User story

About: User story is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1078 publications have been published within this topic receiving 23717 citations.

Story-Wall: Lightweight Requirements Management for Agile Software Development

Abstract: The majority of commercial requirements management tools tend to be costly, document-driven and used by large organizations undertaking traditional forms of software development. While they are not immediately in the spirit of the agile philosophy, which advocates live dialogue over documentation and encourages small teams of developers to do the simplest thing possible to satisfy a requirement, there are some fundamental practices supported by these tools that play a role in more agile forms of software development. This paper examines the core requirements management needs that are common to software development of all flavors and describes a tool concept designed to bring lightweight requirements management to the agile (predominantly XP) context. This work is based on experiences in using agile development practices within ibm.com, and on the transition from manually handling paper-based story cards to the use of first generation story management tools. The paper discusses early feedback on the concept from practitioners.

Does the Customer Know Best? The Results of a Survey on E-Commerce Development

Abstract: Introduction Since the 1960's it has been generally acknowledged that user participation in the Information Systems (IS) development process increases the likelihood of project success (Barki & Hartwick, 1994; Foster & Franz, 1999). Put another way, lack of communication between users and developers has been a common theme in the well-documented reasons for failures in IS implementations (Bussen & Myers, 1997). User involvement is likely to result in increased user satisfaction (Garceau, Jancura, & Kneiss, 1993), and the perceived usefulness of the application (Foster & Franz, 1999; Franz & Robey, 1986; McKeen, Guimaraes, & Wetherbe, 1994). Foster and Franz (1999) emphasise the need for user involvement, most importantly in the early stages of development, concluding, "managers should actively seek user involvement in systems development activities" (p.345). The portfolio of applications being developed today has changed with the emergence of the E-Commerce (EC) business paradigm. Organisations are capitalising on the potential of new technologies such as the Internet, Intranets and the World Wide Web to improve communications and transaction efficiency, reduce operation costs and increase market share. This paradigm shift in business has been supported by applications with a different focus. While organizations continue to implement IS for internal use and to integrate with known business partners, the focus of this paper is business-to-customer (B2C) applications that are available for universal use. The literature to date regarding user participation in IS development has not differentiated between applications designed for traditional environments or for B2C. In comparing the two domains, Fraternali (1999) states: "Applications for the Internet in such domains as electronic commerce, digital libraries and distance learning are characterized by an unprecedented mix of features that makes them radically different from previous applications of information technology" (p. 227). However the underlying process for developing applications is addressed by Yourdon (2000), who questions whether e-business/Internet projects are really that different by suggesting "E-business projects face the same demands pressures and risks as any other kind of IT development project, but to a greater degree". This added pressure comes from not only squeezed timeframes for delivery, but also from the necessity to change accompanying business processes. He suggests also that "the e-business phenomenon is much more fundamental because it creates a much more intimate connection with customers, vendors and suppliers". One feature of B2C systems that differentiates them from traditional MIS applications is the identity of the "user". Traditional systems are developed for a clearly defined set of known users either in-house or business partners. The development may be undertaken in-house or by external parties, but either way, the user communities are clearly identifiable. They are often championing the project and possibly funding it from their budget. Likewise off-the-shelf packages allow organisations to see what they are getting before software purchase. Customisation of the package to meet the organisations needs can then precede implementation. Again the known, distinguishable in-house user community is able to be involved in decisions regarding the adoption and adaptation of the product. In the global business environment of today, a B2C application is inviting the consideration of the world at large. Rather than serving a known user group, B2C sites may target the world at large. Potential users are diverse in all respects, ethnically, culturally as well as geographically. They are also diverse in their computing skills as noted by Fraternali (1999), "Universal access by individuals with limited or no skills in the use of computer applications introduces the need of new man-machine interfaces capable of capturing the customer's attention and facilitating access to information" (p. …

Model-Driven User Stories for Agile Data Warehouse Development

Abstract: Agile data warehouse development using Scrum does incremental project delivery by delivering data marts from an initial backlog of user stories. However, story writing is largely ad-hoc and experience-driven. We propose a model driven approach that makes story writing relatively more systematic, and which provides guidance in the story-writing task. The approach is in three layers. At the top-most level, the decision application model contains (a) entities about which decisions are to be taken and (b) Inter-relationships between entities. Criteria for selection of entities are identified. At the next level, decisions for entities are identified. A decision model is proposed and as before, criteria for selection of decisions are presented. Finally, at the third level, information relevant to the selected decisions is modeled and selected to yield user stories. We illustrate the approach with an example of a voice and data communication service provider.

Introduction to Agile

Abstract: In Chapter 3 we took a look at different development processes and frameworks. Our experience is that we have seen a great deal of improvement in projects over the last few years. To be more specific, we have seen that the agile influence is making an impact in how our projects are delivering business value.

Agile user experience design: a design science enquiry

Abstract: This paper presents a qualitative analysis of an information systems design study within the context of agile software development based on conceptually different two design approaches: Current Agile Process (CAP) and Enhanced Agile Process (EAP). Eight agile software professionals and one user experience designer were recruited from the industry to form two small agile teams, where one agile software professional shared the product owner role in both teams. Each team undertook agile software product development based on exclusively one of the two conceptually different design approaches, CAP and EAP. Both teams used the same suite of user stories presented by the product owner. The progress of product development was assessed using four evaluation approaches: observation data comparison, debrief data comparison, individual system evaluation and comparative system evaluation. This paper presents the results of observation data comparison only. The results suggest that agile software development team that followed the enhanced agile process had more user experience focus in the design and the outcome of the product delivery proved to be somewhat richer in user experience.