Layer 1 team

In this paper we report on our design research in progress, where we have developed an artifact that assesses project effort resulting from requirements. Based on models used in the goal-oriented requirements engineering method KAOS, the artifact measures system size via function point analysis and analyzes system complexity via structural analysis. In addition, we provide theoretical explanations and empirically validate how size and structural complexity affect project effort. Overall effort depends on counted functions that must be transformed, since software development can be regarded as a transformation process where size matters. Structural complexity matters as well, since software development is also a complex problem, where effort spent depends on the structure of the problem. Insights from empirical evaluation in three software development projects are encouraging, wherefore we believe that the artifact appropriately assesses project effort. Furthermore, our artifact increases the utility of KAOS by providing additional information on project effort.

Project effort is critical for the success of software development projects. It has a major impact on whether constraints in time and budget can be complied with. But although requirements affect project effort, requirements engineering (RE) methods are not capable of assessing project effort. In this paper, we present our mapping model for assessing project effort (MMAPE). MMAPE incorporates into RE the assessment of project effort resulting from requirements for software development projects. It maps semantics of the RE method KAOS onto structures that are counted in function point analyses. We applied MMAPE in a case study on a software development project within a large financial institution. The validity of MMAPE is supported, since we found throughout consistent statements between information provided by MMAPE and data gathered from the case.