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Differentiating Feature Realization in Software Product Development

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Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2017)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 10611))

Abstract

Context: Software is no longer only supporting mechanical and electrical products. Today, it is becoming the main competitive advantage and an enabler of innovation. Not all software, however, has an equal impact on customers. Companies still struggle to differentiate between the features that are regularly used, there to be for sale, differentiating and that add value to customers, or which are regarded commodity. Goal: The aim of this paper is to (1) identify the different types of software features that we can find in software products today, and (2) recommend how to prioritize the development activities for each of them. Method: In this paper, we conduct a case study with five large-scale software intensive companies. Results: Our main result is a model in which we differentiate between four fundamentally different types of features (e.g. ‘Checkbox’, ‘Flow’, ‘Duty’ and ‘Wow’). Conclusions: Our model helps companies in (1) differentiating between the feature types, and (2) selecting an optimal methodology for their development (e.g. ‘Output-Driven’ vs. ‘Outcome-Driven’).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Technology and Society, Malmö University, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, 211 19, Malmö, Sweden

    Aleksander Fabijan & Helena Holmström Olsson

  2. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Hörselgången 11, 412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jan Bosch

Authors
  1. Aleksander Fabijan
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  2. Helena Holmström Olsson
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  3. Jan Bosch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aleksander Fabijan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Michael Felderer

  2. Technical University Munich, Garching, Germany

    Daniel Méndez Fernández

  3. Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom

    Burak Turhan

  4. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Marcos Kalinowski

  5. University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Federica Sarro

  6. Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

    Dietmar Winkler

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Fabijan, A., Holmström Olsson, H., Bosch, J. (2017). Differentiating Feature Realization in Software Product Development. In: Felderer, M., Méndez Fernández, D., Turhan, B., Kalinowski, M., Sarro, F., Winkler, D. (eds) Product-Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10611. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69926-4_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69926-4_16

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69926-4

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