1 Introduction
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RQ1: What are the key challenges in Agile Requirements Engineering?
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RQ2: How can we deal with the identified key challenges?
2 Related Work
Authors | Research method | Reported challenges |
---|---|---|
Ramesh, Cao, Baskerville [13] | Multi-case study (16 companies) | Problems with cost and schedule estimation; inadequate or inappropriate architecture; neglect of non-functional requirements; customer access and participation; prioritization on a single dimension; inadequate requirements verification; minimal documentation |
Bjarnason, Wnuk, Regnell [14] | Case study | Planning for agility; weak requirements prioritization; weak effort estimates; quality issues; system completed late; capturing innovation; lack of documented requirements; customer-proxy role; ensuring competence (RE, VV); motivating teams for requirements work; weak requirements at start |
Inayat, Salim, Marczak, Daneva, Shamshirband [11] | Systematic literature review | Minimal documentation; customer availability; inappropriate architecture; budget and time estimation; neglecting non-functional requirements (NFRs); customer inability and agreement; contractual limitations; requirements change and its evaluation |
Heikkila, Damian, Lassenius, Paasivaara [15] | Mapping study | Problems with client or customer representatives; insufficiency of user story format; difficulties in prioritization of requirements; growing technical debt; reliance on tacit requirements knowledge; imprecise effort estimates |
Soares, Alves, Mendes, Mendonca, Spinola [12] | Systematic literature review | Requirement prioritization; non-functional requirements identification; lack of information; volatility of requirements; requirements definition; dependence among requirements; prediction of impacts of changes; user dependence; communication and collaboration with users; requirements validation |
3 Research Method
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Anonymity among experts to avoid influence of dominant individuals
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Iterative approach
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Controlled feedback with statistical group response
3.1 General Study Design
3.2 Panel of Experts
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Many years of experience as professional in the field of ASD
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Working experience in one or more of the following roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Consultant for Agile Transition, Kanban Expert or Lean Startup Expert
know-how very poor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | know-how very high |
0.0% | 0.0% | 15.4% | 69.2% | 15.4% |
3.3 Round 1
Question round 1 | Answer given by expert |
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What challenge do you perceive with requirements in terms of Agile Software Development? | Stakeholders affected by requirements or changing the system are not involved |
Why do you consider this challenge as important? | In one of my projects, representatives of end users did not really knew the pain of end users. Even the early UI prototypes were tested by incorrect stakeholders, which led to risks of conflicts and failure |
Agile RE activity | Description |
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Discovery | Eliciting new ideas/requirements |
Refinement | Clarifying and analyzing new ideas/requirements |
Prioritization | Measuring the value that the development will add to the product |
Review | Checking if requirement is implemented in the manner to deliver value |
Documentation | Capturing discussion and decisions around the requirement |
3.4 Round 2
3.5 Round 3
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 (RQ1) What Are the Key Challenges in Agile Requirements Engineering?
ID | Key challenge | N | Yes | No |
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C1 | In agile software development functional or technical dependencies with other teams are a challenge because a considerable coordination effort is required | 17 | 14 (82.4%) | 3 (17.6%) |
C2 | In agile software development it is a challenge that stakeholders understand that the development team can make independent (detailed) decisions | 20 | 15 (75.0%) | 5 (25.0%) |
C3 | In agile software development it is a challenge not to lose sight of the big picture during the implementation of complex requirements | 20 | 15 (75.0%) | 5 (25.0%) |
C4 | In agile software development continuous management of requirements is a challenge since not all of them are fixed at the beginning and they may change over the course of the project | 22 | 16 (72.7%) | 6 (27.3%) |
C5 | In agile software development it is a challenge to work out user requirements and quality of use in cooperation with direct users (end users) of the product | 18 | 13 (72.2%) | 5 (27.8%) |
C6 | In agile software development it is a challenge to involve stakeholders throughout the whole development process in regular iterations, so that product development will succeed | 20 | 14 (70.0%) | 6 (30.0%) |