Software Architect's Handbook

Prioritizing quality attribute scenarios

Prior to the start of the architecture design process, the quality attribute scenarios should be prioritized. It is helpful to be aware of the priority of each quality attribute scenario when designing the architecture. In addition to being able to plan accordingly, such as focusing on higher priority quality attributes first, there may be trade-offs involved when enabling certain quality attributes. Understanding the priorities will help you make better design decisions regarding the quality attributes and any trade-offs that need to be made.

Quality attribute scenarios can be prioritized by ranking them based on two criteria: their business importance and the technical risk associated with the scenario. ...