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- Dittrich, Yvonne, et al.
(author)
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Co-Operative Method Development revisited
- 2005
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the last five years, we applied a research approach we call 'Co-operative Method Development' formulated on first experience with empirical research focusing especially on the social side of software engineering. This position paper summarizes the experiences and discusses the improvement and further development of this research approach based on our experiences in different research projects in co-operation with industrial partners.
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2. |
- Dittrich, Yvonne, et al.
(author)
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Cooperative method development : Combining qualitative empirical research with method, techniqueand process improvement
- 2008
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In: Empirical Software Engineering. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1382-3256 .- 1573-7616. ; 13:3, s. 231-260
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The development of methods tools and process improvements is best to be based on the understanding of the development practice to be supported. Qualitative research has been proposed as a method for understanding the social and cooperative aspects of software development. However, qualitative research is not easily combined with the improvement orientation of an engineering discipline. During the last 6 years, we have applied an approach we call ‘cooperative method development’, which combines qualitative social science fieldwork, with problem-oriented method, technique and process improvement. The action research based approach focusing on shop floor software development practices allows an understanding of how contextual contingencies influence the deployment and applicability of methods, processes and techniques. This article summarizes the experiences and discusses the further development of this approach based on several research projects in cooperation with industrial partners.
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3. |
- Dittrich, Yvonne, et al.
(author)
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From Knowledge Transfer to Situated Innovation : Cultivating spaces for co-operation in innovation and design between academics, user-groups and ICT providers
- 2009
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Innovation systems, ‘triple helix’, and similar expressions, are used to conceptualise the growing need for more integrated forms of co-operation between academia and other societal actors, such as governmental agencies and industry, in order to produce knowledge relevant for society. However, there is as yet little reported experience from such recent and on-going co-operative projects of how research changes when it becomes involved in practices it is meant to contribute to. In this paper, the authors report about three different research projects where researchers co-operated with governmental agencies and industry around the development of ICT. Evidence from three domains, namely e-government, telecommunications and welfare services, indicates the need for problematising current mainstream understandings of innovation. Innovation, as we see it, is occurring through configurations of designers, developers and domain experts that form constituencies and where scientific knowledge is confronted by requirements, constraints and possibilities of the specific situation. In this context innovation of, or involving, ICT requires a significant amount of imagination, represents a relatively sharp break with established ways of doing things, and requires artful integration of different professional practices, communities, and technologies. We define these creative processes of co-development of work practices, organisations and technology as ‘situated innovation’.
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4. |
- Hansson, Christina, et al.
(author)
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How agile are industrial software development practices?
- 2006
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In: Journal of Systems and Software. - : Elsevier. - 0164-1212 .- 1873-1228. ; 79:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Representatives from the agile development movement claim that agile ways of developing software are more fitting to what is actually needed in industrial software development. If this is so, successful industrial software development should already exhibit agile characteristics. This article therefore aims to examine whether that is the case. It presents an analysis of interviews with software developers from five different companies. We asked about concrete projects, both about the project models and the methods used, but also about the real situation in their daily work. Based on the interviews, we describe and then analyze their development practices. The analysis shows that the software providers we interviewed have more agile practices than they might themselves be aware of. However, plans and more formal development models also are well established. The conclusions answer the question posed in the title: It all depends! It depends on which of the different principles you take to judge agility. And it depends on the characteristics not only of the company but also of the individual project.
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5. |
- Hansson, Christina, et al.
(author)
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How to include users in the development of off-the-shelf software : A case for complementing participatory design with agile development
- 2006
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper describes and discusses a non-traditional approach to participatory design, one which is combined with an agile-like software development process. In this case, the size of the company combined with a distributed population of users has a serious impact on the software development process. The small software company in our study resolves this problem with an unconventional amalgam of participatory design and agile processes which seems to suit their situation. By using different kinds of user participation the small software provider is able to keep in contact with users on a daily basis. Users convey requirements for new functionalities, give feedback and report errors. Users' feedback and proposals form the basis for further development. The paper relates our observations to other research on participatory design in unconventional settings and discusses the conditions under which agile software development can complement participatory design.
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7. |
- Rönkkö, Kari, et al.
(author)
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When plans do not work out : how plans are used in software development projects
- 2005
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In: Computer Supported Cooperative Work. - 0925-9724. ; 14:5, s. 433-468
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Based on empirical material from the area of software engineering, this articlediscusses the issue of plans and planning as an integral part of and prerequisite for software development work. It relates observed practices to literature produced by the Computer Supported Cooperative Work community. Empirical studies of software development practice seldom address re-planning. By analyzing the empirical material from one project we are able to show how certain kinds of co-ordination problems arise and how they may be dealt with. The empirical research does not focus primarily on the character of plans; instead, it raises the question ‘what means are necessary and should be provided in order to cope with situations when plans do not work out? In relation to plans, especial emphasis is on ‘‘due process’’, i.e. how the project plan and the company wide project model are maintained to enable the identification and articulation of deviations from it. On the basis of our empirical analysis we propose to support the articulation and coordination work necessary in situations where plans do not adequately work out.
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