 Aug 2022
Event	2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE) - Melbourne, Australia Duration: 15 Aug 2022 → 19 Aug 2022

Conference

Conference	2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE)
Period	15/08/22 → 19/08/22

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgment: This research was partially supported by EPSRC project (EP/T017627/2) Twenty-20 Insight.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 IEEE.

Keywords

NFRs
elicitation
social issues
soft requirements
technology acceptance
values

Access to Document

10.1109/RE54965.2022.00022

Cite this

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title = "The Implications of {\textquoteleft}Soft{\textquoteright} Requirements",

abstract = "A new focus for RE is investigated as {\textquoteleft}soft{\textquoteright} requirements which extends non-functional requirements/soft goals with a collection of people-oriented phenomena: values, motivations, emotions, and other socio-political issues that may influence the requirements specification. The convergence of RE with user experience (HCI) and technology acceptance from the information systems literature is reviewed from a temporal perspective: pre-use, through initial to longer-term use. A taxonomy of soft requirements is proposed that extends non-functional requirements and soft-goal concepts to direct attention towards user characteristics and beliefs that may have implications for functional as well as system support requirements, such as training, help, explanation and trust in software. A timeline model of soft and hard (functional) requirements is presented with a focus on customization, adaptation and other soft requirements to, improve product acceptance and persuade users to take appropriate action. The paper concludes with a research agenda for soft requirements to improve the probability of system acceptance and the effectiveness of applications that aim to influence people{\textquoteright}s decisions and behaviour in internet apps and other discretionary-use applications.",

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author = "Alistair Sutcliffe and Pete Sawyer and Nelly Bencomo",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgment: This research was partially supported by EPSRC project (EP/T017627/2) Twenty-20 Insight. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 IEEE.; 2022 IEEE 30th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE) ; Conference date: 15-08-2022 Through 19-08-2022",

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AU - Bencomo, Nelly

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N2 - A new focus for RE is investigated as ‘soft’ requirements which extends non-functional requirements/soft goals with a collection of people-oriented phenomena: values, motivations, emotions, and other socio-political issues that may influence the requirements specification. The convergence of RE with user experience (HCI) and technology acceptance from the information systems literature is reviewed from a temporal perspective: pre-use, through initial to longer-term use. A taxonomy of soft requirements is proposed that extends non-functional requirements and soft-goal concepts to direct attention towards user characteristics and beliefs that may have implications for functional as well as system support requirements, such as training, help, explanation and trust in software. A timeline model of soft and hard (functional) requirements is presented with a focus on customization, adaptation and other soft requirements to, improve product acceptance and persuade users to take appropriate action. The paper concludes with a research agenda for soft requirements to improve the probability of system acceptance and the effectiveness of applications that aim to influence people’s decisions and behaviour in internet apps and other discretionary-use applications.

AB - A new focus for RE is investigated as ‘soft’ requirements which extends non-functional requirements/soft goals with a collection of people-oriented phenomena: values, motivations, emotions, and other socio-political issues that may influence the requirements specification. The convergence of RE with user experience (HCI) and technology acceptance from the information systems literature is reviewed from a temporal perspective: pre-use, through initial to longer-term use. A taxonomy of soft requirements is proposed that extends non-functional requirements and soft-goal concepts to direct attention towards user characteristics and beliefs that may have implications for functional as well as system support requirements, such as training, help, explanation and trust in software. A timeline model of soft and hard (functional) requirements is presented with a focus on customization, adaptation and other soft requirements to, improve product acceptance and persuade users to take appropriate action. The paper concludes with a research agenda for soft requirements to improve the probability of system acceptance and the effectiveness of applications that aim to influence people’s decisions and behaviour in internet apps and other discretionary-use applications.

KW - NFRs

KW - elicitation

KW - social issues

KW - soft requirements

KW - technology acceptance

KW - values

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Y2 - 15 August 2022 through 19 August 2022

ER -

The Implications of ‘Soft’ Requirements

Abstract

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

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