Maintaining shared understanding of non-functional requirements in small companies using continuous software engineering

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dc.check.date2026-12-05
dc.contributor.authorWerner, Colin
dc.contributor.authorOkpara, Laura
dc.contributor.authorStol, Klaas-Jan
dc.contributor.authorDamian, Daniela
dc.contributor.funderTaighde Éireann - Research Ireland, 13/ RC/2094-P2
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-27T00:32:48Z
dc.date.available2026-01-27T00:32:48Z
dc.date.issued2025-12-05
dc.description.abstractNon-functional requirements (NFR) such as performance and maintainability are key to overall software quality. To ensure NFRs can be satisfied, it is important that developers and other stakeholders have a shared understanding of such NFRs to prevent divergence of interpretations and expensive rework as a result. This article is part of a research program to study the management of shared understanding of NFRs. We present a process theory comprising six propositions developed through secondary analysis of extensive field investigations of how small software organizations maintain a shared understanding of NFRs in fast-paced Continuous Software Engineering (CSE) contexts. Small organizations, including software startups, represent an important part of the software industry, but are categorically different from large organizations in that they have fewer financial and staff resources. Further, while literature has suggested general practices for building shared understanding, how this applies to NFRs specifically remains an open question. Based on this inductive theory development, the resultant theory explains how a lack of shared understanding is detected and addressed, and how the CSE context induces challenges in these processes.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work is supported by Research Ireland formerly Science Foundation Ireland) grant 13/RC/2094-P2 to Lero.
dc.description.versionAccepted Version
dc.format.extent56
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid40
dc.identifier.authororcidWerner, Colin
dc.identifier.authororcidOkpara, Laura
dc.identifier.authororcidStol, Klaas-Jan§0000-0002-1038-5050
dc.identifier.authororcidDamian, Daniela
dc.identifier.citationWerner, C, Okpara, L, Stol, K-J & Damian, D 2025, 'Maintaining shared understanding of non-functional requirements in small companies using continuous software engineering', Empirical Software Engineering, vol. 31, no. 2, 40, pp. 1-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10765-4
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s10664-025-10765-4
dc.identifier.endpage56
dc.identifier.issn1382-3256
dc.identifier.issued2
dc.identifier.journaltitleEmpirical Software Engineering
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-1038-5050/work/198818507
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18474
dc.identifier.volume31
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024074247
dc.rights© 2025, the Authors, under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.
dc.rights.accessrightsembargoed access
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectContinuous software engineering
dc.subjectNon-functional requirements
dc.subjectProcess theory
dc.subjectShared understanding
dc.subjectSmall software companies
dc.subject[ComputerScience]
dc.subjectSmall software companies
dc.titleMaintaining shared understanding of non-functional requirements in small companies using continuous software engineeringen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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