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Purpose Today’s software engineers often work in teams to develop complex software systems. Therefore, successful software engineering in practice require team members to possess not only sound programming skills such as analysis, design, coding and testing but also soft skills such as communication, collaboration and self-management. However, existing examination-based assessments are often inadequate for quantifying students’ soft skill development. The purpose of this paper is to explore alternative ways for assessing software engineering students’ skills through a data-driven approach. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the exploratory data analysis approach is adopted. Leveraging the proposed online agile project management tool – Human-centred Agile Software Engineering (HASE), a study was conducted involving 21 Scrum teams consisting of over 100 undergraduate software engineering students in multi-week coursework projects in 2014. Findings During this study, students performed close to 170,000 software engineering activities logged by HASE. By analysing the collected activity trajectory data set, the authors demonstrate the potential for this new research direction to enable software engineering educators to have a quantifiable way of understanding their students’ skill development, and take a proactive approach in helping them improve their programming and soft skills. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has yet to be published previous studies using software engineering activity data to assess software engineers’ skills.

Flexibility and change adoption are key attributes for service-oriented architecture (SOA) and agile software development processes. Although the notion of agility is quite visible on both sides, still the integration of the two diverse concepts (architectural framework and development process) should be well thought of before employing them for a software development project. For this purpose, this study is designed to analyze the two diverse software architectural framework and development approaches, that is, SOA and Scrum process model, respectively, and their integrated environment in software project development setup perspective for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). This study also analyzes commonalities among Scrum process model and SOA architectural framework to identify compatibility between Scrum and SOA so that the Scrum process can be constructively used for SOA based projects. This study also examines the proper design and setup of Scrum process suitable for large-scale SOA based projects. For this purpose, an SOA based research and development project is selected as a case study using Scrum as the software development process. The project development and deployment perspective include eight core modules that constitute the overall project framework.

There are inherent difficulties in designing an effective Human&ndash, Machine Interface (HMI) for a first-of-its-kind system. Many leading cognitive research methods rely upon experts with prior experiences using the system and/or some type of existing mockups or working prototype of the HMI, and neither of these resources are available for such a new system. Further, these methods are time consuming and incompatible with more rapid and iterative systems development models (e.g., Agile/Scrum). To address these challenges, we developed a Wargame-Augmented Knowledge Elicitation (WAKE) method to identify information requirements and underlying assumptions in operator decision making concurrently with operational concepts. The developed WAKE method incorporates naturalistic observations of operator decision making in a wargaming scenario with freeze-probe queries and structured analytic techniques to identify and prioritize information requirements for a novel HMI. An overview of the method, required apparatus, and associated analytical techniques is provided. Outcomes, lessons learned, and topics for future research resulting from two different applications of the WAKE method are also discussed.

Scrum is the most widely used agile development framework that guides the development process with its ability to create customer-valued software artifacts iteratively and incrementally, whilst seeking best practices to provide continuous measurement during production. However, measuring success in Scrum can be a challenging endeavor. In particular, it is hard to select the best fitting agile metrics during consecutive Scrum sprints. The goal of this industrial case study was to utilize a systematic selection process for identifying the appropriate scrum metrics tools addon component within the TBİTAK SAGE software development group. Moreover, the distribution of software developers’ preferences of process metrics were analyzed according to their characteristic features and defense industry structure, and are presented using various distribution charts. Finally, alternatives to the software development process measurement component, which was integrated into the agile software process tool employed by the TBİTAK SAGE software development group, were efficiently determined by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process approach. Among the options discussed, our results suggest that the Actionable Agile Addon scored the highest followed by the Screenful Addon. The present study presents a rigorous approach that ultimately have improved community participation in metric planning, implementation and monitoring, thus moving towards sustainable software development goals.

This paper emphasizes on software effort estimation and knowledge management of practicing Scrum methodology that are challenging tasks in agile context. Proposed approach improves software effort estimation and knowledge management of software projects by focusing on Scrum process and practices using ontology model in a multiagent estimation system. It also motivates project key stakeholders to regularly save significant tacit knowledge of unique situations in the form of lessons learnt during the project development. Various agents of the estimation system access the existing knowledge base and autonomously perform their inferencing activities using description logic as per requirements specified by the scrum master and respond with suitable estimate to him/her in the form of time, resources, and lessons learnt for the success of future projects. To validate our approach, an experiment, based on twelve web projects, was conducted using proposed approach, delphi and planning poker estimation methods. The obtained results by applying MMRE, PRED(x) evaluation measures reveals that proposed approach delivers more accurate estimates as compared with delphi and planning poker methods.

This work is a summary of research previously published at the 41st International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training in 2019. The perceptions and attitudes of developers impact how software projects are run and which development practices are employed in development teams. Recent Agile methodologies have taken this into account, focusing on collaboration and a shared team culture. In this research, we investigate the perceptions of Agile development practices and their usage in Scrum software development teams. Although perceptions collected through surveys of 42 participating students did not evolve significantly over time, our analyses show that the Scrum role significantly impacted participants' views of employed development practices. We find that using the version control system according to Agile ideas was consistently rated most related to the values of the Agile Manifesto. Furthermore, we investigate how common software development artifacts can be used to gain insights into team behavior and present the development data measurements we employed. We show that we can reliably detect well-defined Agile practices, such Test-Driven Development, in this data and that usage of these practices coincided with participants' self-assessments.

An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is an innovative way to fund projects based on blockchain. The funding is based on the selling of tokens by means of decentralized applications called smart contracts written in Solidity, a programming language specific for Ethereum blockchain. The ICOs work in a volatile context and it is crucial that the team is capable of handling constant changes. The Agile methods, proven practices enabling to develop software in presence of changing requirements, could be a means for managing uncertainty. The main goals of this work are to understand software engineering activities related to ICOs, recognize the ICOs developed using Agile methods, and make a comparison between ICOs and Agile ICOs. In addition, we perform a deeper analysis of Agile ICOs concerning project planning, software development, and code features. Our work shows that the roles of the people involved in an ICO can be compared to the typical roles of the SCRUM methodology. The majority of Agile ICOs use tool of testing before storing smart contract on blockchain. Finally, the application of volumetric and complexity software metrics shows that the files of Agile ICOs is on average shorter and less complex than in other smart contracts.

Agile systems development methodologies (ASDMs) have gained high acceptance in very small entities (VSEs) of software development seeking quality at minimal effort. SCRUM and XP in industrial settings and UPEDU in academic ones are main of them. Similarly, Software Process Improvement (SPI) initiatives promote the utilization of process frameworks and standards. However, despite both worlds (i.e. ASDMs and SPI) pursue a shared end of high-quality software, both are separated by different underlying approaches. We consider that ASDMs can get benefits from SPI through controlled enhancements (i.e. an agile-discipline balance) without elimination of agility. Thus, in this research, we report the design of SCRUM+, an enhanced SCRUM with recommendations on roles, activities-tasks and artifacts from the SPI standard ISO/IEC 29110. SCRUM+ was designed by using a Means-Ends analysis. Our final aim is to provide such an enhanced SCRUM methodology via an Electronic Process Guide (EPG) to help practitioners for a better use of agile approaches with SPI added recommendations that be found theoretically robust and potentially useful regarding SCRUM from a panel of experts and SCRUM practitioners.

Distributed software engineering and agility are strongly pushing on today's software industry. Due to inherent incompatibilities, for years, studying Scrum and its application in distributed setups has been subject to theoretical and applied research, and an increasing body of knowledge reports insights into this combination. Through a systematic literature review, this paper contributes a collection of experiences on the application of Scrum to global software engineering (GSE). In total, we identified 40 challenges in 19 categories practitioners face when using Scrum in GSE. Among the challenges, scaling Scrum to GSE and adopting practices accordingly are the most frequently named. Our findings also show that most solution proposals aim at modifying elements of the Scrum core processes. We thus conclude that, even though Scrum allows for extensive modification, Scrum itself represents a barrier for global software engineering, and development teams have to customize Scrum properly to benefit from agile software development in GSE.

Working with usability and UX design in an agile development context such as Scrum has been found challenging. Not all companies have the need or resources for a team of dedicated UX specialists. In other cases the UX team is perceived as a bottleneck. We therefore set out to investigate; how companies can perform UX tasks, when no or little UX expertise exists in the organization; if it is possible to perform this work in line with the Scrum sprints and how such work should be facilitated. To do this and since the Scrum framework states that every team member should be able to perform every work task, we trained software developers in three different companies to perform certain selected UX methods. The training was done as 1-day training sessions. The developers were provided with materials describing UX methods modified to be used in an agile, industrial environment. These consisted of guidelines, templates and cheat sheets. These materials were refined throughout the training sessions based on observations and feedback from the developers. We found that especially the templates were highly valued by the developers. The templates provided a quick overview of the method, guided them in the work and gave them security and confidence in conducting this type of work independently of the researchers. The templates described in the paper have been made publicly available and may be used freely.

Good UX design is becoming important within the industry when developing new products. This entails that UX skills have to be available in the development processes. This paper investigates the opportunities of using software developers as a UX work resource in the day-to-day working practice. This is done via an action research study where the developers were provided with material concerning a modified AB usability test, by training them in performing this type of work, and by using their feedback to improve the method and the material. The overall result of the study is positive and it is found that by using the developers' feedback in the modification process, the method has truly become applicable within an agile, industrial setting. In combination with a guideline and template this has induced the developers to feel confident in independently performing this type of work.

Context: Communities of practice—groups of experts who share a common interest or topic and collectively want to deepen their knowledge—can be an important part of a successful lean and agile adoption in particular in large organizations. Objective: In this paper, we present a study on how a large organization within Ericsson with 400 persons in 40 Scrum teams at three sites adopted the use of Communities of Practice (CoP) as part of their transformation from a traditional plan-driven organization to lean and agile. Methods: We collected data by 52 semi-structured interviews on two sites, and longitudinal non-participant observation of the transformation during over 20 site visits over a period of two years. Results: The organization had over 20 CoPs, gathering weekly, bi-weekly or on a need basis. CoPs had several purposes including knowledge sharing and learning, coordination, technical work, and organizational development. Examples of CoPs include Feature Coordination CoPs to coordinate between teams working on the same feature, a Coaching CoP to discuss agile implementation challenges and successes and to help lead the organizational continuous improvement, an end-to-end CoP to remove bottlenecks from the flow, and Developers CoPs to share good development practices. Success factors of well-functioning CoPs include having a good topic, passionate leader, proper agenda, decision making authority, open community, supporting tools, suitable rhythm, and cross-site participation when needed. Organizational support include creating a supportive atmosphere and providing a suitable infrastructure for CoPs. Conclusions: In the case organization, CoPs were initially used to support the agile transformation, and as part of the distributed Scrum implementation. As the transformation progressed, the CoPs also took on the role of supporting continuous organizational improvements. CoPs became a central mechanism behind the success of the large-scale agile implementation in the case organization that helped mitigate some of the most pressing problems of the agile transformation. 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

HighlightsWe propose a model to produce multi-sprint optimal plans for agile projects.Optimal plans maximize the business value perceived by users.Plans can be smoothly revised and re-optimized during project execution.Our model is validated on two case studies and on a set of synthetic projects. Most agile methods divide a project into sprints (iterations), and include a sprint planning phase that is critical to ensure the project success. Several factors impact on the optimality of a sprint plan, which makes the planning problem difficult. In this paper we formalize the planning problem and propose an optimization model that, given the estimates made by the project team and a set of development constraints, produces a multi-sprint optimal plan that maximizes the business value perceived by users. To cope with the inherent flexibility and uncertainty of agile projects, our approach ensures that a baseline plan can be revised and re-optimized during project execution without disrupting it, which we call smooth replanning. The planning problem is converted into a generalized assignment problem, given a linear programming formulation, and solved using the IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimizer. Our model is validated on both real and synthetic projects. In particular, a case study on two real projects confirms the effectiveness of our approach; as to efficiency, for medium-sized problems an exact solution is found in a few minutes, while for large problems a heuristic solution that is less than 1% far from the exact one is returned in a few seconds. Finally, some smooth replanning tests investigate the trade-off between plan quality and stability.

peer-reviewed In recent years there has been a noticeable shift in attention from those who use agile software development toward lean software development, often labelled as a shift “from agile to lean”. However, the reality may not be as simple or linear as this label implies. To provide a better understanding of lean software development approaches and how they are applied in agile software development, we have examined 30 experience reports published in past agile software conferences in which experiences of applying lean approaches in agile software development were reported. The analysis identified six types of lean application. The results of our study show that lean can be applied in agile processes in different manners for different purposes. Lean concepts, principles and practices are most often used for continuous agile process improvement, with the most recent introduction being the kanban approach, introducing a continuous, flow-based substitute to time-boxed agile processes.

The introduction of software technology in a life-dependent environment requires the development team to execute a process that ensures a high level of software reliability and correctness. Despite their popularity, agile methods are generally assumed to be inappropriate as a process family in these environments due to their lack of emphasis on documentation, traceability, and other formal techniques. Agile methods, notably Scrum, favor empirical process control, or small constant adjustments in a tight feedback loop. This paper challenges the assumption that agile methods are inappropriate for safety-critical software development. Agile methods are flexible enough to encourage the right amount of ceremony; therefore if safety-critical systems require greater emphasis on activities, such as formal specification and requirements management, then an agile process will include these as necessary activities. Furthermore, agile methods focus more on continuous process management and code-level quality than classic software engineering process models. We present our experiences on the image-guided surgical toolkit (IGSTK) project as a backdrop. IGSTK is an open source software project employing agile practices since 2004. We started with the assumption that a lighter process is better, focused on evolving code, and only adding process elements as the need arose. IGSTK has been adopted by teaching hospitals and research labs, and used for clinical trials. Agile methods have matured since the academic community suggested almost a decade ago that they were not suitable for safety-critical systems; we present our experiences as a case study for renewing the discussion. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, we present empirical research where the applicability of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) for the management of distributed software development projects was studied in the context of the automation industry. The research analyses the ALM solutions of the case company against the ALM framework and, further, considers how the solutions meet the functions of the 3C-model. According to our results, ALM can support a distributed project by facilitating communication, cooperation and coordination. In our case, a central ALM database with common processes and tools enabled central orchestration for the software projects that operated in a global development environment.

To motivate and engage students and, consequently, improve the quality of learning, some researchers suggest new ways of teaching, including the use of serious games in the classroom. This paper describes PlayScrum, a new card game devised to allow university-level students to learn Scrum, an agile software development method. We present the card game, its rules, and how it supports the main concepts of the Scrum method. We also discuss how PlayScrum was validated, based on questionnaires filled in by master students who have played it., (undefined)

VK: Lassenius, C.; Project: N4S; Group: SPRG Context The analysis and selection of requirements are important parts of any release planning process. Previous studies on release planning have focused on plan-driven optimization models. Unfortunately, solving the release planning problem mechanistically is difficult in an agile development context. Objective We describe how a release planning method was employed in two case projects in F-Secure, a large Finnish software company. We identify the benefits which the projects gained from the method, and analyze challenges in the cases and improvements made to the method during the case projects. Method We observed five release planning events and four retrospectives and we conducted surveys in the first two events. We conducted six post-project interviews. We conjoined the observation notes, survey results and interviews and analyzed them qualitatively and quantitatively. Results The focal point of the method was release planning events where the whole project organization gathered to plan the next release. The planning was conducted by the development teams in close collaboration with each other and with the other stakeholders. We identified ten benefits which included improved communication, transparency, dependency management and decision making. We identified nine challenges which included the lacking preparation and prioritization of requirements, unrealistic schedules, insufficient architectural planning and lacking agile mindset. The biggest improvements to the method were the introduction of frequent status checks and a big visible planning status board. Conclusion The release planning method ameliorated many difficult characteristics of the release planning problem but its efficiency was negatively affected by the performing organization that was in transition from a plan-driven to an agile development mindset. Even in this case the benefits clearly outweighed the challenges and the method enabled the early identification of the issues in the project.