Quality Attribute Workshops (QAW)

Challenges:
Most complex software systems are required to be modifiable and have good performance. They may also need to be secure, interoperable, portable, and reliable. But for any particular system

• What precisely do these quality attributes such as modifiability, security, performance and reliability mean?
• Can a system be analyzed to determine these desired qualities?
  
• How soon can such an analysis occur?

Overview:
Quality attribute workshops (QAWs) provide a method for identifying a system’s architecture critical quality attributes, such as availability, performance, security, interoperability, and modifiability. The QAW complements the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method developed by the SEI.

Benefits:
We have seen many benefits of using the QAW including:

clarified quality attribute requirements
improved architecture documentation
documented basis for architectural decisions
identified risks early in the life-cycle
increased communication among stakeholders

Who Would Benefit:
A multitude of people have a stake in a system's architecture, and all of them exert whatever influence they can on the architect(s) to make sure that their goals are addressed. For example, the users want a system that is easy to use and has rich functionality. The maintenance organization wants a system that is easy to modify. The developing organization (as represented by management) wants a system that is easy to build, and will employ the existing work force to good advantage. The customer (who pays the bill) wants the system to be built on time and within budget.

All of these stakeholders will benefit from applying the ATAM and QAW approaches. And needless to say the architect is also a primary beneficiary.

Description:
The QAW is comprised of the following steps:

QAW Presentation and Introductions
Business/Mission Presentation
Architecture Plan Presentation
Identify of Architectural Drivers
Scenario Brainstorming
Scenario Consolidation
Scenario Prioritization

The scenarios are generated during a brainstorming workshop attended by facilitators and stakeholders. The stakeholders are provided in advance with a workbook containing descriptions of several quality attributes, sample questions to assist in generating scenarios, example scenarios for each quality attribute, and examples of refined scenarios.

Availability:
The QAW method has been described in a technical report. It has been used by the SEI mostly in command and control application domains. The SEI is currently looking for organizations that would like to help us improve QAW by testing the method in other domains.

Additional Information:
Contact us for additional details or to arrange a Quality Attribute Workshop.