Case studies in process improvement through retrospective analysis of release planning decisions

Lena Karlsson, Björn Regnell, Thomas Thelin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The process of selecting requirements for a release of a software product is challenging as the decision-making is based on uncertain predictions of customer value and development cost. This paper presents a method aimed at supporting software product development organisations in the identification of process improvement proposals to increase requirements selection quality. The method is based on an in-depth analysis of requirements selection decision outcomes after the release has been launched to the users. The method is validated in two separate case studies involving real requirements and industrial requirements engineering experts. The conclusions from the two case studies are that the method seems valuable in situations with complex release planning decisions, such as in market-driven projects. It also appears essential that participants with different viewpoints attend the root cause discussion. Requirements interdependencies seem to play a big role in release planning decision-making. In addition, successful projects can also be a source of learning.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)885-915
JournalInternational Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering
Volume16
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Computer Science

Free keywords

  • process improvement
  • case study
  • release planning decision-making

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