person Author: Process Fellows
The Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) Method is a structured approach used to define and measure goals in a systematic way, especially in software engineering and quality management.

Summary of the GQM Method:

• Goal: Define a clear and specific objective you want to achieve. This goal should be aligned with business or project needs.
• Question: Formulate questions that help assess whether the goal is being met. These questions explore different aspects of the goal.
• Metric: Identify metrics or data that can answer the questions. These are measurable indicators used to evaluate progress or success.

Simple example:

• Goal: Improve software reliability
• Question: How often do critical bugs occur in production? The reliability of the software decreases as the number of critical bugs increases.
• Metric: Number of critical bugs reported per release during the first 3 months after the release.

Remark: This example illustrates an absolute metric. However, when comparing across different projects or systems, it is often more effective to use derived metrics. For instance, measuring "reliability relative to software complexity"—such as reliability per lines of code (LOC)—enables meaningful comparisons between different software products, regardless of their size or scope.