Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Non-Functional Requirements Map
Make non-functional quality requirements explicit and assign each to a future-work list, completion criteria, or user-acceptance criteria.
- People
- 3–15
- Base procedure time
- 60 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Make a decision; Build working relationships.
English guide
Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.
How this method works
A method for writing quality requirements by perspective and sorting them into fields for how they will be handled. Use it when non-functional requirements such as performance, safety, and extensibility are passed on only in designers' spoken explanations, making it impossible later to trace whose judgement established them. Everyone individually writes observations on sticky notes for each perspective, then reads them together to identify gaps and overlaps. Sort each requirement into one of three destinations: a list of future work, criteria for confirming work is complete, or criteria for user acceptance, so the requirements remain recorded rather than dependent on implicit understanding. The outputs are a map of quality requirements and a list of items with their destinations decided. It is not suitable for projects whose non-functional requirements are already organised, or immediately after launch where there is no agreement on perspectives.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
Use the arrow keys, Home or End while these controls have focus. The complete phase schedule remains below, including without JavaScript.
- Align perspectives0–8 minutes from the start (8 minutes)
Action: Align. Participation: Everyone.
Recording not separately specified for this phase
- Write observations8–26 minutes from the start (18 minutes)
Action: Write. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Individual record
- Read to everyone26–38 minutes from the start (12 minutes)
Action: Read. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Sort by destination38–60 minutes from the start (22 minutes)
Action: Sort. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 8 minutes, everyone aligns the subject of the quality-requirements map and the names of perspectives such as performance and safety.
- For 18 minutes, split into groups of 3–5 by perspective and write observations, one per sticky note.
- For 12 minutes, each group reads its assigned perspectives to everyone, and participants point out missing perspectives to one another.
- For 22 minutes, sort the items into a future-work list, criteria for confirming work is complete, or criteria for user acceptance.
If something changes
If
After 10 minutes of writing observations, a perspective still has 0 sticky notes.
Then
For that perspective only, switch to 1 minute of spoken idea generation by everyone, with a scribe writing the suggestions.
If
In the second half of reading aloud, explanation of the same perspective continues for more than 3 minutes.
Then
Tell everyone how much time remains, reduce the key point to one sentence, and move to the next perspective.
If
Near the end of sorting, there are still 0 items in user-acceptance criteria.
Then
Choose one item from the future-work list and add the standard it must meet as a user-acceptance criterion.
Preparation
Materials
- One A3 quality-requirements map sheet per group of 3–5, with five perspective fields: performance, safety, extensibility, maintainability, and availability
- About 15 sticky notes per person, with a different colour for each perspective
- One dark writing implement per person, medium tip or thicker
- One whole-group sharing surface per venue, at least 120 cm wide
Room and setup
- One island table per group of 3–5; assign each group 1–2 perspectives
- An unobstructed arrangement where each group can see the whole-group sharing surface
Adjust for people and time
With fewer than 3 people, responsibilities cannot be divided by perspective. Divide the participant count by 5 and round up to determine the number of groups; form groups of 3–5 with a size difference of no more than one person. Distribute the five perspectives one at a time from the first group onwards, returning to the first after reaching the last. Each group handles one or two perspectives. With 16 or more people, split into separate sessions of no more than 15 people each.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not use this where non-functional requirements are already organised or where perspectives have not yet been agreed. Preserve traceable written requirements rather than leaving them as designers' spoken assumptions.
Historical translation and source notes
These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.
- The source distributes five perspectives cyclically across ceil(participants/5) groups but also says every group handles one or two. At 3–5 participants there is one group handling five, and at 6–10 there are two groups handling three and two. Both instructions are preserved without changing group counts or perspective allocations.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Adam Clark: Non-Functional Requirements Map
https://openpracticelibrary.com/practice/non-functional-requirements-map/
Adaptation under CC BY 4.0; changes made
- CC BY 4.0
Current-page licence notice
A Taiwa no Fumen adaptation based on the Open Practice Library practice identified below. The manuscript's recorded references and the source page checked for this notice are shown separately.
Changes: explanations, timings, instructions, materials and branches were edited for this site. The English edition translates that Japanese manuscript; it is not a verbatim translation of the original practice.
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Credits on the checked source page
- Named contributors on the source page: Adam Clark
- Contributors listed in the official practice source (repository handles): @adamclark
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Non-Functional Requirements Map.
Source lineage
CC BY-SA 4.0 — this site's adaptation and translation contributions · Legal code · Official source policy
This material-specific notice does not itself establish publication clearance. Preserved manuscript references above remain separate from the current page's credits and licence evidence.
Diagram, print, and video language
Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.
English video-library navigation. Original Japanese audio, subtitles and transcripts remain labelled Japanese resources. Their translations are separate later work. No remote player is embedded here.
The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.
Editorial provenance
Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.