Analysing "people" problems in requirements engineering
Alistair Sutcliffe, Sarah Thew · 2010
The aim of this tutorial is to explain in an accessible manner the psychology of people in the context of misunderstandings, politics and social issues that affect software development. It focuses on user-stakeholder interaction techniques for analysis and interpretation of human behaviour, and how psychological knowledge can be used to improve the requirements engineering (RE) process as well as interpreting the implications of human motivations and values for requirements and software systems architecture. Soft issues, such as politics and people's feelings, are often cited as problems in the RE process and as key causes of system failure. It is clear from the RE literature that understanding user beliefs and values is vital for the success of software development. The London Ambulance service is a canonical example of system failure caused, in part, by inadequate understanding of ambulance crews' motivations, values of self esteem and autonomy, and the emotional reaction to lack of involvement in the requirements process, leading to technology failure.