Feature usage diagram for feature reduction

Abstract

Feature creep, if not managed well, cause software bloat. This in turn makes software applications become slower. Currently, software industry urgently requires mechanisms and approaches to reduce unnecessary or low value features. In this paper, we introduce a modelling notation, so called Feature Usage Diagram, and an approach to identify and visualize the required information for decision makers when reducing features. We conducted a case study using a real web application to validate and evaluate the Feature Usage Diagram elements and notation. The results showed that the Feature Usage Diagram is easy to learn and understand. Moreover, by visualising useful information, it has potential to support developers when making decisions for feature reduction.