A Model for Software Quality Evaluation Using the User's Point of Views

Contexte: Dans le marché des logiciels en constante évolution, les acheteurs de logiciels sont confrontés à un défi majeur: parmi ces différents produits, lequel répond le mieux aux exigences et au budget des utilisateurs? Bien que la plupart des acheteurs de logiciels soient conscients de leurs besoins fonctionnels et budgétaires, les facteurs de qualité tels que la « disponibilité » ou la «fiabilité » ne sont généralement pas pris en compte. Les fournisseurs de logiciels parlent aussi rarement des aspects de qualité de leurs produits. Le défi principal est « comment susciter les attentes de qualité des utilisateurs ? », puis « comment déterminer les caractéristiques de qualité d'un produit logiciel ?». La comparaison de ces deux facteurs de qualité peut aider les acheteurs de logiciels à sélectionner le produit le mieux adapté et à ne pas gaspiller de budget supplémentaire pour des facteurs de qualité inutiles et ne pas acheter un produit qui ne couvre pas leurs exigences de qualité. Existe-t-il une méthode systématique pour rendre cette comparaison possible? Quels sont les facteurs qui influent sur la perception de l'utilisateur de la qualité du produit logiciel? Objectif: Dans cette thèse, nous visons à aborder la qualité du produit logiciel du point de vue des utilisateurs. L'objectif est de créer le profil de qualité attendu et observé du produit logiciel afin de démontrer les différences entre les qualités attendues par les utilisateurs et quelles qualités sont observées chez le produit logiciel. Méthode: Nous avons utilisé une stratégie empirique en utilisant une méthode basée sur un sondage pour créer le profil des caractéristiques de qualité attendues et observées. Après avoir développé un modèle de qualité standard, nous avons créé quatre types de questionnaires pour les utilisateurs finaux et les utilisateurs expérimentés, qui visent à susciter les facteurs de qualité. À titre d'étude de cas, nous avons mené trois enquêtes en deux phases dans l'industrie. Dans la phase I, nous avons demandé aux utilisateurs potentiels d'un produit logiciel en cours de développement, de répondre au questionnaire «qualité attendue». Dans la phase II, les utilisateurs d'un produit logiciel existant ont été invités à répondre au questionnaire «qualité observée». Résultats: Les résultats de la première phase montrent qu'il n'y a pas de différence significative entre les attentes de qualité de groupe d'utilisateurs final (end user) et d'utilisateurs expérimentés (power user). Dans la phase II, les résultats révèlent que les utilisateurs du département de développement, connus comme utilisateurs techniquement compétents, trouvent le logiciel plus performant que les utilisateurs d'autres départements de l'entreprise. Conclusion: Avec des profils de plan de qualité en main, il est possible d'effectuer un contrôle croisé utile entre les attentes de qualité spécifiques des utilisateurs et d'autres pilotes (exigences fonctionnelles et architecture / conception), avant ou pendant le processus de développement de logiciels. Le contrôle croisé devrait viser à garantir qu'il existe suffisamment d'activités et de sous-activités dans le processus de développement de logiciels pour répondre aux attentes de qualité des utilisateurs. Sur la base des enquêtes menées, nous concluons que la qualité du logiciel du point de vue des utilisateurs dépend de la connaissance des utilisateurs sur les développements et la qualité de la technologie, en général, et sur le produit logiciel à l'étude, en particulier.----------ABSTRACT : Context: In the ever-evolving software market, software buyers face a central challenge: Among these various products, which one best meets the users’ requirements and budget? While most software buyers are aware of their functional and budgetary requirements, quality factors such as ‘availability’ or ‘reliability’ are not usually taken into account. Software vendors also rarely talk about the quality aspects of their products. The primary challenge is “how to elicit the users’ quality expectations”, and then “how to determine the quality characteristics of a software product”. Comparing these two can assist the software buyers to select the best-fit product; not to waste extra budget for unnecessary quality factors, and not buy a product that does not cover their quality requirements. Is there any systematic method to make this comparison possible? What are the influencing factors that affect the user’s perception of the software product quality? Objective: In this thesis, we aim to address the quality of the software product from the users’ point of view. The goal is to create the expected and observed quality profile of the software product to demonstrate the differences between what qualities were expected from the users’ side, and what qualities are observed in the software product. Method: We employed an empirical strategy using a surveybased method to create the profile of expected and observed quality characteristics. After developing a standard-based quality model, we created four types of questionnaires for end users and power users, which aim to elicit the quality factors. As a case study, we conducted three surveys in two phases in the industry. In phase I, we asked the potential users of a software product which was under development, to answer the ‘expected-quality’ questionnaire. In phase II, the users of an existing software product were asked to answer the ‘observed-quality’ questionnaire. Results: The results of the first phase show that there is no significant difference between the quality expectations of the end and power user groups. In phase II, the results reveal that the users in development department who are known as technically knowledgeable users find the software as higher quality than the users in other departments of the company. Conclusion: With quality plan profiles in hand, it is possible to perform a useful crosscheck between users’ specific quality expectations and other drivers (functional and architecture/design requirements), before or during the software development process. The crosscheck should be aimed to guarantee that there are enough activities and sub-activities in the software development process to support the users’ quality expectations. Based on the conducted surveys, we conclude that the software quality from the users’ point of view depends on the knowledge of the users about the software developments and quality, in general, and on the software product under study, specifically

Volume I: Acquisition Research: The Foundation for Innovation

Proceedings Paper (for Acquisition Research Program)Accordingly, the year 2006 was especially significant for the NPS Acquisition Research Program in taking major strides toward expanding the program''s reach in important ways to other institutions.'' The number of research institutions participating as collaborators grew to 35 with the formation of a Virtual University Consortium.'' Most noteworthy was, as mentioned above, our securing sponsorship from USD(AT&L) to fund research proposals selected from a nationwide call, or Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) (copy available at www.acquisitionresearch.org).'' We''re truly excited at the prospects of receiving innovative and cutting edge proposals from the top minds around the country.'' We trust that this new sponsorship will act like good seeds sown in fertile soil, yielding rich fruits of profitable acquisition research for many years to come.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Volume II Acquisition Research Creating Synergy for Informed Change, Thursday 19th Annual Acquisition Research Proceedings

ProceedingsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Desarrollo de un modelo de procesos para la adquisición de software basado en la NTP-ISO/IEC 12207 para mejorar la gestión de las adquisiciones de software en microempresas peruanas

Dentro de cualquier organización, el proceso para obtener un bien o prestación es un proceso crítico y merece atención, porque si se hace de manera inapropiada, puede causar innumerables daños. En este sentido, el proceso de adquisición de software no es diferente, ya que una adquisición mal realizada puede causar retrasos en la entrega de productos, malas prácticas empresariales, entre otros, mientras que, por el contrario, trabajar con un software adecuado y bien adquirido puede significar una ganancia comercial para las compañías. Por esta razón, en esta investigación, primeramente se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura utilizando el método de Kitchenham & Charters con el propósito de seleccionar el modelo más adecuado que sirva de soporte para la construcción de un modelo nuevo; luego, se caracterizó la NTP-ISO/IEC 12207 haciendo énfasis en las etapas del Proceso de Adquisición que dicha norma establece; después, se diseñó el modelo propuesto haciendo uso de la herramienta GitMind y el cual quedó constituido por siete (07) etapas con sus respectivas actividades, tareas y formatos pertinentes; posteriormente se validó dicho modelo mediante juicio de expertos y; finalmente, se llevó a cabo una prueba piloto de dicho modelo desarrollado en una microempresa peruana que brinda servicios de consultoría en gestión de tecnologías de la información. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que, el modelo de procesos obtuvo una puntuación de 92% de aprobación por parte de los expertos quienes lo consideraron como una valoración de “Muy Buena”, asimismo, en cuanto a la implementación de dicho modelo, se obtuvo una mejora del proceso de adquisición en dicha compañía caso de estudio, al pasar de un nivel pre test promedio de 0.68, a un nivel post test promedio de 3.81, considerando en ambos casos las siete etapas del modelo. Se concluyó que, el modelo de procesos para la adquisición de software sí mejoró el proceso adquisitivo de software en una microempresa peruana que brinda servicios de consultoría en gestión de tecnologías de la información.TesisInfraestructura, Tecnología y Medio Ambient

Assuming Data Integrity and Empirical Evidence to The Contrary

Background: Not all respondents to surveys apply their minds or understand the posed questions, and as such provide answers which lack coherence, and this threatens the integrity of the research. Casual inspection and limited research of the 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), included in the dataset of the World Values Survey (WVS), suggested that random responses may be common. Objective: To specify the percentage of cases in the BRI-10 which include incoherent or contradictory responses and to test the extent to which the removal of these cases will improve the quality of the dataset. Method: The WVS data on the BFI-10, measuring the Big Five Personality (B5P), in South Africa (N=3 531), was used. Incoherent or contradictory responses were removed. Then the cases from the cleaned-up dataset were analysed for their theoretical validity. Results: Only 1 612 (45.7%) cases were identified as not including incoherent or contradictory responses. The cleaned-up data did not mirror the B5P- structure, as was envisaged. The test for common method bias was negative. Conclusion: In most cases the responses were incoherent. Cleaning up the data did not improve the psychometric properties of the BFI-10. This raises concerns about the quality of the WVS data, the BFI-10, and the universality of B5P-theory. Given these results, it would be unwise to use the BFI-10 in South Africa. Researchers are alerted to do a proper assessment of the psychometric properties of instruments before they use it, particularly in a cross-cultural setting

Leading Towards Voice and Innovation: The Role of Psychological Contract

Background: Empirical evidence generally suggests that psychological contract breach (PCB) leads to negative outcomes. However, some literature argues that, occasionally, PCB leads to positive outcomes. Aim: To empirically determine when these positive outcomes occur, focusing on the role of psychological contract (PC) and leadership style (LS), and outcomes such as employ voice (EV) and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Method: A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, using reputable questionnaires on PC, PCB, EV, IWB, and leadership styles. Correlation analyses were used to test direct links within the model, while regression analyses were used to test for the moderation effects. Results: Data with acceptable psychometric properties were collected from 11 organisations (N=620). The results revealed that PCB does not lead to substantial changes in IWB. PCB correlated positively with prohibitive EV, but did not influence promotive EV, which was a significant driver of IWB. Leadership styles were weak predictors of EV and IWB, and LS only partially moderated the PCB-EV relationship. Conclusion: PCB did not lead to positive outcomes. Neither did LS influencing the relationships between PCB and EV or IWB. Further, LS only partially influenced the relationships between variables, and not in a manner which positively influence IWB

Library websites popularity: does Facebook really matter?

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the utilization of social media (Facebook) is an important factor in increasing the visibility of the library site usage in Malaysian public universities. Nine top ranked Malaysian public universities involved in this research and number of Facebook followers for each library website is listed. Alexa software was used as the approach to study the issue of visibility. Alexa is able to determine web site usage, by showing the percentage of visitors of library related subdomain(s) as listed in the top subdomains for each University website (domain) over a month. It is found that Universiti Utara Malaysia library website scored the highest percentage of visitors based on the library related subdomain(s) as listed in the top subdomains for the University website in Alexa. To check such irregularities in access, this paper use EvalAccess 2.0 and it is found that Universiti Sains Malaysia’s library website scored higher irregularities. In term of number of Facebook followers, Univesity of Malaya library has the highest score. It is showed that the utilization of social media (Facebook) is not yet an important factor in increasing the visibility of the library websites. However, expectedly, top ranked universities’ library web sites, are more visible and popular. This research is limited to the situation in Malaysia where public universities are more noticeable and seldom face financial constraints rather than private universities. It is highly important for those universities’ library web sites that are not highly visible to initiate the necessary measures in improving the development of their web sites as the usage of the website is an indicator of online quality