Abstract
Software products are usually developed for either a specific customer (bespoke) or a broader market (market-driven). Due to their characteristic, bespoke and market-driven development face different challenges, especially concerning requirements engineering. Many challenges are caused by an inadequate requirements engineering process, and hence there is a need for process improvement frameworks based on empirical research and industry needs. In a previous article we introduced Uni-REPM, a lightweight requirements engineering process assessment framework based on a review of empirically motivated practices in market-driven and bespoke requirements engineering literature. In this article, we validate this framework in academia as well as industry, in order to prepare Uni-REPM for widespread industry use. We conduct two validations; a static validation based on interviews with seven academic experts and a dynamic validation where Uni-REPM is applied in four industrial organisations. Uni-REPM is refined according to the feedback obtained in the validations. The study shows that Uni-REPM is a quick, simple, and cost-effective solution to assess the maturity level of the requirements engineering process of projects. Moreover, the assessment method using checklists is highly usable and applicable in various international development environments.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Under submission. Can be obtained from the main author.
Please see http://www.bth.se/tek/mdrepm.nsf.
See footnote 1.
Details about these improvements are available on the project homepage: http://www.bth.se/tek/mdrepm.nsf
This is reported in a previous publication, as yet under submission.
References
Adam S, Doerr J, Eisenbarth M (2009) Lessons learned from best practice-oriented process improvement in requirements engineering: a glance into current industrial RE application. In: fourth international workshop on requirements engineering education and training (REET), IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, pp 1–5
Beecham S, Hall T, Rainer A (2005) Defining a requirements process improvement model. Softw Qual J 13(3):247–279
Boehm B, Papaccio P (1988) Understanding and controlling software costs. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 14(10):1462–1477
CMMI-Dev (2006) Cmmi for development version 1.2 cmmi-dev v1.2. Tech Rep, CMU/SEI-2006-TR-008, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Creswell J (2003) Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks
Davis A (2005) Just enough requirements management: where software development meets marketing. Dorset House Publishing Co., Inc., New York
Fricker S, Gorschek T, Byman C, Schmidle A (2010) Handshaking with implementation proposals: negotiating requirements understanding. IEEE Softw 27(2):72–80
Fricker S, Gorschek T, Myllyperkio P (2007) Handshaking between software projects and stakeholders using implementation proposals. In: Proceedings of requirements engineering: foundation for software quality, vol. Lecture notes in computer science LNCS4542, pp 144–159. Springer, Berlin
Gorschek T, Garre P, Larsson S, Wohlin C (2006) A model for technology transfer in practice. IEEE Softw 23(6):88–95
Gorschek T, Garre P, Larsson S, Wohlin C (2007) Industry evaluation of the requirements abstraction model. Requir Eng 12(3):163–190
Gorschek T, Gomes A, Pettersson A, Torkar R (2011) Introduction of a process maturity model for market-driven product management and requirements engineering. J Soft Maint Evol Res Pract 24(1):83–113
Gorschek T, Svahnberg M (2005) Engineering and managing software requirements, chap. Requirements Experience in Practice: Studies of Six Companies. Springer, Berlin
Gorschek T, Svahnberg M, Tejle K (2003) Introduction and application of a lightweight requirements engineering process. In: Proceedings of the ninth international workshop on requirements engineering: foundation for software quality (RESFQ)
Gorschek T, Wohlin C (2004) Packaging software process improvement issues: a method and a case study. Softw Pract Experience 34(14):1311–1344
Gorschek T, Wohlin C (2006) Requirements abstraction model. Requir Eng 11:79–101
Hall T, Beecham S, Rainer A (2002) Requirements problems in twelve software companies: an empirical analysis. Softw IEE Proc 149(5):153–160
Hockman K, Grenville R, Jackson S (1994) Road map to iso 9000 registration. Qual Prog 27(5):39–44
IEEE Std 830-1998 (1988) IEEE recommended practice for software requirements specifications, Los Alamitos
Ivarsson M, Gorschek T (2009) Technology transfer decision support in requirements engineering research: a systematic review of rej. Requir Eng 14(3):155–175
Ivarsson M, Gorschek T (2010) A method for evaluating rigor and industrial relevance of technology evaluations. Empir Softw Eng 16(3):365–395
Juristo N, Moreno A, Silva A (2002) Is the European industry moving toward solving requirements engineering problems? IEEE Softw 19(6):70–77
Kamsties E, Hörmann K, Schlich M (1998) Requirements engineering in small and medium enterprises. Requir Eng 3:84–90
Karlsson L, Dahlstedt Å, Natt och Dag J, Regnell B, Persson A (2002) Challenges in market-driven requirements engineering—an industrial interview study. In: Proceedings of the eight international workshop on requirements engineering: foundation for software quality (REFSQ), Essen, Germany, pp 37–49
Karlsson L, Dahlstedt Å, Regnell B, Natt och Dag J, Persson A (2007) Requirements engineering challenges in market-driven software development—an interview study with practitioners. Inf Softw Technol 49(6):588–604
Kautz K, Hansen H, Thaysen K (2000) Applying and adjusting a software process improvement model in practice: the use of the ideal model in a small software enterprise. In: Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on software engineering, ACM Press, New York, pp 626–633
Leffingwell D (1997) Calculating your return on investment from more effective requirements management. Am Program 10(4):13–16
Lubars M, Potts C, Richter C (1992) A review of the state of the practice in requirements modeling. In: Proceedings of the IEEE international symposium on requirements engineering, IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, pp 2–14
Neill C, Laplante P (2003) Requirements engineering: the state of the practice. IEEE Softw 20(6):40–45
Niazi M, Cox K, Verner J (2006) An empirical study identifying high perceived value requirements engineering practices. In: Nilsson A, Gustas R, Wojtkowski W, Wojtkowski W, Wrycza S, Zupancic J (eds) Advances in information systems development, Springer, Berlin, pp 731–743
Nikula U, Sajaniemi J, Kälviäinen H (2000) A state-of-practice survey on requirements engineering in small-and-medium-sized enterprises. Tech rep, Lappeenranta University of Technology
Pettersson F, Ivarsson M, Gorschek T, Ohman P (2008) A practitioner’s guide to light weight software process assessment and improvement planning. J Syst Softw 81(6):972–995
Sawyer P, Kotonya G (2001) Sofware engineering body of knowledge (SWEBOK 1.0), 1.0 edn, chap. Software Requirements, IEEE Computer Society, pp 9–35
Sommerville I (2004) Software engineering. 7th edn. Addison-Wesley, Harlow
Sommerville I, Sawyer P (1997) Requirements engineering: a good practice guide. John Wiley & Sons Inc, Chichester
Spice (2011) Software process improvement and capability determination. http://www.sqi.gu.edu.au/spice/
Staples M, Niazi M, Jeffery R, Abrahams A, Byatt P, Murphy R (2007) An exploratory study of why organizations do not adopt CMMI. J Syst Softw 80(6):883–895
Svahnberg M, Gorschek T, Feldt R, Torkar R, Saleem SB, Shafique MU (2009) A systematic review on strategic release planning models. Info Softw Technol 52(3):237–248
TickIt (2001) The tickit guide—using iso9001: 2000 for software quality management system, construction, certification and continual improvement. Tech Rep Issue 5.0, British Standards Institute
Wohlin C, Runeson P, Höst M, Ohlsson M, Regnell B, Wesslén A (2000) Experimentation in software engineering—an introduction. Kluwer, Dordrecht
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Svahnberg, M., Gorschek, T., Nguyen, T.T.L. et al. Uni-REPM: validated and improved. Requirements Eng 18, 85–103 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00766-012-0148-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00766-012-0148-1