Documenting Non-Functional Requirements?
Michael DeBellis
jsi...@measures.org
There are several good public or freely available templates and frameworks for documenting non-functional requirements (NFRs). None appear to be tailored specifically to knowledge graphs (KGs), which makes sense given that core NFRs like concurrency, response times, scalability, security/compliance (e.g., GDPR), maintainability, etc., are largely domain-agnostic. You can adapt general ones by adding KG-relevant details such as query performance (e.g., SPARQL response times), inference latency, graph traversal efficiency, data ingestion throughput, ontology evolution support, or triple/quad store scalability.34
Recommended Public/Free Templates
Here are some strong, accessible options:
- California Department of Technology (CDT) Non-Functional Requirements Template (free .docx, public/government resource):
This is one of the most practical structured forms. It organizes NFRs into categories (Performance, Security, Compatibility, Maintainability, etc.) and uses a consistent 5-part structure for each requirement: - Scenario (context/load/conditions)
- Requirement (measurable statement)
- Constraints (boundaries, e.g., network delays excluded)
- Verification Method (how to test/measure)
- Notes
Examples cover user responsiveness under normal/peak loads, batch processing, auditing, etc.—very close to the examples in the query. It’s designed for government/IT projects but adaptable.
Direct link: https://projectresources.cdt.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2019/09/Non-FunctionalRequirementsTemplate.docx (publicly downloadable).34 - Microsoft Code with Engineering Playbook – NFR Capture Guide (free online):
Provides a simple, flexible template per requirement: - Requirement name
- Description (business impact)
- Priority
- Measurement/Metric
- Verification Method
- Constraints
- Owner
- Dependencies
It includes detailed taxonomies and examples for categories like Availability (uptime %), Performance (response time, throughput, concurrency), Scalability, Security/Privacy (GDPR, encryption), Maintainability, Observability, etc. Excellent for modern/cloud/KG contexts.
Link: https://microsoft.github.io/code-with-engineering-playbook/design/design-patterns/non-functional-requirements-capture-guide/32 - ISO/IEC 25010 Quality Model (international standard, freely referenceable for structure):
Use this as a comprehensive checklist/framework for NFR categories: Functional Suitability, Performance Efficiency (time behavior, resource utilization), Compatibility, Usability, Reliability, Security, Maintainability, Portability. Many templates build on it. You can create your own form by listing sub-characteristics with metrics (e.g., p95 latency < X ms under Y concurrent users).20
Other mentions include Volere (widely respected with strong NFR sections, but the full template has a fee; older versions or summaries are sometimes shared academically).18
Suggestions for Knowledge Graphs
Start with one of the above templates and extend categories as needed:
- Performance: Average/peak concurrent queries/users, response time for common SPARQL queries, ingestion rate (triples per second), inference/reasoning latency.
- Scalability: Horizontal scaling of the graph store, handling growing node/edge counts.
- Reliability/Availability: Query uptime, data consistency in distributed setups.
- Security & Compliance: Access control (e.g., fine-grained on ontologies), GDPR/CCPA (data provenance, consent, right to be forgotten), audit logging.
- Maintainability: Ontology versioning, evolution without breaking queries.
- Usability/Interoperability: Support for standards (RDF, OWL, SHACL), integration with other systems.
Document them measurably (e.g., “Under peak load of Z concurrent users, 95% of queries must return in < 200ms”) and always include verification methods (load testing, monitoring tools like Prometheus/Grafana for graphs).
These should get you (and the forum) started quickly. If you need help adapting one for a specific KG project or examples, feel free to share more details!
On May 27, 2026, at 8:54 PM, Michael DeBellis <mdebe...@gmail.com> wrote:
Does anyone know of any public domain forms that can be used to document non-functional requirements? If such a thing exists specifically for knowledge graphs that would be great but most of these things (average number of concurrent users, peak number of concurrent users, maximum response time, average clicks per minute, must adhere to GDPR, etc.) aren't very specific to knowledge graphs anyway. I can create them myself but I'm lazy and always prefer to use things that already exist if possible.Cheers,Michael--
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