Intangible trust requirements - how to fill the requirements trust "gap"?

Previous research efforts have been expended in terms of the capture and subsequent instantiation of "soft" trust requirements that relate to HCI usability concerns or in relation to "hard" tangible security requirements that primarily relate to security a ssurance and security protocols. Little direct focus has been paid to managing intangible trust related requirements per se. This 'gap' is perhaps most evident in the public B2C (Business to Consumer) E- Systems we all use on a daily basis. Some speculative suggestions are made as to how to fill the 'gap'. Visual card sorting is suggested as a suitable evaluative tool; whilst deontic logic trust norms and UML extended notation are the suggested (methodologically invariant) means by which software development teams can perhaps more fully capture hence visualize intangible trust requirements

A systematic mapping study on integration proposals of the personas technique in agile methodologies

Agile development processes are increasing their consideration of usability by integrating various user‐centered design techniques throughout development. One such technique is Personas, which proposes the creation of fictitious users with real preferences to drive application design. Since applying this technique conflicts with the time constraints of agile development, Personas has been adapted over the years. Our objective is to determine the adoption level and type of integration, as well as to propose improvements to the Personas technique for agile development. A systematic mapping study was performed, retrieving 28 articles grouped by agile methodology type. We found some common integration strategies regardless of the specific agile approach, along with some frequent problems, mainly related to Persona modelling and context representation. Based on these limitations, we propose an adaptation to the technique in order to reduce the creation time for a preliminary persona. The number of publications dealing with Personas and agile development is increasing, which reveals a growing interest in the application of this technique to develop usable agile softwareThis research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities research grant PGC2018-097265-B-I00, MASSIVE project (RTI2018-095255-B-I00) and by EIT-Health, grant number 19091 (POSITIVE project). This research was also supported by the Madrid Region R&D programme (project FORTE, P2018/TCS-4314

Requirements engineering related usability techniques adopted in agile development processes

Over the last decade there has been a growing interest in the integration of agile software development process (ASDP) and user-centred design (UCD). However, there are no papers that study which usability techniques related to requirements engineering are being adopted in the ASDP, and there are no formalized proposals for their adoption. Objective: Identify which techniques related to requirements engineering activities are being adopted in the ASDP and determine how they are being adopted. Method: We have conducted a systematic mapping study (SMS) to retrieve the literature reporting the application of usability techniques in the ASDP. We analysed these techniques using a catalogue of techniques compiled by software engineering researchers. We then determined the manner in which the techniques that are being used in the ASDP were adopted. Results: The agile community is very much interested in adopting usability techniques. The most used techniques are Personas, contextual inquiry and prototyping. Conclusions: This research offers an overview of the adoption of usability techniques related to requirements engineering in ASDPs and reports how they are being adopted. We found that some of the techniques are being adapted for adoption.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports FLEXOR and “Realizando Experimentos en la Industria del Software: Comprensión del Paso de Laboratorio a la Realidad” projects (TIN2014-52129-R and TIN2014-60490-P, respectively) and the eMadrid-CM “Investigación y Desarrollo de Tecnologías Educativas en la Comunidad de Madrid” project (S2013/ICE-2715

Managing usability evaluation practices in agile development environments

Usability evaluation is a core usability activity that minimizes risks and improves product quality. The returns from usability evaluation are undeniable. Neglecting such evaluation at the development stage negatively affects software usability. In this paper, the authors develop a software management tool used to incorporate usability evaluation activities into the agile environment. Using this tool, agile development teams can manage a continuous evaluation process, tightly coupled with the development process, allowing them to develop high quality software products with adequate level of usability. The tool was evaluated through verification, followed by the validation on satisfaction. The evaluation results show that the tool increased software development practitioner satisfaction and is practical for supporting usability work in software projects.

Agile User Experience Design: A Design Science Enquiry

This paper presents a qualitative analysis of an information systems design study within the context of agile software development based on conceptually different two design approaches: Current Agile Process (CAP) and Enhanced Agile Process (EAP). Eight agile software professionals and one user experience designer were recruited from the industry to form two small agile teams, where one agile software professional shared the product owner role in both teams. Each team undertook agile software product development based on exclusively one of the two conceptually different design approaches, CAP and EAP. Both teams used the same suite of user stories presented by the product owner. The progress of product development was assessed using four evaluation approaches: observation data comparison, debrief data comparison, individual system evaluation and comparative system evaluation. This paper presents the results of observation data comparison only. The results suggest that agile software development team that followed the enhanced agile process had more user experience focus in the design and the outcome of the product delivery proved to be somewhat richer in user experience. The paper also explores the research design, research process, developer perceptions as well as areas of shortcomings where further understanding and modelling effort is needed

Focal points for a more user-centred agile development

The integration of user-centred design and Agile development is becoming increasingly common in companies and appears promising. However it may also present some critical points, or communication breakdowns, such as a variable interpretation of user involvement, a mismatch in the value of documentation and a misalignment in iterations. We refine these themes, emerging from both literature and previous fieldwork, by analysing a case study performed in an IT company that adopts both software engineering approaches, and we further extend the framework with a new theme related to task ownership. We argue that communication breakdowns can become focal points to drive action and decision for establishing an organisational context acknowledging the value of user involvement: to this end, we suggest the adoption of design thinking and the active engagement of the customer in embracing its values

Artifacts for Agile User-Centered Design: A Systematic Mapping

Abstract—The integration of Agile and User-Centered Design methods is a fundamental condition to improve the quality of software products. However, one of the main problems faced to establish this integration on a day-to-day basis is how to improve communication among the invariably distinct involved teams. We believe that the artifacts involved in the development process could be used to support and increase teams’ communication. To better understand this scenario, we performed a systematic mapping study on artifacts and their role in the communication between Agile and User-Centered Design fields. Through the analysis of 56 papers dealing with this specific topic, we present the artifacts used for communication in these approaches and software development events when they are used. The analyzed studies reinforced our beliefs about the importance of artifacts to improve teams’ communication

Käyttäjäymmärryksen kasvattaminen suunnittelukäytännöillä ketterissä sovelluskehitysprojekteissa

Modern software development aims to produce valuable digital solutions by benefiting from customer- and user-centred agility. These can be supported by design practices, with which user understanding can be deepened. The goal of this thesis was to study how design practices can help small companies to increase their user understanding in agile software development projects. The empirical study was conducted as an insider action research. In this study, four design practices were tested: semi-structured interviews, user stories, scenarios, and prototyping. The four design practices helped to increase user understanding, by explaining who the users are, why they use the product, and how they use it. Semi-structured interviews helped to discover users’ values and motivations to use the current and future versions of the product. User stories allowed for creative thinking and writing of perceived user needs in a clear sentence. Scenarios described realistic stories of users. The stories gave details of the user, their interactions, circumstances, goals, and environment. Prototyping was used alongside the other three design practices to help the users feel and test the product. Testing the product in real context allowed for spontaneous idea creation for system improvement. The results of this thesis indicate that a small company could use semi-structured interviews, user stories, scenarios, and prototyping to increase user understanding in agile software development projects. Increasing user understanding requires careful selection of design practices. The design practices should provide detailed information about who the users are, what their needs and motivations are, and how they would use a product.Nykyaikainen ohjelmistokehitys pyrkii tuottamaan arvokkaita digitaalisia ratkaisuja hyödyntäen asiakas- ja käyttäjäkeskeistä ketteryyttä. Näitä tukevat suunnittelukäytännöt, joilla syvennetään käyttäjäymmärrystä. Tämän työn tavoitteena oli tutkia, kuinka suunnittelukäytännöt voivat auttaa pieniä yrityksiä kasvattamaan käyttäjäymmärrystä ketterissä ohjelmistokehityksen projekteissa. Empiirinen tutkimus toteutettiin toimintatutkimuksena, jonka toteuttaja oli diplomityön tekijä. Tutkimuksessa testattiin neljää suunnittelukäytäntöä: puolistrukturoituja haastatteluja, käyttäjätarinoita, skenaarioita ja prototypointia. Nämä suunnittelukäytännöt auttoivat käyttäjäymmärryksen kasvattamisessa. Käyttäjäymmärryksellä selitetään tuotteen käyttäjäryhmät, syyt tuotteen käytölle ja kuinka tuotetta käytetään. Puolistrukturoidut haastattelut auttoivat löytämään käyttäjien arvoja ja motivaatioita tuotteen nyky- ja tulevien versioiden käytölle. Käyttäjätarinat sallivat luovaa ajattelua ja havaittujen käyttäjätarpeiden kirjoittamista selkeinä lauseina. Skenaarioilla kuvattiin realistisia tarinoita käyttäjistä. Tarinoissa kuvattiin yksityiskohtaisesti käyttäjät, heidän vuorovaikutukset, olosuhteet, tavoitteet ja ympäristö. Prototypointia käytettiin kolmen muun suunnittelukäytäntöjen ohessa testauksen ja kokeilun tukena. Tuotteen testaus oikeassa kontekstissa mahdollisti spontaanin tuotekehitysideoinnin. Tämän työn tulokset viittaavat siihen, että pienet yritykset voisivat käyttää puolistrukturoituja haastatteluja, käyttäjätarinoita, skenaarioita ja prototypointia käyttäjäymmärryksen kasvattamiseen ketterissä ohjelmistokehitysprojekteissa. Käyttäjäymmärryksen kasvattaminen vaatii käytettävien suunnittelukäytäntöjen huolellista valintaa. Niiden tulee vastata yksityiskohtaisesti siihen, keitä käyttäjät ovat, mitkä ovat heidän tarpeensa ja motivaationsa sekä kuinka he käyttävät tuotetta

Systematic mapping study of usability in post-implementation on agile software development

Abstract. Need for new software information systems is increasing year by year and information software systems have become present in everyday life of people. As the number of systems has increased so has the need of these systems to be usable and work properly. This thesis used systematic mapping study method to get overview of the current state of usability in agile software development. In the study, initially 269 papers were retrieved from SCOPUS and after exclusion of irrelevant papers 92 papers were selected to the study of which 75 papers got through inclusion criteria to the final stage of the study. In this thesis a look to current state of usability in agile software development is presented. Study suggested that usability usage in agile environment is still trying to find its place but there is research being done constantly to make it more prevalent in the field. From those agile software development projects, that had included the usage of some sort of usability method to development, too few included usability throughout the whole development cycle.Tiivistelmä. Tarve uusille tietojärjestelmille on kasvanut vuosi vuodelta suuremmaksi. Tietojärjestelmistä on tullut osa meidän jokapäiväistä elämäämme. Samalla, kun tietojärjestelmien määrä on kasvanut, on kasvanut myös tarve tehdä niistä entistä käytettävämpiä ja toimivia. Tässä tutkielmassa on käytetty systemaattista tutkimuskirjallisuuden kartoitus menetelmää, jonka avulla on hankittu yleiskuva tämän hetkisestä käytettävyyden tilasta ketterässä ohjelmistokehityksessä. Tutkimukseen otettiin alun perin 269 julkaisua, jotka haettiin SCOPUS tietokannasta. Tulosten seulonnan jälkeen 92 julkaisun todettiin liittyvän olennaisesti aiheeseen. Näistä 92 julkaisusta tutkimuksen viimeiseen vaiheeseen hyväksyttiin 75 julkaisua. Tässä tutkielmassa annetaan yleiskuva käytettävyydestä ketterässä ohjelmistokehityksessä tämän hetken kirjallisuuden perusteella. Tutkimuksessa todettiin, että käytettävyyden käyttö ketterässä ohjelmistokehityksessä yrittää vielä löytää omaa paikkaansa, mutta tutkimuksessa tapahtuu jatkuvaa kehitystä, jotta käytettävyys saataisiin selkeäksi myös ketterässä ohjelmistokehityksessä. Niissä projekteissa, joissa ketterää ohjelmistokehitystä harjoitettiin ja käytettävyys oli otettu huomioon, liian harva sisällytti käytettävyyden menetelmiä tukemaan kehitystä läpi koko ohjelmiston kehityskaaren