Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Conference on Software Business

ICSOB 2019: Software Business pp 192–207Cite as

Intertwined Development of Business Model and Product Functions for Mobile Applications: A Twin Peak Feature Modeling Approach

Part of the Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing book series (LNBIP,volume 370)

Abstract

Mobile app stores like Apple’s AppStore or Google’s PlayStore are highly competitive markets for third-party developers wanting to develop successful applications. During the development process, many developers focus on the multitude of product functions but neglect the business model as an equally important part. As a result, developers often fail to meet customer needs, leading to unnecessary development costs and poor market penetration. This, in turn, raises the question of how we intertwine the business model and product functions during the development process to ensure a better alignment between the two.

In this paper, we show this intertwined development by adapting the concept of Twin Peaks to the business model and product functions. Based on feature modeling as an abstraction layer, we introduce the concept of a Business Model Decision Line (BMDL) to structure the business model decisions and their relation to product functions structured in a Software Product Line (SPL). The basis of our feature models is the analysis of top listed applications in the app stores of Apple and Google. To create and modify both models, we provide an incremental feature structuring and iterative feature selection process. This combination of abstraction layer and development process supports third-party developers to build successful applications both from a business and a product perspective.

Keywords

  • Intertwined development
  • Twin peaks
  • Feature model
  • Business model
  • Product functions

This work was partially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the Collaborative Research Center “On-The-Fly Computing” (CRC 901, Project Number: 160364472SFB901).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Top 25 in Free, Paid and Grossing for Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.

References

  1. Ahmed, F., Capretz, L.F.: Managing the business of software product line: an empirical investigation of key business factors. Inf. Softw. Technol. 49(2), 194–208 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2006.05.004

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  2. App Annie Inc: The State of Mobile 2019. https://www.appannie.com/en/go/state-of-mobile-2019/

  3. Chesbrough, H.: Business model innovation: it’s not just about technology anymore. Strat. Leadsh. 35(6), 12–17 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570710833714

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  4. Clements, P., Northrop, L.: Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns, 7th edn. Addison-Wesley, Boston (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Fontao, A.d.L., dos Santos, R.P., Dias-Neto, A.C.: Mobile software ecosystem (MSECO): a systematic mapping study. In: Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMSAC), pp. 653–658. IEEE (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC.2015.121

  6. Gartner Inc: Predicts 2014: Mobile and Wireless. https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/2620815

  7. Gonçalves, V., Walravens, N., Ballon, P.: “How about an App Store?” enablers and constraints in platform strategies for mobile network operators. In: Ninth International Conference on Mobile Business and Ninth Global Mobility Roundtable (ICMB-GMR), pp. 66–73. IEEE (2010). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMB-GMR.2010.41

  8. Gottschalk, S., Rittmeier, F., Engels, G.: Business models of store-oriented software ecosystems: a variability modeling approach. In: Shishkov, B. (ed.) BMSD 2019. LNBIP, vol. 356, pp. 153–169. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24854-3_10

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  9. Gottschalk, S., Rittmeier, F., Engels, G.: Intertwined development of business model and product functions for mobile applications: a twin peak feature modeling approach. Technical report (2019). https://cs.uni-paderborn.de/fileadmin/informatik/fg/dbis/IntertwiningBMandPF.pdf

  10. Holzer, A., Ondrus, J.: Mobile application market: a developer’s perspective. Telemat. Inform. 28(1), 22–31 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2010.05.006

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  11. Hyrynsalmi, S., Suominen, A., Mäkilä, T., Järvi, A., Knuutila, T.: Revenue models of application developers in android market ecosystem. In: Cusumano, M.A., Iyer, B., Venkatraman, N. (eds.) ICSOB 2012. LNBIP, vol. 114, pp. 209–222. Springer, Heidelberg (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30746-1_17

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  12. Jansen, S., Bloemendal, E.: Defining app stores: the role of curated marketplaces in software ecosystems. In: Herzwurm, G., Margaria, T. (eds.) ICSOB 2013. LNBIP, vol. 150, pp. 195–206. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39336-5_19

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  13. Jazayeri, B., Platenius, M.C., Engels, G., Kundisch, D.: Features of IT service markets: a systematic literature review. In: Sheng, Q.Z., Stroulia, E., Tata, S., Bhiri, S. (eds.) ICSOC 2016. LNCS, vol. 9936, pp. 301–316. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46295-0_19

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  14. Krueger, C.W.: Easing the transition to software mass customization. In: van der Linden, F. (ed.) PFE 2001. LNCS, vol. 2290, pp. 282–293. Springer, Heidelberg (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-47833-7_25

    CrossRef  MATH  Google Scholar 

  15. Lee, S.M., Kim, N.R., Hong, S.G.: Key success factors for mobile app platform activation. Serv. Bus. 11(1), 207–227 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-016-0329-y

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  16. Mannion, M., Savolainen, J.: Aligning product line business and technical strategies. In: 17th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC), vol. 6287, pp. 406–419. ACM (2013). https://doi.org/10.1145/2491627.2493900

  17. McGregor, J.D.: The evolution of product line assets. Technical report CMU/SEI-2003-TR-005 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Menychtas, A., et al.: 4CaaSt marketplace: an advanced business environment for trading cloud services. Futur. Gener. Comput. Syst. 41, 104–120 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2014.02.020

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  19. Müller, R.M., Kijl, B., Martens, J.K.J.: A comparison of inter-organizational business models of mobile app stores: there is more than open vs. closed. J. Theor. Appl. Electron. Commer. Res. 6(2), 13–14 (2011). https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-18762011000200007

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  20. Nickerson, R.C., Varshney, U., Muntermann, J.: A method for taxonomy development and its application in information systems. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 22(3), 336–359 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2012.26

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  21. Nuseibeh, B.: Weaving together requirements and architectures. Computer 34(3), 115–119 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1109/2.910904

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  22. Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y.: Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Wiley, Hoboken (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Roma, P., Ragaglia, D.: Revenue models, in-app purchase, and the app performance: evidence from Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Electron. Commer. Res. Appl. 17, 173–190 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2016.04.007

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  24. Svahnberg, M., Bosch, J.: Evolution in software product lines: two cases. J. Softw. Maint. Res. Pract. 11, 391–422 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-908X(199911/12)11:6<391::AID-SMR199>3.0.CO;2-8

  25. Sze Wan, W., Dartane, O., Mohd Satar, N.S., Ma’arif, M.Y.: What WeChat can learn from WhatsApp? Customer value proposition development for mobile social networking (MSN) apps: a case study approach. J. Theor. Appl. Inf. Technol. 97, 1091–1117 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Tuunainen, V.K., Tuunanen, T., Piispanen, J.: Mobile service platforms: comparing Nokia OVI and apple app store with the IISIn model. In: International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB), pp. 74–83. IEEE (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMB.2011.42

  27. van der Linden, F., Schmid, K., Rommes, E.: Software Product Lines in Action. Springer, Heidelberg (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71437-8

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  28. Xu, C., Peak, D., Prybutok, V.: A customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty perspective of mobile application recommendations. Decis. Support. Syst. 79, 171–183 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2015.08.008

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Software Innovation Lab, Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany

    Sebastian Gottschalk, Florian Rittmeier & Gregor Engels

Authors
  1. Sebastian Gottschalk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Florian Rittmeier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gregor Engels
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sebastian Gottschalk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tampere University of Technology, Pori, Finland

    Sami Hyrynsalmi

  2. University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Mari Suoranta

  3. University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway

    Dr. Anh Nguyen-Duc

  4. University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Prof. Pasi Tyrväinen

  5. University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Gottschalk, S., Rittmeier, F., Engels, G. (2019). Intertwined Development of Business Model and Product Functions for Mobile Applications: A Twin Peak Feature Modeling Approach. In: Hyrynsalmi, S., Suoranta, M., Nguyen-Duc, A., Tyrväinen, P., Abrahamsson, P. (eds) Software Business. ICSOB 2019. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 370. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33742-1_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33742-1_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33741-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33742-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

search

Navigation