A Framework for Predicting Person-Effort on Requirements Changes

Requirements changes are normally reviewed by change control committees, who examine costs and consider consequences of additions, deletions and modifications to a piece of software. In order to predict the person effort required for a change, it is important to understand the reasons for the change as the nature of a change is characterized by its attributes which may be inherited and may be internal or external. The activities involved in supplying information for, and approving a requirements change can be time-consuming and complicated. As a result, there is a need to understand the relationships between requirements change characteristics and their attributes, and the level of effort. This paper presents a framework designed to address requirements change relationships. Our approach uses content analysis to study existing change control forms, and a detailed literature review. The contributions of this paper are two fold; firstly, we wish to improve the process of reviewing and approving requirements changes by change management committees. Secondly, we wish to assist project managers in better planning for requirements changes through more accurate prediction of person-effort required for a requirements change.