How To Work Your Way Through Non-Functional Requirements

Non-functional requirements directly impact digital businesses.

It’s not just about delivering features; usability, performance and security are just a few of the constraints for Quality at Speed software.

Two seconds of delays can make you lose 32% of your users, a security breach costs you millions to get back data, or a slowing rhythm of delivery closes your company.

This article shares how to work your way through non-functional requirements to correctly identify and prioritize them.

Follow the QE Unit for more Quality Engineering from the community.

What are non-functional requirements

Non-functional requirements seem complex at first sight. They are usually referred to as NFR with words ending with “itys” (e.g. availability, security).

While functional requirements define what is expected from a system, mainly in terms of behavior, non-functional requirements focus on the how.

Non-functional requirements can be commonly defined as “constraints” (or “non-behavioral requirements” or “technical requirements” even less recommended for clarity).