ISO IEC 25010-2023 PDF

Full title and description

ISO/IEC 25010:2023 — Systems and software engineering — Systems and software Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) — Product quality model. This edition defines a product quality model for ICT and software products, describing top-level quality characteristics and subcharacteristics to support specification, measurement and evaluation of product quality throughout the lifecycle.

Abstract

ISO/IEC 25010:2023 specifies a product-quality reference model composed of quality characteristics and subcharacteristics that apply to ICT products (software, firmware, hardware, data, communication infrastructure and related elements). The model is intended to be used by developers, acquirers, QA staff and independent evaluators for requirements elicitation, test objective definition, acceptance criteria and measurement of product quality. The 2023 revision updates and extends the 2011 model.

General information

• Status: Published.
• Publication date: November 2023.
• Publisher: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) / International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), JTC 1/SC 7.
• ICS / categories: 35.080 (Software).
• Edition / version: Edition 2 (ISO/IEC 25010:2023).
• Number of pages: 22 pages.

Scope

This standard provides a product quality model for specifying and evaluating the quality of ICT products and their components. It applies across the product lifecycle and supports activities such as requirements specification, design objectives identification, test planning, quality control criteria and acceptance criteria. The model is intended for use when specifying, measuring and evaluating product quality in the context of the target product and its intended use.

Key topics and requirements

• Nine top-level product quality characteristics (updated in 2023): Functional suitability, Performance efficiency, Compatibility, Interaction capability, Reliability, Security, Maintainability, Flexibility, and Safety.
• Revised and expanded subcharacteristics: additions include safety as a top-level characteristic; new subcharacteristics such as inclusivity, self-descriptiveness, resistance and scalability; renaming of some top-level characteristics (for example, Usability → Interaction capability; Portability → Flexibility).
• Model use cases: requirement elicitation, validation of requirement completeness, identification of test and acceptance criteria, design objective setting, and quality measurement guidance (measurement guidance referenced in annex material).
• Intended to be technology-agnostic and applicable to software-only products as well as mixed ICT products (software plus hardware/firmware/data components).

Typical use and users

Primary users include software developers, system architects, acquirers/procurement teams, quality assurance and control personnel, test engineers and independent evaluators. Typical uses are to map functional and non-functional requirements to the quality model, set measurable quality targets, design tests and acceptance criteria, and to evaluate product quality during development, pre-release assessment and procurement.

Related standards

ISO/IEC 25010:2023 is part of the SQuaRE family (ISO/IEC 25000 series). The Quality-in-use model has been published separately as ISO/IEC 25019:2023 (quality-in-use model), while the 2011 edition of ISO/IEC 25010 has been superseded by this 2023 product-quality model. Other related SQuaRE documents provide measurement and evaluation methods for applying the models.

Keywords

product quality model, ISO/IEC 25010, SQuaRE, software quality, ICT product quality, non-functional requirements, safety, security, interaction capability, flexibility, maintainability, performance efficiency, compatibility, reliability.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO/IEC 25010:2023 defines a product-quality model for ICT and software products used to specify, measure and evaluate product quality.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers a hierarchy of quality characteristics and subcharacteristics (nine top-level characteristics in the 2023 edition) and provides a reference model to support requirements, testing, acceptance and measurement activities for product quality.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Developers, architects, acquirers/procurement teams, quality assurance and control staff, test engineers and independent evaluators use the model to define and assess product quality.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: Current. The 2011 edition (ISO/IEC 25010:2011) was superseded; the current published edition is ISO/IEC 25010:2023 (Edition 2, published November 2023).

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: Yes — it is part of the ISO/IEC 25000 SQuaRE family. The quality-in-use model related to product quality was published separately as ISO/IEC 25019:2023.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Product quality, software quality model, SQuaRE, functional suitability, performance efficiency, compatibility, interaction capability, reliability, security, maintainability, flexibility, safety.