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Agile methods and software product line engineering (SPLE) are widely recognized as practical approaches for delivering high-quality software, adapting to evolving stakeholder needs, and tackling complex problems. This study proposes a hybrid agile software development and reuse approach called SPLE-Scrum based on the activities of software product line engineering and Scrum. Within the SPLE process, we incorporate requirement engineering and design practices to create a reference architecture with reusable components called core assets by introducing a product management meeting. The core assets are reused to build a series of applications with various product lines. The product increments are delivered in each Sprint with the review and retrospective meetings based on Scrum lifecycle and practices. We present a case study involving a blockchain online store to demonstrate the practical application of SPLE-Scrum, highlighting the benefits of integrating Scrum and software product line engineering. The research hypotheses of the proposed approach were validated through a study of structured interviews with 5 experts and 44 software practitioners, showing that the key factors of product management, project requirements, and product architecture in the SPLE-Scrum approach have a beneficial impact on project success. The SPLE-Scrum approach provides valuable insights and practical guidance for organizations seeking to optimize their software engineering practices while incorporating agile development and software reuse capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metrics are key elements that can give us valuable information about the effectiveness of agile software development processes, particularly considering the Scrum environment. This study aims to learn about the metrics adopted to assess agile development processes and explore the impact of how the role performed by each member in Scrum contributed to increasing/reducing the perception of the importance of these metrics. The impact of years of experience in Scrum on this perception was also explored. To this end, a quantitative study was conducted with 191 Scrum professionals in companies based in Portugal. The results show that the Scrum role is not a determining factor, while individuals with more years of experience have a higher perception of the importance of metrics related to team performance. The same conclusion is observed for the business value metric of the product backlog and the percentage of test automation in the testing phase. The findings allow for extending the knowledge about Scrum project management processes and their teams, in addition to offering important insights into the implementation of metrics for software engineering companies that adopt Scrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a solution based on blockchain technology and smart contracts for agile project management in light of the continuing transition in the software development industry. Due to the fact that these technologies are self-executing, customized, and impervious to tampering, they are considered to be crucial for the transition to a more efficient, transparent, and transactive payment gateway between major stakeholders. These major stakeholders will be able to communicate through smart contracts, which will act as a bridge between them. As part of their responsibility, they will make sure that all of the terms of the contract are met and acknowledged by all members of the team. As a result of our research, we propose a model in which payouts could be automatically enabled and penalties or grants could be introduced based on performance. If any changes were to be made to the contract in the future, all parties involved would be automatically notified. To maintain the development cycle, they should accept these changes as soon as possible. Because of this, the product owner and client are able to concentrate their resources on more profitable and productive tasks, without the need to monitor this aspect of agile project management. Our proposed model brings together different partners with the objective of successfully developing different IT projects by leveraging software engineering solutions such as smart contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software engineering companies have progressively incorporated agile project management methodologies. Initially, this migration occurred mostly in the context of startups, but in recent years it has also sparked interest from other companies with larger and more geographically dispersed teams. One of the frameworks used for large-scale agile implementation is the LeSS framework. This study seeks to explore how Management 3.0 principles can be applied in the context of the ten practices proposed in the LeSS framework. To this end, a qualitative research methodology based on four case studies is used to identify and explore the role of Management 3.0 in software management and development processes that adopt this agile paradigm. The findings show that the principles of Management 3.0 are relevant to the implementation of the LeSS framework practices, especially in fostering team values and personal values; however, distinct principles between the two paradigms are also identified, namely the greater rigidity of processes advocated in the LeSS framework and a greater focus on process automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is crucial for the growth of society, and the usage of effective learning methods is key to transmit knowledge to young students. Some initiatives present Virtual Reality technologies as a promising medium to provide active, effective, and innovative teaching. In turn, the use of this technology seems to be very attractive to students, making it possible to acquire knowledge through it. On the other hand, agile methodologies have taken an essential role within information technologies and they are key in Software Engineering education. This paper combines both areas and presents prior research about Virtual Reality experiences with educational purposes and introduces a serious VR video game that aims to promote the learning of agile methodologies in Software Engineering education, specifically the Scrum methodology. This application tries to bring students closer to their first days of work within a software development team that uses the Scrum methodology. Two evaluation processes performed with university teachers and students indicate that the developed video game meets the proposed objectives and looks promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]