Advancing Technical Debt Management in Software Systems with a Comprehensive TD Indicator and Question Catalog

The Technical Debt (TD) metaphor was introduced over three decades ago and continues to challenge software development projects. Despite its recognized importance, there is a lack of comprehensive catalog that not only lists TD types and indicators but also elucidates them. This paper significantly extends our previous work by presenting a detailed catalog of TD types and indicators, enriched with specific assessment questions and in-depth explanations for each indicator. We had extracted and refined TD categories from both academic and gray literature to assemble a list of 120 TD indicators across 10 distinct TD types. For each indicator, we provide detailed description and at least two tailored assessment questions in this version, to aid in the practical evaluation of technical debt. This enhanced catalog is designed to advance the specification and management of technical debt in software development, offering practitioners clear, actionable insights for assessing and addressing TD.