Communication issues in requirements elicitation: A content analysis of stakeholder experiences

The gathering of stakeholder requirements comprises an early, but continuous and highly critical stage in system development. This phase in development is subject to a large degree of error, influenced by key factors rooted in communication problems. This pilot study builds upon an existing theory-based categorisation of these problems through presentation of a four-dimensional framework on communication. Its structure is validated through a content analysis of interview data, from which themes emerge, that can be assigned to the dimensional categories, highlighting any problematic areas. The paper concludes with a discussion on the utilisation of the framework for requirements elicitation exercises

Requirements: The Key to Sustainability

Software's critical role in society demands a paradigm shift in the software engineering mind-set. This shift's focus begins in requirements engineering. This article is part of a special issue on the Future of Software Engineering

Seeing the big PICTURE: A framework for improving the communication of requirements within the Business-IT relationship

The relationship between the business and IT departments in the context of the organisation has been characterised as highly divisive. Contributing problems appear to revolve around the failure to adequately communicate and understand the required information for the alignment of business and IT strategies and infrastructures. This study takes a communication-based view on the concept of alignment, in terms of the relationship between the retail business and IT within a major high street UK bank. A research framework (PICTURE) is used to provide insight into this relationship and guide the analysis of interviews with 29 individuals on mid-high management level for their thematic content. The paper highlights the lessons that can be derived from the study of the BIT relationship and how possible improvements could be made

Effective communication in requirements elicitation: A comparison of methodologies

The elicitation or communication of user requirements comprises an early and critical but highly error-prone stage in system development. Socially oriented methodologies provide more support for user involvement in design than the rigidity of more traditional methods, facilitating the degree of user-designer communication and the 'capture' of requirements. A more emergent and collaborative view of requirements elicitation and communication is required to encompass the user, contextual and organisational factors. From this accompanying literature in communication issues in requirements elicitation, a four-dimensional framework is outlined and used to appraise comparatively four different methodologies seeking to promote a closer working relationship between users and designers. The facilitation of communication between users and designers is subject to discussion of the ways in which communicative activities can be 'optimised' for successful requirements gathering, by making recommendations based on the four dimensions to provide fruitful considerations for system designers

Using mobile RE tools to give end-users their own voice

Researchers highlight end-user involvement in system design as an important concept for developing useful and usable solutions. However, end-user involvement in software engineering is still an open-ended topic. Novel paradigms such as service-oriented computing strengthen the need for more active end-user involvement in order to provide systems that are tailored to individual end-user needs. Our work is based on the fact that the majority of end-users are familiar with mobile devices and use an increasing number of mobile applications. A mobile tool enabling end-user led requirements elicitation could be just one of many applications installed on end-users' mobile devices. In this paper, we present a framework of end-user involvement in requirements elicitation which motivates our research. The main contribution of our research is a tool-supported requirements elicitation approach allowing end-users to document needs in situ. Furthermore, we present first evaluation results to highlight the feasibility of on-site end-user led requirements elicitation

Major project team learning:examining building information modelling

The speed of technological advancement of software development drives the need for individual and team learning to exploit these developments for competitive advantage. Using a major long term redevelopment as a case study a review of learning processes and project team learning in the context of a voluntary approach to adopting of BIM prior to 2016 is examined. The speed of adoption of BIM across a large redevelopment project covering several years is variable and the differences of preparedness between team members from different organisations raises the question of how effective the project team can be in sharing learning and increasing the speed of adoption of BIM. The benefits of understanding the project environment as a formal learning context are recognised where teams are working in partnering arrangements but the focus is usually on post project review of what went wrong with little time to critically evaluate other variables. Knowledge Management has the potential to help understand and then facilitate greater participation amongst stakeholders in project team learning. The research team undertook decision mapping and knowledge elicitation techniques and applied these to the Dundee Waterfront to identify key factors relevant to successful project management, enabling the Waterfront Project Team to understand current practice. The effectiveness of project team learning in relation to BIM within this long-term major redevelopment is influenced by positive motivational drivers for individuals to learn how to use and apply BIM, the level of organisational support for learning and professional development and the project information and communication systems. In practice the current approach to sharing of knowledge within the project team indicates a fragmented approach in relation to the adoption and application of BIM to managing construction projects

The Importance Of End-User Analysis In New Information System Adapters: Lessons Learned From Practice

The implementation of Information System (IS) in new-IS adapters can remain unused even when they developed properly. The previous research shows that the unsuccessful IS utilization problem primarily related to behavioral issues rather than technical issues. The behavioral issues should be addressed in the stakeholder analysis, an activity in the inception phase of requirement engineering. End-users of an IS are one of the focuses in stakeholder analysis. We studied the correlation of the end-user analysis in new-IS adapters with the successfulness of IS utilization. We conducted a qualitative studied on 20 IS development projects. The findings show strong correlation of the end-user behavior and the IS adoption. We suggest the end-user analysis is necessary for the IS development project in new-IS adapters. We concluded that it is recommended to formally get the end-user commitment before starting the IS development process. Keyword : Information System, end-user analysis, new-IS adapters, end-user commitmen

Cultural Influence on Requirements Engineering Activities: Australian Practitioners’ View

Requirements Engineering (RE) involves the critical activities required to capture users’ requirements accurately, completely and in line with users\u27 needs. However, since RE is a communication-intensive activity, an individual\u27s culture might profoundly influence the effectiveness of RE practices. We conducted interviews with 16 Australian practitioners, supplemented by follow-up interviews to consolidate the data. Our study aims to empirically identify the cultural aspects that influence RE activities, analyse the implications of these, and present solutions to address these cultural aspects

Leadership competencies in the requirements phase of IS/IT development projects

Doutoramento em GestãoWhile the successful implementation of an Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) project is widely recognised as being a key research topic, yet recent surveys continue to show significant failure rates. Inadequate requirements management together with inadequate project management have frequently been identified as the principal causes of failure. As a result, the requirements phase has been considered to be one of the most critical phases of the IS/IT project life cycle, especially in relation to software development projects, where new systems must be defined. Moreover, a review of the literature suggests that management leadership is considered to be one of the most important factors in team, project and organisational effectiveness. Management leadership is regarded as being a vital factor in achieving project success, namely in the field of IS/IT. Further research acknowledges that leadership effectiveness may depend on contingency factors, such as the project type, or the project life cycle phase. However, few studies have focussed on the impact of leadership along the software project life cycle, and the literature review found no study that focusses on any particular phase. This is surprising, as the literature suggests that each phase has specific characteristics which are distinguishable by the activities that must be performed. Thus, this research study aims to integrate all these elements within a framework, through a multiple case study using exploratory research. Therefore, this framework will identify which leadership competencies are considered to be relevant to the requirements phase of software development projects’ life cycle. Contingency factors are also be identified and discussed, as well as their impact on the set of identified competencies. Finally, the practical and theoretical contribution of the results are presented, as well as new insights into the requirements and leadership research streams.O estudo da gestão de projetos de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informação (SI/TIs) é largamente reconhecido como um tópico de investigação atual e relevante. No entanto, estudos empíricos recentes continuam a demonstrar um elevado nível de falhas no processo. Algumas das principais causas mais frequentemente identificadas envolvem a gestão inadequada de requisitos, bem como práticas inadequadas ao nível da gestão global do projeto. Assim, não é surpreendente que a fase que envolve as atividades dos requisitos seja considerada como uma das mais criticas fases de todo o ciclo de vida dos projetos de SI/TI, nomeadamente dos projetos de desenvolvimento de software onde se define um novo sistema a implementar. Para além disso, a revisão da literatura sugere que a liderança é considerada como um dos fatores mais importantes para a obtenção de eficácia das equipas, dos projetos e ainda das organizações. A liderança da gestão é considerada como um fator vital na obtenção do sucesso do projeto, nomeadamente na área dos SI/TIs. Adicionalmente, a literatura reconhece que a eficácia da liderança depende de fatores contingenciais, tais como o tipo de projeto ou a fase do ciclo de vida a que se aplica. No entanto, apenas uma pequena parte desses estudos focam o impacto da liderança ao longo do ciclo de vida do projeto. Surpreendentemente, não foi encontrado nenhum estudo que foque alguma fase em particular, mesmo considerando que a literatura sugere que diferentes fases têm características e atividades que as distingue das demais. Assim, este projeto de investigação pretende explorar a integração de todos estes elementos num quadro de análise comum, através da execução de múltiplos casos de estudos. Este quadro de análise pretende identificar quais as competências de liderança relevantes para a execução da fase de requisitos do ciclo de vida de projetos de desenvolvimento de software. Também se pretende explorar os fatores contingenciais que influenciam o conjunto de competências encontradas, bem como compreender a forma como isso se processa. Finalmente, são apresentadas as contribuições teóricas e práticas, e ainda enumerados os tópicos de investigação futura decorrentes dos resultados obtidos

Improving supplementary feeding in species conservation

Supplementary feeding is often a knee-jerk reaction to population declines, and its application is not critically evaluated, leading to polarized views among managers on its usefulness. Here, we advocate a more strategic approach to supplementary feeding so that the choice to use it is clearly justified over, or in combination with, other management actions and the predicted consequences are then critically assessed following implementation. We propose combining methods from a set of specialist disciplines that will allow critical evaluation of the need, benefit, and risks of food supplementation. Through the use of nutritional ecology, population ecology, and structured decision making, conservation managers can make better choices about what and how to feed by estimating consequences on population recovery across a range of possible actions. This structured approach also informs targeted monitoring and more clearly allows supplementary feeding to be integrated in recovery plans and reduces the risk of inefficient decisions. In New Zealand, managers of the endangered Hihi (Notiomystis cincta) often rely on supplementary feeding to support reintroduced populations. On Kapiti island the reintroduced Hihi population has responded well to food supplementation, but the logistics of providing an increasing demand recently outstretched management capacity. To decide whether and how the feeding regime should be revised, managers used a structured decision making approach informed by population responses to alternative feeding regimes. The decision was made to reduce the spatial distribution of feeders and invest saved time in increasing volume of food delivered into a smaller core area. The approach used allowed a transparent and defendable management decision in regard to supplementary feeding, reflecting the multiple objectives of managers and their priorities