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Identifying Conflicting Quality Priorities in Software Product Development

Overview:
There are many stakeholders involved in the development of a software product, and each brings their own perspective as to what is important when it comes to software product quality. This is because software product quality affects each group working with the differently, so each groups has different priorities and incentives influencing their perspective on what is important. This conflict means it is impossible to derive a perfect set of priorities with respect to software product quality, as any such set will be the result of compromise between many groups – none of whom will be able to achieve their ideal outcome.

The research presented in this thesis seeks to provide a methodology to elicit the priorities of different groups involved in the development of a software product with respect to software product quality. Using these results the thesis seeks to understand and explain differences that occur between the different groups involved. These results can be used to look at the viability of involving different groups in the software engineering process dependant on the desired outcome.

Information
Defence: Planned for February 2011
Opponent: TBA

Key Dates
Lock-in opponent: September 2010 (4 months in advance)
Compile thesis: September – December 2010 (1 month full time work)
Approval to publish: January 2011
Submit to publisher: January 2011
Public defence: February 2011

Thesis Chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1 will introduce and position the research presented in the thesis.
Status: Not started – to start September 2010, finish December 2010
Download: Unavailable

Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 2 will provide a systematic review of the value-based perspective on software product quality.
Status: In progress, planned finish September 2010
Download: Unavailable

Chapter 3: Eliciting Priorities for Requirement Selection
Chapter 3 introduces the method used to determine priorities in software development in this thesis. Specifically this chapter presents a case study identifying priorities affecting the selection and prioritisation of requirements.
Status: Complete
Publication: Sebastian Barney, Aybüke Aurm, Claes Wohlin, “A Product Management Challenge: Creating Software product Value through Requirements Selection,” Journal of System Architecture, vol. 54, no. 6, pages 576-593, 2008
Download: PDF

Chapter 4: Requirements Selection in China
Chapter 4 continues the work presented in Chapter 3, using a modified version of the method presented in the previous chapter to identify the priorities placed on issues affecting requirements selection in software development companies operating in China.
Status: Complete
Publication: Sebastian Barney, Ganglan Hu, Aybüke Aurum, and Claes Wohlin, “Creating Software Product Value in China,” IEEE Software, 26(4):84-90, July-August 2009.

Chapter 5: A Method for Comparing Priorities
Chapter 5 extends the methodology presented in Chapter 3 to allow comparisons between the priorities of key stakeholders groups.
Status: In progress

Chapter 6: Comparing Software Product Quality Priorities of Internal Stakeholders
Chapter 6 presents a case study comparing the priorities on software product quality of internal success-critical stakeholder groups using the methodology presented in Chapter 5.
Status: Complete
Publication: Sebastian Barney, Claes Wohlin, “Software Product Quality: Ensuring a Common Goal,” in proceedings of International Conference on Software Process (ICSP), Vancouver, pages 256-267, 16-17 May 2009
Download: PDF

Chapter 7: Subcontracted Developer Priorities on Software Product Quality
Chapter 7 extends the research in Chapter 6 to include subcontracted developers – highlighting differences in the priorities between this group and people working internal to the development organisation.
Status: Complete
Publication: Sebastian Barney, Claes Wohlin, “Alignment of Software Product Quality Goals in Two Outsourcing Relationships,” in proceedings of Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE), Keele, 12-13 April 2010
Download: PDF

Chapter 8: Offshored Developers Priorities on Software Product Quality
Chapter 8 extends the research in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 to include offshore developers – highlighting differences in the priorities between this group and people working in a co-located environment.
Status: In progress
Publication: TBA
Download: Unavailable

Chapter 9: Software Quality at Sony Ericsson
Chapter 9 uses the methodology presented in Chapter 5 to identify the priorities with respect to software product quality in a case study at Sony Ericsson.
Status: In progress
Publication: TBA
Download: Unavailable

Chapter 10: Alignment of Software Product Quality in a Globally Distributed Development Setting
Chapter 10 uses the methodology presented in Chapter 5 to identify the priorities with respect to software product quality in a case study spanning three countries.
Status: In progress
Publication: TBA
Download: Unavailable

Chapter 11: Comparing Priorities on Intellectual Capital Investments
Chapter 11 applies the methodology presented in Chapter 5 to identify and compare the priorities placed on intellectual capital by various groups involved in the software development process.
Status: Complete
Publication: Sebastian Barney, Aybüke Aurum, Claes Wohlin, “Assessing the Balance of Intellectual Capital Investments,”, in proceedings of Euromicro (SEAA), Patras, pages 313-320, 27-29 August 2009
Download: PDF

Chapter 12: Investments in Software Products
Chapter 12 applies the methodology presented in Chapter 5 to identify and compare the priorities placed on intellectual capital by various groups involved in the software development process.
Status: Complete
Publication: Sebastian Barney, Claes Wohlin, Aybüke Aurum, “Balancing Software Product Investments,” in proceedings of Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM), 15-16 October 2009
Download: PDF

Publications not included in this thesis:

• Sebastian Barney, Aybke Aurum, and Claes Wohlin, “Quest for a Silver Bullet: Creating Software Product Value through Requirements Selection,” in Proceedings of the 32nd Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications (SEAA), pages 274-281, 28 August – 1 September 2006.
• Nina D Fogelström, Sebastian Barney, Aybüke Aurum, and Anders Hederstierna, “When Product Managers Gamble with Requirements: Attitudes to Value and Risk,” in Proceedings of the International Work- shop Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality (RefsQ), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 8–9 June 2009.
• Sebastian Barney, Aybu ̈ke Aurum, and Claes Wohlin, “The Relative Importance of Aspects of Intellectual Capital for Software Companies,” Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications (SEAA), 27–29 August 2009.
• Mahvish Khurum and Sebastian Barney, “Innovative Features Se- lection using Real Options Theory,” in 3rd International Workshop on Software Product Management (IWSPM), 1 September 2009.
• Mahvish Khurum, Sebastian Barney, Nina D Fogelstrm, and Tony Gorschek, “Requirements Management for Continuous Software Product Development,” Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE), 12–13 April 2010.