A fuzzy regression and optimization approach for setting target levels in software quality function deployment

With the rapid development of the software industry, improving the quality of software development has gained increasing importance. Software manufacturers have recently applied quality improvement techniques to software development to respond to the needs for software quality. Software quality function deployment (SQFD), as a technique for improving the quality of the software development process to create products responsive to customer expectations, is used to maximize customer satisfaction. This paper presents a fuzzy regression and optimization approach to determine target levels in SQFD. The inherent fuzziness of relationships in SQFD modeling justifies the use of fuzzy regression. Fuzzy regression is used to identify the functional relationships between customer requirements and technical attributes, and among technical attributes. Then, a mathematical programming model is developed to determine target levels of technical attributes using the functional relationships obtained by fuzzy regression. A search engine quality improvement problem is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed approach.