Gabriela N. Aranda

A framework to improve communication during the requirements elicitation process in GSD projects

Achieving a shared understanding of requirements is difficult in any situation, even more so in global software development projects. In such environments, people must deal not only with the lack of face to face communication, but also with other issues such as time difference, cultural diversity and a large amount of information originating from different sources throughout the world. Obtaining the right requirements therefore implies extra effort. In order to minimize such problems, we propose a framework that focuses on analyzing the factors that may be problematic in global software development and which suggests a set of strategies to improve the requirements elicitation process in such environments. In this paper, we describe the different phases of our framework and present the results of an experiment that test part of this framework. The results indicate that applying some of the strategies proposed in the framework seems to positively affect the stakeholders’ satisfaction with regard to communication. Moreover, the quality of the written software requirements specifications seems to be better as well when using those strategies.

A cognitive-based approach to improve distributed requirements elicitation processes

Technology used by virtual teams during a distributed requirement elicitation process is usually selected according to predetermined business politics, personal criteria of managers, etc. However, when technology is not appropriate for all members of the team, it is possible that some stakeholders would not feel completely comfortable, and hence influence their participation negatively. In order to mitigate these effects during a distributed requirements elicitation process, we propose a model based on psychology theories to identify suitable elicitation techniques according to cognitive aspects of most stakeholders in the group.

Technology Selection to Improve Global Collaboration

Global software development projects face up a variety of challenges respect to communication and control that need to be solved or, at least, minimized. For that reason, processes crucially based on communication, like software requirements elicitation; have to be rethought in such a new context. Since requirement elicitation is a human-centred process, we propose using techniques from the field of cognitive psychology to define a strategy for selecting technology. With this goal, this paper introduces our approach and illustrates how cognitive styles might be used to improve a distributed process by selecting suitable groupware tools and elicitation techniques according to the characteristics of stakeholders

Evaluating collaborative applications from a knowledge management approach

Different focuses exist to evaluate collaborative systems. Since knowledge is becoming the most important asset of enterprises, we propose evaluating collaborative tools by using a knowledge management approach. To do so, we analyze six aspects of the knowledge management process, which are: knowledge creation, knowledge accumulation, knowledge sharing, knowledge utilization, knowledge internalization and knowledge integration and then propose a model to evaluate each one.

What Information Would You Like to Know about Your Co-worker? A Case Study

The lack of face-to-face interaction in Distributed Software Development (DSD) projects is a great obstacle for informal communication, which is the way in which we normally discover more about the co-workers along with building trust. Since we are attempting to reinforce the team spirit and improve trust between co-workers, we have analyzed what information software engineers consider to be important to know about their virtual colleagues. In this paper we describe the preliminary results obtained from this study and outline the features of a tool, called Trusting Social Network, with which to support DSD and help stakeholders to know each other better.

CHOOSING GROUPWARE TOOLS AND ELICITATION TECHNIQUES ACCORDING TO STAKEHOLDERS’ FEATURES

The set of groupware tools used during a distributed development process is usually chosen by taking into account predetermined business politics, managers’ personal preferences, or people in charge of the project. However, perhaps the chosen groupware tools are not the most appropriate for all the group members and it is possible that some of them would not be completely comfortable with them. To avoid this situation we have built a model and its supporting prototype tool which, based on techniques from psychology, suggests an appropriate set of groupware tools and elicitation techniques according to stakeholders’ preferences.

Trusty: a tool to improve communication and collaboration in DSD

Distributed Software Development (DSD) projects frequently confront the problem of a lack of face-to-face interaction, which is a great obstacle in informal communication. Since informal communication is the means by which people normally discover facts about their co-workers, thus leading to their mutual trust, we have designed a tool called Trusty with which to support DSD. In this paper we describe the main characteristics of Trusty, which provides mechanisms to support communication, coordination, knowledge management and other capabilities such as the statistical analysis of those networks which are valuable in virtual environments.

Strategies to recommend groupware tools according to virtual team characteristics

The different communication technologies that appeared in the last decades made Global Software Development (GSD) projects a common way to develop software. However, the difficulties distance between sites causes in communication and information management are the main disadvantages of this kind of projects and therefore, an interesting field of research. Our proposal focuses on techniques from the field of cognitive psychology to define a new approach to groupware tools selection. In previous work we focused on defining preferences at the individual level. As a complement, this paper presents a set of strategies to find the best selection for a given group of people, taking into account the different combinations of cognitive profiles that can arise in a GSD project.

Analyzing and Evaluating the Main Factors that Challenge Global Software Development~!2009-09-20~!2010-05-03~!2010-05-17~!

Global Software Development (GSD) projects are characterized by the fact that work is distributed throughout many geographically distanced sites. Software engineering activities in such scenarios face various challenges. Although interpersonal communication is crucial if a common understanding with regard to the system under construction is to be achieved, time separation, cultural diversity and economical factors make it impossible for face-to-face meetings to take place. In this paper, we introduce a basis for analyzing those aspects that might cause communication problems in GSD environments and suggest some strategies to reduce misunderstandings among stakeholders, with the aim of improving distributed projects.

Analyzing Ontology as a Facilitator During Global Requirements Elicitation

Global software development projects deal with a variety of challenges, particularly those concerning communication and language differences. Bearing this in mind, processes that are crucially based on communication, such as requirements elicitation, must be specially rethought to minimize critical situations. Since effective communication would help to reduce misunderstandings among stakeholders, and therefore help to achieve more committed requirements, we propose a framework for global requirements elicitation focused on minimizing the most frequent problems in GSD. Both the proposal and the preliminary results of a controlled experiment are presented in this paper.