Reducing the Effects of Requirements Changes through System Design

Abstract

The continuous stream of requirements changes that often takes place during software development can create major problems in the development process. This paper defines a concept we call semantic coupling that along with features of intent specifications can be used during system design to reduce the impact of changing requirements. The practicality of using the approach on real software is demonstrated using the intent specification of the control software for a NASA robot designed to service the heat resistant tiles on the Space Shuttle.