Software ArchitectureAtlas

Software Architecture Atlas

Gain an overview. Understand the connections.

Architecture process · Station 1 of 8

Requirements & quality goals

Here you can see how architecture work unfolds: eight stations, from requirements through design and evaluation to operation. Each station names its guiding question, steps, outcomes and tools, all on the same example shop. Findings from evaluation and operation feed back into the design.

01Stage 1 of 8 · Requirements

What is the system supposed to do?

Here you clarify the required skills, prioritize quality goals and set binding specifications.

You need

  • Business flow of the shop
  • Stakeholders and their expectations

Who

Product owner leads

with Payment module owner

How to proceed

  1. 1

    Collect business flows and the perspectives of the participants.

  2. 2

    Formulate measurable quality scenarios and prioritize goals.

  3. 3

    Keep binding framework conditions in place.

In the shop

Record the goals for payment

Function
“Place order”: order B-1042 is created and confirmed.
Quality scenario
95% of payment responses within 800 ms at 20 requests per second (illustrative).
Constraint
The payment provider is fixed by contract; error handling remains open to design.
Priority
Resolving payments reliably comes before detailed decisions.

This creates

  • Requirements summary
  • Prioritized quality scenarios
  • Documented framework conditions

Tools for this:Functional requirementQuality tree & scenariosAll under “Clarify goals” →

Done when

  • Every function has a trigger, a flow and a visible result.
  • Quality scenarios are measurable and ranked by importance.
  • Fixed constraints are separated from design choices.

Appropriate Building Blocks

Requirements · Quality attributeQuality attributesYou define measurable expectations for how well a function performs under specific conditions.Requirements · ConceptConstraintsConstraints define binding conditions that limit the solution space.Fundamentals · ConceptArchitecture driversArchitecture drivers show which goals and constraints shape the design.Requirements · ConceptFunctional requirementsFunctional requirements describe the business capabilities a system provides.