Adaptive Requirements Prioritization (ARP)

What is it about?

This paper shows that aggregating different priority types for taken decisions between requirements yield suboptimal results in average. Instead, it proposes that the priority type for each decision needs to be adapted to the objective of the decision at hand. This is proven mathematically, showcased with a case study, and limits as functions of priority types and priority levels determined by simulation.

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Why is it important?

It is a common practice in systems engineering to use an aggregated or equivalent priority for requirements as a substitute for a number of priority types that are of importance for stakeholders. Such an equivalent value is employed throughout a development for every decision that is to be taken between requirements. However, this paper shows that such an approach is flawed, potentially resulting in suboptimal decisions. Therefore, the importance of this paper lays on its formal proof of the suboptimality of the current approach and a proposal for an approach that would be easy to infuse in practice.