A taxonomy for requirements engineering and software test alignment

Abstract

Requirements Engineering and Software Testing are mature areas and have seen a lot of research. Nevertheless, their interactions have been sparsely explored beyond the concept of traceability. To fill this gap we propose a definition of requirements engineering and software test (REST) alignment, a taxonomy that characterizes the methods linking the respective areas, and a process to assess alignment. The taxonomy can support researchers to identify new opportunities for investigation, as well as practitioners to compare alignment methods and evaluate alignment, or lack thereof. We constructed the REST taxonomy by analyzing alignment methods published in literature, iteratively validating the emerging dimensions. The resulting concept of an information dyad characterizes the exchange of information required for any alignment to take place. We demonstrate use of the taxonomy by applying it on five in-depth cases and illustrate angles of analysis on a set of thirteen alignment methods. In addition we developed an assessment framework (REST-bench), applied it in an industrial assessment, and showed that it, with a low effort, can identify opportunities to improve REST alignment. Although we expect that the taxonomy can be further refined, we believe that the information dyad is a valid and useful construct to understand alignment.

What Do We Know about Alignment of Requirements Engineering and Software Testing?

“…Bjarnason et al [4] further stated that not only the information itself is important but the distances between activities, artefacts, and people are also important, and constructed a theory of distance that explains how certain practices affect this distance. Unterkalmsteiner et al [1] studied and constructed a taxonomy for alignment of RE and ST based on the premise that information and the flow of information between RE and ST is a key ingredient in better coordination of the two activities and proposed a framework called RESTbench for the assessment of alignment in development organizations. The REST-bench framework was later validated successfully in industrial context in five different case studies of varying size in both plan driven and agile development [13].…”

“…In all development, it is equally important to verify and validate that the final product operates as intended. The link between intermediate activities, e.g., analysis and design, or design and implementation, has been researched extensively, but the link between requirements engineering (RE) and software testing (ST) is less explored [1]. Since the requirements of a software product dictates how the product should operate and testing should show that the product does what it is supposed to do [2], it would be beneficial to explore this link.…”

“…This makes it even more difficult to maintain the link between RE and ST and makes coordination even more important. This coordination is referred to as alignment of RE and ST, that Unterkalmsteiner et al [1] define as "the adjustment of RE and ST efforts for coordinated functioning and optimized product development". The importance of linking RE and ST has been recognized in industry.…”

“…They presented that evaluation of proposals is lacking and validity discussion is scares, however, more detailed analysis of rigor and relevance could be done. Unterkalmsteiner et al [1] found later additional relevant studies that should have been included in the previous mapping study. A dedicated workshop has also been held on the topic in 2014 [8] and 2015 [9].…”

A multi-case study of agile requirements engineering and the use of test cases as requirements

“…This challenge relates to a range of issues including organization, process, people, tools, requirements changes, traceability and measurements (Bjarnason 2014, Sabaliauskaite 2010). Alignment methods have been studied from the perspective of linking information between people and/or documentation using mechanisms of varying formalism and complexity (Unterkalmsteiner 2014). Industrial practices in this area include traceability, model-based approaches and increased communication, e.g.…”