Approach to Include Sustainability and Creativity in Requirements Engineering

Silveira, C., Santos, V., Reis, L., & Mamede, H. (2022). CRESustain: Approach to Include Sustainability and Creativity in Requirements Engineering. Journal of Engineering Research and Sciences, 1(8), 27-34. https://doi.org/10.55708/js0108004, https://doi.org/10.55708/js0108Requirements Engineering is an evolving field facing new challenges. One of the central conundrums is sustainability in software. The possibility of using known creativity techniques while introducing the dimensions of sustainability to help provide unexpected, original, practical, and sustainable answers in software development is challenging and motivating. This paper proposes an approach, CRESustain, incorporating sustainability dimensions when introducing creativity techniques in the Requirements Engineering process. CRESustain uses various creativity techniques considered appropriate for the different stages of the RE process. It is inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals, creative problem-solving methods, and the Karlskrona Manifesto. The methodology applied to give materiality to the outcome of this work was Design Science Research, a research paradigm that uses knowledge to solve problems, generate new knowledge and insights, and results in an artefact. The main results indicate that the approach stimulates discussion about sustainability in technical, economic, social, human, and environmental dimensions focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals and people's needs.publishersversionpublishe

Methodology for introducing creativity in requirements engineering

The increase of global competitiveness, the ability of organizations to effectively use information technologies, and to focus on innovation and creativity are recognized as being important. In this context, the hypothesis of resorting to known creativity techniques or adaptations to help innovation in the field of Software Engineering appears to be challenging. This paper proposes a methodology for introducing creativity and innovation techniques in the Requirements Engineering process in order to build more agile and efficient Information Systems. The method uses a variety of creative techniques that are thought to be appropriate to the different stages of the process and is inspired by existing creative problem-solving methods and techniques, in particular in the Creative Problem-Solving Process, Productive Thinking Model and the Creative Potentiation Method. The study of the method allowed its application, through the use of various creativity techniques, in a real context in a social institution - the Social Center for Support to the Community of S ão Domingos. The application of the methodology allowed the identification of new opportunities that allowed the organization to devise service delivery strategies that were more suited to the needs of people.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The case of social organizations

Silveira, C., Reis, L., Santos, V., & Mamede, H. S. (2020). Creativity in prototypes design and sustainability: The case of social organizations. Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems, 5(6), 1237-1243. https://doi.org/10.25046/AJ0506147The role of creativity techniques in the design of prototypes is of particular interest given its potential for innovation. At same time, despite the efforts of decades in terms of policies and programs of action, humanity has not yet come close to global sustainability. Sustainability design must involve society and creatively employ all available knowledge sources for creating sustainable software. This paper proposes a prototype design approach rooted in employing creativity techniques, while being guided by the dimensions and principles of the Karlskrona Manifesto. This approach is applied to the development of a multidisciplinary aggregator for the optimization of social services. As a result. guidelines for the use of creativity in requirements engineering will be presented, as well as on how to include sustainability issues, namely the Sustainable Development Goals and the five dimensions of sustainability in the design of prototypes.publishersversionpublishe

O caso das Organizacões Sociais

Silveira, C., Santos, V., Reis, L., & Mamede, H. (2020). Criatividade no Design de Protótipos: O caso das Organizacões Sociais. [Creativity in Prototypes Design: The case of Social Organizations]. In A. Rocha, B. E. Perez, F. G. Penalvo, M. del Mar Miras, & R. Goncalves (Eds.), 2020 15th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI) : Proceedings of CISTI’2020 - 15th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, 24 to 27 of June 2020, Seville, Spain [9140870] (Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, CISTI; Vol. 2020-June). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.23919/CISTI49556.2020.9140870The study of creativity in the design of prototypes for an organization is of particular interest given its potential for innovation. This article proposes an approach to the design of prototypes using creativity techniques and including sustainability concerns. The application of the approach is illustrated by presenting a real case of development of an aggregator and multidisciplinary prototype for the optimization of social services. The approach includes guidelines for the use of creativity techniques in requirements engineering and for incorporating sustainability concerns.authorsversionpublishe

A new Approach to Sustainability and Creativity in Requirements Engineering

Silveira, C., Santos, V., Reis, L., & Mamede, H. (2021). Uma nova Abordagem para a Sustentabilidade e Criatividade na Engenharia de Requisitos. In A. Rocha, R. Goncalves, F. G. Penalvo, & J. Martins (Eds.), Proceedings of CISTI 2021 - 16th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (pp. 1-6). (Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, CISTI). IEEE Computer Society Press. https://doi.org/10.23919/CISTI52073.2021.9476532Current concerns in the field of sustainability are cross-cutting across several sectors. In this sense, the ability of organizations to effectively use information and communication technologies and to focus on sustainability, innovation and creativity are recognized as important factors. In this article, an approach is proposed to incorporate sustainability factors when introducing creativity into the Requirements Engineering process. With a view to building more agile and sustainable Information Systems, a case of applying the approach in identifying requirements is presented, incorporating sustainability concerns. The approach stimulates the discussion on sustainability in its multiple dimensions (human, environmental, social, technical, and economic), focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals and the needs of people.authorsversionpublishe

What an original app! : a study on the novelty of software products

Innovation in software is important to both members of the public and the software industry, and involves developing software that is both useful and novel. While novelty has attracted significant interest in relation to physical products, it is not so well studied in the context of software products. In this paper, we aim to help develop our understanding of novelty in software by investigating which kinds of software products are seen as more or less novel; what factors may contribute most to perceptions of novelty in software, and whether members of the public and those involved in software development think in the same ways about these things. Through a study consisting of 3 stages, we identify examples of software products that are seen as original, at time of writing, by both software specialists and members of the public, and also two key factors–use of software in a new context, and use of a new underlying technology, which appear to contribute strongly to perceptions of novelty in software. We briefly discuss the implications of our findings and directions for further work

Perceptions of creativity in software engineering research and practice

Software engineering, especially design and requirements engineering, is intensely creative. However, practitioners and researchers appear to perceive creativity differently, hindering knowledge transfer. To explore and understand these perceptual differences, this paper combines a systematic mapping study of SE research literature with an interview study of practitioners. The subsequent analysis of 84 primary studies and 17 semi-structured interviews reveal some agreement (e.g. creativity is a process that produces novel and useful ideas). However, it also reveals important differences in the way creativity is conceptualized, measured and improved. These differences undermine evidence-based techniques to enhance and measure creativity in SE research and practice