Integrating discount usability in scrum development process in Ethiopia

Abstract

System design and development methods need to be contextualized to the specific needs. Most developing countries are characterized by low economies and infrastructure, complex and heterogeneous culture. In these countries software development is characterized by big differences in education and livelihood. Culture has impacts in ICT development and use. Discount usability methods are lightweight methods to be integrated with agile methods. The paper addresses research questions, what contextual factors in Ethiopia trigger tailoring usability practices, and how can discount usability methods be adapted and integrated into the Scrum-agile development with especial emphasis on the Ethiopian context. The research aims at adapting software engineering and ICT development methods to the specific situation and integrating user-centered design (UCD) and lightweight usability methods into agile development. Two projects have been considered for the empirical research. Cooperative Method Development (CMD) has been used as the research approach. Interview notes, observations and workshop results have been analyzed using thematic coding and qualitative data analysis. Local IT personnel bridged between end users and developers. Culturally adapted user pair testing and heuristic evaluation supported usability testing and supported developers in getting early feedback. Integrated approach of discount usability with the Scrum process has been developed and evaluated first with the involved practitioners and second with expert evaluation.