Title: The front end of innovation – a group method for the elicitation of software requirements

Authors: Lea Hannola, Uolevi Nikula, Kari Leino, Markku Tuominen, Heikki Kalviainen

Addresses: Faculty of Technology Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' Faculty of Technology Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' TeliaSonera Finland Oyj, Laserkatu 8, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' Faculty of Technology Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' Faculty of Technology Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland

Abstract: The objective of software development is to develop and modify systems to satisfy customer needs, on schedule and within the budget. The front end activities of software development are most important when customer needs are assessed and software requirements collected. This paper proposes a new group method for the elicitation of software requirements, and the method is validated with empirical case studies. The results of the study show that the method expedites requirements elicitation and is effective. The participants found the method useful, and worth using again, and were willing to recommend it to their colleagues.

Keywords: front end; innovation; requirements elicitation; software development; customer needs; scheduling; budgets; requirements engineering; needs assessments; group methods; process improvement; learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2010.031952

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2010 Vol.7 No.3, pp.359 - 375

Published online: 03 Mar 2010 *

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