QUPER-MAn: Benchmark-Guided Target Setting for Maintainability Requirements

2025-08-21

AI Summary

Software maintainability is frequently overlooked in requirements engineering, often addressed only implicitly through informal specifications or tool-based suggestions, without explicit goals or proactive management. This paper proposes a systematic framework for defining explicit maintainability requirements goals. It introduces the first adaptation of the QUPER model to the maintainability domain, integrating quantitative maintainability measurement tools and industry benchmarks to enable organizations to specify measurable, traceable, and actionable goals. The framework is developed and empirically validated using design science research methodology, with industrial case studies confirming its effectiveness in elevating maintainability’s priority within development decision-making. Key contributions include: (1) establishing maintainability as an explicit, goal-oriented requirement engineering concern; (2) providing the first QUPER-based approach for modeling and calibrating maintainability goals; and (3) delivering a practical, process-integrated solution deployable within real-world requirements engineering workflows.

Technology Category

• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Qualitative Reasoning
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Model-Based Reasoning
• Machine Learning: Calibration & Uncertainty Quantification

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Metrics for user behavior and evaluating success
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization

Abstract

Maintainable source code is essential for sustainable development in any software organization. Unfortunately, many studies show that maintainability often receives less attention than its importance warrants. We argue that requirements engineering can address this gap the problem by fostering discussions and setting appropriate targets in a responsible manner. In this preliminary work, we conducted an exploratory study of industry practices related to requirements engineering for maintainability. Our findings confirm previous studies: maintainability remains a second-class quality concern. Explicit requirements often make sweeping references to coding conventions. Tools providing maintainability proxies are common but typically only used in implicit requirements related to engineering practices. To address this, we propose QUPER-MAn, a maintainability adaption of the QUPER model, which was originally developed to help organizations set targets for performance requirements. Developed using a design science approach, QUPER-MAn, integrates maintainability benchmarks and supports target setting. We posit that it can shift maintainability from an overlooked development consequence to an actively managed goal driven by informed and responsible engineering decisions.

Problem

• Addressing maintainability neglect in software requirements engineering
• Setting informed targets for maintainability using benchmark guidance
• Transitioning maintainability from overlooked consequence to managed goal

Innovation

• Adapting QUPER model for maintainability targets
• Integrating benchmark data to guide requirement decisions
• Using design science for structured target setting