Boas práticas para apoio ao processo de elicitação de requisitos de usuário no contexto da Engenharia de Software

Abstract

Software development requires an in-depth investigation before coding and delivering it. There is an extensive effort to understand and know about the requirements and constraints that could be involved in the development of the software product. To develop this knowledge, it is necessary to fully understand what the needs of those who use the system are: the users. The process in which the system requirements are identified, analyzed, and defined is called Requirements Engineering. In this process, software development teams face challenges related to user involvement in the process of eliciting the requirements. Sometimes the user involvement is not sufficient or is even null. Aware of this lack of involvement in the process of eliciting requirements, this research aims to support the process of eliciting user requirements by identifying good practices, thus helping software development teams in this critical phase. The good practices resulted from the triangulation of data obtained through a systematic literature review (which brought an overview of the research topic) and through an interview-based empirical study with Information Technology professionals that get involved in data collection of user requirements in their projects.

Results revealed that although there are challenges directly related to the users’ involvement in elicitation (as an example, the lack of engagement and communication gaps), there are also ways to minimize the impacts of these challenges. For instance, a good practice is to demonstrate to the user the importance of their contribution and also to define an official means of communication between stakeholders. In addition, the simple user involvement in the elicitation phase does not ensure the project success as this involvement also requires planning and management. Therefore, having a management plan to involve users is extremely important. We believe that the good practices identified in this research are expected to assist software development teams in requirements elicitation when focusing in user requirements and the user involvement.