Analyzing Uncertainty in Release Planning: A Method and Experiment for Fixed-Date Release Cycles

Release planning—deciding what features to implement in upcoming releases of a software system—is a critical activity in iterative software development. Many release planning methods exist, but most ignore the inevitable uncertainty in estimating software development effort and business value. The article’s objective is to study whether analyzing uncertainty during release planning generates better release plans than if uncertainty is ignored. To study this question, we have developed a novel release planning method under uncertainty, called BEARS, that models uncertainty using Bayesian probability distributions and recommends release plans that maximize expected net present value and expected punctuality. We then compare release plans recommended by BEARS to those recommended by methods that ignore uncertainty on 32 release planning problems. The experiment shows that BEARS recommends release plans with higher expected net present value and expected punctuality than methods that ignore uncertainty, thereby indicating the harmful effects of ignoring uncertainty during release planning. These results highlight the importance of eliciting and analyzing uncertainty in software effort and value estimations and call for increased research in these areas.

The Influence of Complexity in Determining New Product Development Strategies

<p>How does complexity influence new product development (NPD) strategies? There are many ways of managing the challenge of new product development. This is especially true for new software products where a huge variety of approaches is possible. This study examines how successful New Zealand tech companies manage their NPD and how innovation complexity influences this. The new products are all software-intensive and have the additional pressure of being built for commercialisation. The study found that while there is considerable variation within NPD, the level of innovation complexity determined the approach companies were taking. Companies with complex innovation challenges had more iterative software development; flexible internal processes; nimbleness in decision-making and re-prioritisation. Lower levels of complexity in innovation were linked to more formal and sequential approaches to NPD; less reviewing of process or product experimentation. Overall there were also lower levels of strain. The Cyclic Innovation Model (A. J. Berkhout, Hartmann, & Trott, 2011) provides a useful description of how complexity in innovation is situated within a network of markets, customers, products and science and how innovation is not a linear, sequential process. The study additionally suggests that strong entrepreneurial skills are essential to managing high complexity.</p>

The Influence of Complexity in Determining New Product Development Strategies

<p>How does complexity influence new product development (NPD) strategies? There are many ways of managing the challenge of new product development. This is especially true for new software products where a huge variety of approaches is possible. This study examines how successful New Zealand tech companies manage their NPD and how innovation complexity influences this. The new products are all software-intensive and have the additional pressure of being built for commercialisation. The study found that while there is considerable variation within NPD, the level of innovation complexity determined the approach companies were taking. Companies with complex innovation challenges had more iterative software development; flexible internal processes; nimbleness in decision-making and re-prioritisation. Lower levels of complexity in innovation were linked to more formal and sequential approaches to NPD; less reviewing of process or product experimentation. Overall there were also lower levels of strain. The Cyclic Innovation Model (A. J. Berkhout, Hartmann, & Trott, 2011) provides a useful description of how complexity in innovation is situated within a network of markets, customers, products and science and how innovation is not a linear, sequential process. The study additionally suggests that strong entrepreneurial skills are essential to managing high complexity.</p>

Organizational and Economic Mechanism of Development and Promotion of IT Products in Ukraine

Software development and the implementation of IT industry products are usually a very complicated and complex process. In recent years, software requirements' nature and complexity have changed dramatically, as have user demands for cost, performance, and quality. These three parameters can be considered key, and keeping them at an appropriate level for consumers is possible only through optimal design using well-established software development methodologies.The search for ways to optimize labour and financial costs leads managers worldwide to the need to use in practice a variety of techniques and approaches. With this approach, the scientific and economic substantiation of the advisability of choosing one or another organizational and financial mechanism for organizing a team of developers and marketers becomes especially important.The authors of the article studied Dynamics of export growth of Ukrainian IT products, the relationship between the IT product market elements, the main and auxiliary stages of creating an IT product. For the development and promotion of IT products, the authors proposed a methodology for iterative software development based on prototyping, using elements of the SCRUM system, which was tested at a private Ukrainian IT company. The modified version of the agile development system proposed in the article showed promising results in practice, both IT company managers and specialists positively assessed the experience of its use. Based on the already proven technology of agile development, this technique was able to add some mechanics that made it possible to neutralize several negative factors inherent in other approaches.

A/B testing as an effective instrument for adaptation of the user interface at the iterative model of developing applications for mobile devices

Changing the user interface always entails risks of decreasing application ergonomics and user churn. The purpose of this work is to find methods for changing the user interface without the need to use and increase the number of active users. Using Alpha/Beta testing and analysis of application metrics, it is possible to include design in each iteration and remotely manage the application configuration, which improves the user interface of the application. The way to integrate the UI modification and adaptation phase into an iterative software development model is proposed in this article. The successful user interface improvement experiments that have improved application metrics are described. In this work, the problem was highlighted, lack of information and control over user purchases, which negatively affected the number of purchases. A hypothesis is put forward that the user must have an effective visualization and control tool in the application. As a result of the experiment, the hypothesis was confirmed by an increase in the number of purchases and user activity. There was also a data security issue in the application, which put users at risk of data loss. An experiment was conducted to change the default value of user settings, which led to an increase of the positive metrics for using the data reservation functionality. The problem of polling users is also considered, which is an important component in the process of improving the ergonomics of an application. The method of remote user polling was used, which allowed to receive quick feedback from users and quickly respond to requests from users. The result of the work is the confirmation of the hypothesis of changes in the user interface in the cycles of the iterative development model, the positive dynamics of application metrics, as well as the satisfaction of users with the changes.

User-Centered Design of a Mobile Health Intervention to Enhance Exacerbation-Related Self-Management in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copilot): Mixed Methods Study

Background Adequate self-management skills are of great importance for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to reduce the impact of COPD exacerbations. Using mobile health (mHealth) to support exacerbation-related self-management could be promising in engaging patients in their own health and changing health behaviors. However, there is limited knowledge on how to design mHealth interventions that are effective, meet the needs of end users, and are perceived as useful. By following an iterative user-centered design (UCD) process, an evidence-driven and usable mHealth intervention was developed to enhance exacerbation-related self-management in patients with COPD. Objective This study aimed to describe in detail the full UCD and development process of an evidence-driven and usable mHealth intervention to enhance exacerbation-related self-management in patients with COPD. Methods The UCD process consisted of four iterative phases: (1) background analysis and design conceptualization, (2) alpha usability testing, (3) iterative software development, and (4) field usability testing. Patients with COPD, health care providers, COPD experts, designers, software developers, and a behavioral scientist were involved throughout the design and development process. The intervention was developed using the behavior change wheel (BCW), a theoretically based approach for designing behavior change interventions, and logic modeling was used to map out the potential working mechanism of the intervention. Furthermore, the principles of design thinking were used for the creative design of the intervention. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used throughout the design and development process. Results The background analysis and design conceptualization phase resulted in final guiding principles for the intervention, a logic model to underpin the working mechanism of the intervention, and design requirements. Usability requirements were obtained from the usability testing phases. The iterative software development resulted in an evidence-driven and usable mHealth intervention—Copilot, a mobile app consisting of a symptom-monitoring module, and a personalized COPD action plan. Conclusions By following a UCD process, an mHealth intervention was developed that meets the needs and preferences of patients with COPD, is likely to be used by patients with COPD, and has a high potential to be effective in reducing exacerbation impact. This extensive report of the intervention development process contributes to more transparency in the development of complex interventions in health care and can be used by researchers and designers as guidance for the development of future mHealth interventions.

PROBLEMS OF SMALL AND MID-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN JAPAN’S SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

This paper examines the reasons that most small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan’s software industry do not develop into large firms. Thousands of SMEs are informally organized under several large companies. Those SMEs have experienced difficulty developing into large firms. This industrial structure has remained for several decades. Several papers have already suggested reasons for this phenomenon, but each paper in the literature has given few reasons. This paper analyzes the issue more comprehensively. First, this article surveys the literature and determine several factors that contribute to the issue. Then, this paper demonstrates how they complicate the issue and make it difficult to solve. Finally, the paper illustrates several approaches in an effort to find solutions. The first method is introducing agile modeling and other iterative software development processes. Agile modeling adjusts design change more easily compared with other software development processes. Other iterative software development processes also adjust design change easily compared to the waterfall model. By using these processes, software engineers can avoid long overtime work, which contributes to the difficulties in securing human resource. The second method is for software firms to demand appropriate compensation for each design change. If many Japanese firms did this, overtime work would be shorter, and the working environment of SMEs would improve. Then, SMEs obtain excellent workers. This will help SMEs to grow to large firms.

User-Centered Design of a Mobile Health Intervention to Enhance Exacerbation-Related Self-Management in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copilot): Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Adequate self-management skills are of great importance for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to reduce the impact of COPD exacerbations. Using mobile health (mHealth) to support exacerbation-related self-management could be promising in engaging patients in their own health and changing health behaviors. However, there is limited knowledge on how to design mHealth interventions that are effective, meet the needs of end users, and are perceived as useful. By following an iterative user-centered design (UCD) process, an evidence-driven and usable mHealth intervention was developed to enhance exacerbation-related self-management in patients with COPD. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to describe in detail the full UCD and development process of an evidence-driven and usable mHealth intervention to enhance exacerbation-related self-management in patients with COPD. METHODS The UCD process consisted of four iterative phases: (1) background analysis and design conceptualization, (2) alpha usability testing, (3) iterative software development, and (4) field usability testing. Patients with COPD, health care providers, COPD experts, designers, software developers, and a behavioral scientist were involved throughout the design and development process. The intervention was developed using the behavior change wheel (BCW), a theoretically based approach for designing behavior change interventions, and logic modeling was used to map out the potential working mechanism of the intervention. Furthermore, the principles of design thinking were used for the creative design of the intervention. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used throughout the design and development process. RESULTS The background analysis and design conceptualization phase resulted in final guiding principles for the intervention, a logic model to underpin the working mechanism of the intervention, and design requirements. Usability requirements were obtained from the usability testing phases. The iterative software development resulted in an evidence-driven and usable mHealth intervention—Copilot, a mobile app consisting of a symptom-monitoring module, and a personalized COPD action plan. CONCLUSIONS By following a UCD process, an mHealth intervention was developed that meets the needs and preferences of patients with COPD, is likely to be used by patients with COPD, and has a high potential to be effective in reducing exacerbation impact. This extensive report of the intervention development process contributes to more transparency in the development of complex interventions in health care and can be used by researchers and designers as guidance for the development of future mHealth interventions.