Towards A Software Failure Cost Impact Model for the Customer An Analysis of an Open Source Product

ABSTRACT While the financial consequences of software errors on the developer's side have been explored extensively, the costs arising for the end user have been largely neglected. One reason is the difficulty of linking errors in the code with emerging failure behavior of the software. The problem becomes even more difficult when trying to predict failure probabilities based on models or code metrics. In this paper we take a first step towards a cost prediction model by exploring the possibilities of modeling the financial consequences of already identified software failures. Firefox, a well-known open source software, is used as a test subject. Historically identified failures are modeled using fault trees. To identify costs, usage profiles are employed to depict the interaction with the system. The presented approach demonstrates the possibility to model failure cost for an organization using a specific software by establishing a relationship between user behavior, software failures, and costs. As future work, an extension with software error prediction techniques as well as an empirical validation of the model is aspired

Exploring Principles of User-Centered Agile Software Development: A Literature Review

Context: Software development has been characterized by two major approaches in the last decade: Agile Software Development aiming at increased velocity and flexibility during the development process and User-Centered Design putting the goals and needs of the system’s end-users in the development focus to deliver software with appropriate usability. Hybrid development models, summarized as User-Centered Agile Software Development (UCASD) in this article, propose to combine the merits of both approaches to design software that is both useful and usable. Objective: This paper aims at capturing the current state of the art in UCASD approaches and deriving generic principles from these approaches. More specifically, we are investigating the following research question: Which principles constitute a user-centered agile software development approach? Method: A systematic review of the literature in UCASD is performed. Identified works are analyzed using a coding scheme that differentiates four integration levels: process, practices, people and technology. Through subsequent synthesis of the identified codes, generic principles of UCASD are derived. Results: We identified and analyzed 83 relevant publications. The analysis resulted in a differentiated coding system and five principles for UCASD: (1) Separate Product Discovery and Product Creation, (2) Iterative and Incremental Design and Development, (3) Parallel Interwoven Creation Tracks, (4) Continuous Stakeholder Involvement, and (5) Artifact-Mediated Communication. Conclusion: Through the results of our paper, we intend to contribute to the Software Development body of knowledge by (1) providing a broad overview of existing works in the area of UCASD, (2) deriving an analysis framework (in form a coding system) for works in this area, going beyond former classifications, and (3) identifying generic principles of UCASD and associating them with specific practices and processes

A Process Reference Model for UX

We propose a process reference model for UX (UXPRM), which includes a description of the primary UX lifecycle processes within a UX lifecycle and a set of supporting UX methods. The primary UX lifecycle processes are refined into objectives, outcomes and base practices. The supporting UX methods are refined into related techniques, specific objectives and references to the related documentation available in the literature. The contribution of the proposed UXPRM is three-fold: conceptual, as it draws an accurate picture of the UX base practices; practical, as it is intended for both researchers and practitioners and customizable for different organizational settings; methodological, as it supports researchers and practitioners to make informed decisions while selecting UX methods and techniques. This is a first step towards the strategic planning of UX activities