Kvalitskrav

Kvalitskrav is a term used in quality management to refer to a set of quality requirements that a product, service, or process must meet. They express expectations for quality attributes such as performance, reliability, usability, security, maintainability, and compliance. They are usually stated in a way that makes them measurable and testable, enabling verification through tests or inspections and traceability to stakeholders’ needs.

Kvalitskrav are typically distinguished from functional requirements, which describe what the system should do. Kvalitskrav focus on how well it performs, under which conditions, and to what standards. They are used throughout requirements engineering, system design, procurement, and quality assurance.

Elicitation and documentation involve stakeholders, product owners, and quality assurance teams. Common formats include acceptance criteria, quality attribute scenarios, and measurable targets. Examples: system uptime of 99.9%, response time under 1 second for 95% of transactions, data encrypted at rest, and accessibility according to WCAG 2.1 AA. They should be SMART, verifiable, and traceable from initial elicitation to test cases and release criteria. They can be complemented by non-functional requirements catalogs and quality models (for example, performance, security, and usability).

Challenges include ambiguity, changing needs, and conflicting requirements. Best practices involve early involvement, clear ownership, versioned documentation, automated testing, and linkage to verification activities. In Nordic and international contexts, kvalitskrav align with broader quality management standards and requirements engineering practices, and inform contracts, acceptance tests, and audits.