Agile in a Flash 18

Categorize Requirements with FURPS – The Plan

Agile in a Flash by Jeff Langr and Tim Ottinger (card #18)

> Functionality

> Usability

> Reliability

> Performance

> Supportability

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As you mature in agile (see Card 27, Shu-Ha-Ri), consider ideas outside its realm, such as HP’s FURPS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FURPS) requirements categorization scheme.

Stories technically are not requirements; they are informal expressions of customer need. You can still categorize such needs using FURPS. Most significantly, FURPS reminds you that stories can represent more than just the immediate goals a user wants to accomplish by interacting with the system—the functionality.

More than with Functionality stories, you must vet -URPS (excuse us!) candidates against INVEST characteristics of a good story (see Card 17, INVEST in Your Stories). For example, it’s hard to define acceptance criteria for usability, but otherwise you have no idea when the story is done.

Functionality User features your customer wants, of course!

Usability Product effectiveness, aesthetics, documentation, and so on.

Reliability Failover, downtime, recovery, system accuracy, and so on.

Performance Max response time, throughput, memory consumption, and so on.

Supportability Testability, serviceability, monitorability, extensibility, and so on.