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Case Study on the Use of Scaling Methods for Prioritising Requirements
Author(s) -
Moisiadis Frank
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.1999.tb00329.x
Subject(s) - computer science , set (abstract data type) , schedule , strengths and weaknesses , scale (ratio) , requirements management , requirements analysis , risk analysis (engineering) , operations research , business , engineering , software , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system
Abstract There are often not enough resources available to build systems that can do everything the customer wants. Many times it is necessary to prioritise requirements in the face of limited resources. Budget constraints, delivery deadlines, competitor pressure, and gaining or maintaining one's market‐share are all factors that often impact on the delivery schedule for a system. Consequently, the most important requirements need to be found and implemented first. In trying to determine what requirements are most important, many methods are used in practice. All of these methods involve some kind of scaling or rating system. This paper looks into the various scaling systems that are used. A case‐study has been conducted to evaluate three different rating scales on a set of requirements for a library and for a set of car attributes. The findings are quite interesting in that they reveal weaknesses in using particular rating scales. Suggestions are made as to which rating scale to use to prioritise requirements.