Relating Verification and Validation Methods to Software Product Quality Characteristics: Results of an Expert Survey

Abstract

[Context] Employing appropriate verification and validation (V&V) methods is essential to improve software product quality. However, while several V&V methods have been documented, little is known about how these methods relate to specific product quality characteristics. [Goal] The goal of this paper is to provide an initial configuration on the suitability of selected V&V methods to address ISO 25010 software product quality characteristics. [Method] Therefore, we compiled a list of V&V methods and conducted a survey with V&V experts, asking them to evaluate how well each V&V method allows for addressing the ISO 25010 characteristics. [Results] We received 19 answers from experts of 7 different countries. Our results express the aggregated expert opinion. It is noteworthy that the experts mostly agreed in their opinions, indicating consistency in the results. [Conclusions] This work provides the first result on the relationship between V&V methods and quality characteristics. We believe that the aggregated opinion of 19 experts can serve as a starting point for further investigations by other researchers and to provide an additional understanding to practitioners.