Programvaremål

Programvaremål, translated as software goals, refer to the intended outcomes that a software product or system should achieve. They express stakeholder objectives at a level that guides design, development, and evaluation, and they often sit above specific requirements. In a wiki context, programvaremål help to frame what success looks like for a project and how different parts of the system contribute to overall aims.

These goals are related to, but distinct from, individual requirements. While requirements specify concrete functions or constraints, software goals describe higher-level aims such as user satisfaction, reliability, security, scalability, or business impact. They can be functional or non-functional and are typically expressed in measurable terms or acceptance criteria to enable evaluation and validation. Making goals SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) is a common practice to improve clarity and traceability.

Formulation and management of programvaremål usually involve elicitation from stakeholders, analysis of business context, and refinement into actionable requirements and design decisions. Techniques from goal-oriented requirements engineering, such as goal modeling and traceability to business goals, are often employed to maintain alignment throughout the development lifecycle. Changes in market conditions or user needs may lead to updates of the goals, underscoring the importance of flexible prioritization and monitoring.

Examples of programvaremål include reducing response time to under two seconds for key tasks, achieving 99.9% uptime, ensuring data privacy compliance, and enabling a specified level of user adoption within six months. Properly defined, they serve as a reference for testing, validation, and decision-making during and after development.