Technische Universität München

A Case Study on Artefact-based RE Improvement in Practice

Joint work withStefan Wagner, University of Stuttgart

Daniel Méndez

Technical University of MunichGermany

PROFES 2015Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

@mendezfe

Notion of RE quality is eventually relative to its context!

[RUP-derivate]

Does this represent a good or a bad Requirements Engineering (RE)?

Notion of RE quality and its improvement

Socio-economic context

RE “Best Practice” Norm

Goals,expectations,

…

1. Solution orientation

Assess/Benchmark

RE reference modelAdopt

RE improvement principles

Notion of RE quality and its improvement

Socio-economic context

RE “Best Practice” Norm

Goals,expectations,

…

1. Solution orientation

2. Problem orientation

Serves as Orientation

Steer

RE reference model

RE improvement principles

Notion of RE quality and its improvement

Socio-economic context

RE “Best Practice” Norm

Goals,expectations,

…

1. Solution orientation

2. Problem orientation

Paradigms (simplified)

Serves as Orientation

Steer

RE reference model

RE improvement principles

Notion of RE quality and its improvement

Socio-economic context

RE “Best Practice” Norm

Goals,expectations,

…

1. Solution orientation

2. Problem orientation

Paradigms (simplified)

A

A. Activity orientation

B

B. Artefact orientation

Serves as Orientation

Steer

RE reference model

RE improvement principles

Potential and limitations of problem-driven, artefact-based RE improvement still unknownProblem

Problem-driven, artefact-based RE improvement Why? Goals,

expectations,…Steer

» Notion of RE quality is something relative to context» Reluctance against solution orientation in practice*

„I am not convinced of the benefits of external standards.“

Why problem orientation

Why artefact orientation » Allows to abstract from complex processes» Supports, e.g., flexibility and consistency in artefacts

* http://re-survey.org

Artefact-based RE improvement approach

• Blueprint of an artefact-b. and problem-driven RE improvement• Process realisation in EPF composer, templates, …

Details on the approach presented at PROFES 2013 & PROFES 2014

Artefact-based RE Improvement

Process engineers

Comparative evaluation (against CMMI-based approaches)

Art.-based RE Imp.

Approach

Evaluation of artefact-based RE improvementStudy design overview

• Case 1: Wacker Chemie

• Case 2: SupplyOn AG (independent replication)

Goals

• Evaluate problem-driven and artefact-based RE improvement in industrial context compared to solution-driven and activity-based approaches

Approach: Case study research

Research questions

Project environment

Artefact-based RE Project

participants

Comparative evaluation

Legacy RE approach

1. How well are process engineers supported in their RE improvement tasks?2. How well are project participants supported by the resulting RE reference model?

Study 1

Study 2

Study 1

Study 2

Case studies on artefact-based RE improvementEssence of rating

RQ 1 Structured approach to RE improvement

Context-specific RE impr. goals achieved

The good: It worked

RQ 2

(The actually interesting parts…)The bad: It worked, but only “somehow”…

Research questions

1. How well are process engineers supported in their RE improvement tasks?2. How well are project participants supported by the resulting RE reference model?

Case studies on artefact-based RE improvementQualitative feedback from participants

Process engineers (RQ 1)

• Domain knowledge is essential for efficient improvement

• Workshops fostered discussions engineers would otherwise not have

• Need for fast improvement cycles (e.g. meetings every week)

• Need for additional studies when many changes have been made

• The success of a pilot study strongly depends on the quality of the tools

• Coaching should focus on why things should be done, not how

• Focus not only on artefacts, but also suggest methods and techniques

• Not too many changes at once

Project participants (RQ 2)

Limitations • Problem orientation at the cost of certification• Social factors never fully covered by models and approaches• Improvement effects beyond RE not objectively measurable• Relation between process quality and artefact quality not completely clear

Success factors (selected)

• Awareness of management for problems at project level

• Willingness to participate and openness to change

• Domain knowledge

• Respect (and reflect) organisational culture

• Skills (social skills, empirical skills) and openness for pragmatism

Case studies on artefact-based RE improvement

Thank you!Daniel Méndez

Daniel.Mendez@tum.de

@mendezfeFurther reading

• Slides will be made available (and probably tweeted)

• Ask me if you need material (tools, instruments …)

http://www4.in.tum.de/~mendezfe/openspace.shtml[PROFES 2013]

[PROFES 2015]