ISO/IEC 25010

Details
Full Name

ISO/IEC 25010 — Systems and Software Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) — Product Quality Model

Also known as

SQuaRE Quality Model, Software Product Quality Model, ISO 25010

Core Concepts:

Product Quality Model

Eight top-level quality characteristics that describe the quality of a software product: Functional Suitability, Performance Efficiency, Compatibility, Usability, Reliability, Security, Maintainability, and Portability

Functional Suitability

The degree to which the product provides functions that meet stated and implied needs — sub-characteristics: Functional Completeness, Functional Correctness, Functional Appropriateness

Performance Efficiency

How the product achieves its functions relative to the amount of resources used — sub-characteristics: Time Behaviour, Resource Utilisation, Capacity

Compatibility

The ability to exchange information with other products — sub-characteristics: Co-existence, Interoperability

Usability

The degree to which a product can be used to achieve goals effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily — sub-characteristics: Appropriateness Recognisability, Learnability, Operability, User Error Protection, User Interface Aesthetics, Accessibility

Reliability

The ability of the product to perform its functions under stated conditions for a specified period — sub-characteristics: Maturity, Availability, Fault Tolerance, Recoverability

Security

The degree to which the product protects information and data from unauthorized access — sub-characteristics: Confidentiality, Integrity, Non-repudiation, Accountability, Authenticity

Maintainability

The effectiveness and efficiency with which the product can be modified — sub-characteristics: Modularity, Reusability, Analysability, Modifiability, Testability

Portability

The ability of the product to be transferred from one environment to another — sub-characteristics: Adaptability, Installability, Replaceability

Quality in Use Model

Five characteristics that describe quality from the user’s perspective: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Satisfaction, Freedom from Risk, Context Coverage

Key Proponents

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 (replaces ISO/IEC 9126)

When to Use:

  • Conducting structured software quality assessments or architecture reviews

  • Communicating quality requirements to diverse stakeholders using a shared vocabulary

  • Defining and prioritizing non-functional requirements at the start of a project

  • Documenting architecture quality goals in arc42 or similar frameworks (e.g., section 10 "Quality Requirements")

  • Evaluating competing architectural approaches using quality attribute scenarios (combined with ATAM)

  • Creating a quality tree or quality scenarios for an architecture documentation

Current Status:

  • The eight-characteristic model described above is the 2011 edition — which ISO has withdrawn. The current edition, ISO/IEC 25010:2023, expands the model to nine characteristics: Safety is new, Usability was renamed to Interaction Capability, Portability to Flexibility (free change summary: arc42 Quality Model)

  • Most published material still describes the 2011 model — as of mid-2026 even the English Wikipedia article — so an LLM’s training-data prior for "ISO 25010" most plausibly serves the older eight-characteristic edition

  • Name the edition explicitly ("ISO/IEC 25010:2023") whenever the distinction matters; the bare term will usually resolve to the 2011 model