Improving requirements engineering by artefact orientation

The importance of continuously improving requirements engineering (RE) has been recognised for many years. Similar to available software process improvement approaches, most RE improvement approaches focus on a normative and solution-driven assessment of companies rather than on a problem-driven RE improvement. The approaches dictate the implementation of a one-size-fits-all reference model without doing a proper problem investigation first, whereas the notion of quality factually depends on whether RE achieves company-specific goals. The approaches furthermore propagate process areas and methods, without proper awareness of the quality in the created artefacts on which the quality of many development phases rely. Little knowledge exists about how to conduct a problem-driven RE improvement that gives attention to the improvement of the artefacts. A promising solution is to start an improvement with an empirical investigation of the RE stakeholders, goals, and artefacts in the company to identify problems while abstracting from inherently complex processes. The RE improvement is then defined and implemented in joint action research workshops with the stakeholders to validate potential solutions while again concentrating on the artefacts. In this paper, we contribute an artefact-based, problem-driven RE improvement approach that emerged from a series of completed RE improvements. We discuss lessons learnt and present first result from an ongoing empirical evaluation at a German company. Our results suggest that our approach supports process engineers in a problem-driven RE improvement, but we need deeper examination of the resulting RE company standard, which is in scope of the final evaluation

A Case Study on Artefact-based RE Improvement in Practice

Most requirements engineering (RE) process improvement approaches are solution-driven and activity-based. They focus on the assessment of the RE of a company against an external norm of best practices. A consequence is that practitioners often have to rely on an improvement approach that skips a profound problem analysis and that results in an RE approach that might be alien to the organisational needs. In recent years, we have developed an RE improvement approach (called \emph{ArtREPI}) that guides a holistic RE improvement against individual goals of a company putting primary attention to the quality of the artefacts. In this paper, we aim at exploring ArtREPI's benefits and limitations. We contribute an industrial evaluation of ArtREPI by relying on a case study research. Our results suggest that ArtREPI is well-suited for the establishment of an RE that reflects a specific organisational culture but to some extent at the cost of efficiency resulting from intensive discussions on a terminology that suits all involved stakeholders. Our results reveal first benefits and limitations, but we can also conclude the need of longitudinal and independent investigations for which we herewith lay the foundation

On Evidence-based Risk Management in Requirements Engineering

Background: The sensitivity of Requirements Engineering (RE) to the context makes it difficult to efficiently control problems therein, thus, hampering an effective risk management devoted to allow for early corrective or even preventive measures. Problem: There is still little empirical knowledge about context-specific RE phenomena which would be necessary for an effective context- sensitive risk management in RE. Goal: We propose and validate an evidence-based approach to assess risks in RE using cross-company data about problems, causes and effects. Research Method: We use survey data from 228 companies and build a probabilistic network that supports the forecast of context-specific RE phenomena. We implement this approach using spreadsheets to support a light-weight risk assessment. Results: Our results from an initial validation in 6 companies strengthen our confidence that the approach increases the awareness for individual risk factors in RE, and the feedback further allows for disseminating our approach into practice.Comment: 20 pages, submitted to 10th Software Quality Days conference, 201

Naming the Pain in Requirements Engineering: A Design for a Global Family of Surveys and First Results from Germany

For many years, we have observed industry struggling in defining a high quality requirements engineering (RE) and researchers trying to understand industrial expectations and problems. Although we are investigating the discipline with a plethora of empirical studies, they still do not allow for empirical generalisations. To lay an empirical and externally valid foundation about the state of the practice in RE, we aim at a series of open and reproducible surveys that allow us to steer future research in a problem-driven manner. We designed a globally distributed family of surveys in joint collaborations with different researchers and completed the first run in Germany. The instrument is based on a theory in the form of a set of hypotheses inferred from our experiences and available studies. We test each hypothesis in our theory and identify further candidates to extend the theory by correlation and Grounded Theory analysis. In this article, we report on the design of the family of surveys, its underlying theory, and the full results obtained from Germany with participants from 58 companies. The results reveal, for example, a tendency to improve RE via internally defined qualitative methods rather than relying on normative approaches like CMMI. We also discovered various RE problems that are statistically significant in practice. For instance, we could corroborate communication flaws or moving targets as problems in practice. Our results are not yet fully representative but already give first insights into current practices and problems in RE, and they allow us to draw lessons learnt for future replications. Our results obtained from this first run in Germany make us confident that the survey design and instrument are well-suited to be replicated and, thereby, to create a generalisable empirical basis of RE in practice

Use, potential, and showstoppers of models in automotive requirements engineering

Several studies report that the use of model-centric methods in the automotive domain is widespread and offers several benefits. However, existing work indicates that few modelling frameworks explicitly include requirements engineering (RE), and that natural language descriptions are still the status quo in RE. Therefore, we aim to increase the understanding of current and potential future use of models in RE, with respect to the automotive domain. In this paper, we report our findings from a multiple-case study with two automotive companies, collecting interview data from 14 practitioners. Our results show that models are used for a variety of different purposes during RE in the automotive domain, e.g. to improve communication and to handle complexity. However, these models are often used in an unsystematic fashion and restricted to few experts. A more widespread use of models is prevented by various challenges, most of which align with existing work on model use in a general sense. Furthermore, our results indicate that there are many potential benefits associated with future use of models during RE. Interestingly, existing research does not align well with several of the proposed use cases, e.g. restricting the use of models to informal notations for communication purposes. Based on our findings, we recommend a stronger focus on informal modelling and on using models for multi-disciplinary environments. Additionally, we see the need for future work in the area of model use, i.e. information extraction from models by non-expert modellers

Understanding and improving requirements discovery in open source software development: an initial exploration

In proprietary or closed source software (CSS) development, there is a formal requirements engineering (RE) phase for discovering the requirements for an application. The requirements engineering process in CSS development is comprised of many formal practices (e.g., elicitation/generation). With the advent of the Internet and web-based tools and technologies, a new and different form of software development has emerged – globally distributed, typically volunteer driven, open source software (OSS) development. OSS development largely occurs in an informal, ad hoc manner and often lacks the formal developmental practices and processes of CSS development. The goal of this research is to gain a better understanding of the current state of RE in OSS, to identify potential directions for improving RE in OSS, and to empirically investigate the potential of some specific RE practices to improve OSS development. In pursuit of the research goal, in the initial phase of this research a web-based survey of practicing OSS developers was conducted to explore the current state of RE in OSS. Results supported the claims about informality of RE in OSS. as well as pointed towards potential directions for improvement. In the second phase of the research, a web-based experiment was conducted to investigate the actual benefits from a particular CSS development requirements generation practice – requirements reuse (operationalized as the availability of a library of reusable requirements within OSS development environment) – for OSS development. Analysis of the experimental data revealed that that the experimental treatment (availability of a library of reusable requirements) had a significant effect on the size of requirements message, requirements quantity and requirements completeness after controlling for covariates, indicating usefulness of the reusable library. The final phase of the research focused on OSS issue gathering approaches, a source of requirements for OSS. In this phase, a qualitative study of OSS developers explored how an OSS issue gathering approach, enforcing classification (versus free-form OSS issue gathering), may contribute to the misclassification problem (erroneous classification of OSS issues), and what can be done at the issue gathering interface level to mitigate the misclassification problem. Insights from the analysis of data from the final phase of the research shed light on the desirable characteristics that OSS issue gathering interfaces should possess for mitigating misclassification

A framework for modeling and improving agile requirements engineering.

Context. Companies adopt hybrid development models consisting of an integration of agile methodologies and Human-Centered Design (HCD) with the aim to increase value delivery as well as to reduce time to market. This has an impact on how Requirements Engineering (RE) is carried out in an agile environment. To this end, people apply different kind of agile techniques like artifacts, meetings, methods, and roles. In this context, companies often struggle with improving their value chain in a systematic manner, since guidelines for choosing an appropriate set of agile techniques are missing. Objective. The vision of this PhD thesis is to build a framework for modeling agile RE. Organizations benefit from implementing this framework by increasing their value delivery (organization external) and improving the collaboration (organizational intern). Method. We followed an inductive research approach, where we used the learnings from several studies to create the framework. In the beginning, we carried out a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to analyze the state of the art of agile RE with focus on user and stakeholder involvement. Subsequent, we created the agile RE metamodel, which evolved iteratively along the consecutively studies. Based on the metamodel, we defined an profile that can be used to create domain specific models according to the organizational environment. Moreover, we conducted a Delphi study in order to identify the most important problems industry has to face today in terms of agile RE. The results were used as input for a systematic pattern mining process, which was utilized in order to create agile RE patterns. Results. The framework for modeling agile RE consists of three main components: i) agile RE metamodel, which can be used to analyze the organizational environment in terms of value delivery ii) catalogue of agile RE problems, which allows to detect recurring problems in terms of agile RE iii) catalogue of agile RE patterns, which allows to solve the detected problems. The agile RE metamodel comes with a profile, which can be used to deviate domain specific models. In addition, we created tool support for the framework by means of a web application (agileRE.org), which allows us to share the knowledge and best practices for agile RE. Furthermore, we proved how the framework can be applied in industry by means of case studies in Germany and in Spain. Conclusion. The framework for modeling agile RE empowers companies to improve their organizational environments in terms of value delivery and collaboration. Companies can use the framework for improving their value chain in a systematic manner. In particular, it gives guidance for choosing appropriate agile techniques, which fit to the changing needs of the organizational environment. In addition, we can state that the framework is applicable on an international level.Contexto. Con el objetivo de incrementar la potencialidad de sus desarrollos y de reducir el tiempo de puesta en el mercado, las empresas adoptan modelos de desarrollo híbridos que integran metodologías ágiles y diseño centrado en el usuario (DCU). El tratamiento de los requisitos de software en entornos ágiles es algo que impacta de manera directa en la consecución de estos objetivos. Por ello, los equipos aplican diferentes técnicas de tratamiento de requisitos como los artefactos, reuniones, métodos de trabajos grupales o el tratamiento efectivo de roles. Sin embargo, las empresas a menudo se encuentran con dificultades para elegir las mejores técnicas a aplicar en su contexto y hay una carencia de guías de soporte. Objetivo. La visión de esta tesis doctoral es construir un framework para trabajar de manera efectiva con requisitos ágiles. La idea esencial es que las organizaciones y empresas puedan usar el framework para mejorar tanto su cadena de valor (visión externa) como para mejorar sus procesos de desarrollo (visión interna). Método. Para el desarrollo del trabajo se ha usado una metodología de investigación inductiva, usando diferentes métodos de trabajo. Inicialmente, se ha llevado a cabo un estudio sistemático de la literatura (SLR) que nos permite evaluar el estado del arte en el tratamiento de requisitos ágiles pero centrado en cómo se trabaja con la involucración de los diferentes stakeholders en el proceso. Hemos continuado aplicando la ingeniería guiada por modelos desarrollando un metamodelo para trabajar con los requisitos ágiles y un profile que permite definir un lenguaje específico de dominio para el uso del metamodelo en entornos concretos. Este trabajo se ha enriquecido con la aplicación de un estudio usando Delphi para identificar los problemas más importantes que la industria se encuentra a la hora de trabajar con ingeniería de requisitos en entornos agiles. Finalmente, con los resultados hemos conseguido desarrollar un conjunto de patrones para la creación de requisitos ágiles. Resultados. El framework para modelar requisitos ágiles tiene tres componentes principales: i) Metamodelo para trabajar con requisitos ágiles que servirá para analizar el entorno de la organización. ii) un catálogo de posibles problemas que se encuentran en entornos agiles y iii) un catálogo de patrones de requisitos ágiles que resuelven los problemas detectados. El metamodelo para el trabajo con requisitos ágiles viene acompañado de un lenguaje específico de dominio, basado en un perfil. Y, además, se ha creado una aplicación web (agileRE.org) que ayuda a poner en común el conocimiento. Por último, el framework ha sido aplicado con éxito en entornos empresariales españoles y alemanes. Conclusión. El framework para modelar requisitos ágiles ayuda a las compañías a mejorar sus entornos organizaciones in términos de costes de desarrollo y aspectos colaborativos. Las empresas pueden usar el framework para mejorar su cadena de valor de una manera sistemática. En particular, da una guía para elegir técnicas apropiadas en el tratamiento de requisitos ágiles, pudiendo adaptarse al a realidad del entorno concreto de trabajo

Unterstützung der Koexistenz von agilen und traditionellen Anforderungsartefakten

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