Agile Software Development Methodologies Research Articles

Reviewing Commonalities between Agile Software Development Methodology and Grounded Theory Methodology

Agile development method has attracted widespread corporate and academic attention as the limitations of traditional software development method become apparent. Similarly focusing on inductive knowledge creation, grounded theory method has achieved seminal status in social science. But there is no attempt so far to identify synergies between these two popular methodologies of diverse fields, so that social science researchers can benefit by using principles and practices of agile methodology. This paper identifies the similarities between these two methods in terms of the underlying philosophy as well as important practices. Focusing on these similarities, multiple recommendations regarding enriching grounded theory method with components of agile methodologies were made. The paper serves as an initial work on an important emerging methodology debate, which need to be further explored, enhanced and detailed.

Collaborative Integrated Model in Agile Software Development (MDSIC/MDSIC–M)-Case Study and Practical Advice

The fast increase of mobile device users based on wider and easier internet access has detonated the development of mobile applications (APP) and web. Therefore, improvement and innovation have become a top priority for businesses and consumer relations. The functional quality and interface aspects in applications (software) drive companies to succeed in mobile apps market competition. This paper introduces an agile software development methodology denominated MDSIC and MDSIC-M focused on rapid application development as required by small and medium software enterprises (SMEs), and results in better quality and competitiveness. MDSIC and MDSIC - M proposes some levels with better practices that should be followed in software development projects. This article also aims to show matching indicators and results of MDSIC and MDSIC - M implementations in software projects, by assessing the needed parameters to generate quality software, and thus align technology with the goals of the organizations.

Effort Estimation in Traditional and Agile Mobile Application Development & Testing

Smartphones<em>/</em>mobile devices are enduring all the aspects of human life. With the significant increase in demand for applications running on smartphones/mobile devices, developers and testers are anticipated to deliver high quality, on time and within budget applications. The estimation of development and testing provides a baseline and act as a tracking gear for stakeholders and developers. There are various approaches for estimation of traditional software development. But mobile applications are considered different from traditional software such as from those running on desktop, laptop or on the web. Many traditional estimation techniques used for these software are adapted to mobile domain. With agile software development (ASD) methodology, the scenario of development and estimation has changed drastically and so as mobile app development and estimation. This paper provides a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on traditional estimation techniques and agile estimation techniques applied in mobile software/application. Also, effort attributes and accuracy parameters for estimation in mobile apps are presented. However, to date, there are very fewer studies done on the mobile application estimation domain using agile methodology.

A systematic method for building Internet of Agents applications based on the Linked Open Data approach

The Internet of Agents (IoA) is an emerging paradigm whose objective is to mitigate the deficiencies of devices of Internet of Things (IoT) in terms of reasoning and social capabilities, in order to improve proactivity, intelligence and interoperability. This paper presents the guidelines to develop IoA applications based on described semantic agents following the Linked Open Data (LOD) approach and the specifications of the IoA-OWL ontology—a specialized full ontology that formally defines the main aspects related to a novel approach such as IoA. These guidelines have been drawn up via a systematic method created from the best practices of Agile Software Development Methodologies. This method creates smart, autonomous, collaborative IoA applications based on novel Linked Open Agents (LOAs) that are driven by Linked-Agent Contracts (LACs) and Workflows for Agent Control (WACs). From a practical perspective, our method separates the modeling of components using two levels, microscopic (at agent level) and macroscopic (at agent society level) facilitated the planning, configuring and implementation of each agent in the IoA ecosystem. Moreover, the method facilitates the agent creation automation process, reducing the time required for its development and simplifying the design complexity. These achievements were demonstrated through the modeling of an Ambient Intelligence (AmI) scenario on an office composed by a set of collaborative agents in order to provide smart comfort.

Transitioning to agile software development: Lessons learned from a government-contracted program

With a need to implement an agile software development methodology in government programs, this study was conducted to explore how organizations transitioned from a traditional waterfall software development method to agile methods. To accomplish this study, a case study research was utilized. A multimillion-dollar government-contracted program in the US was studied. The research findings reveal key challenges faced by organizations during the transition and the lessons learned that can be applied to future programs. Propositions for future research are also presented.

Scenario Based Requirement Engineering (SBRE) in eXtreme Programming (XP) through Agile Modelling (AM)

Software development methodologies have been enhancing significantly all the time and have drawn the attention of software professionals from past few years. The software development methodologies are expanding rigorously with wide range of diverse fields and have become more complex demanding the agility to rapidly changing needs of the customers. As a result, agile software development methodologies have evolved and gaining popularity day by day. Agile software development methodologies have come up with modifications demanded in traditional software development process to make them faster; more flexible, light weighted and productive. Extreme Programming (XP) is one of the well-known agile software development methodologies and is driven by a set of values including simplicity, communication, feedback and courage. Planning game, very short release stories and test first coding are some interesting extreme practices of XP; however, it is criticized for some deficiencies like light weight requirement, onsite customer, pair programming and so on. The study has only focused on only one of the most criticized extreme practice-lightweight requirement and has followed agile modelling approach to make improvement on requirement engineering process in XP. Requirements are the user stories that consist of a few sentences (1-3 sentences) written on an index card which describes the functionality given by single onsite customer in XP. There is lack of analysis of stakeholders and their roles in requirement process. Therefore, it is very difficult to know the specific requirements of the specific stakeholder in XP. This means that the requirement engineering process is incomplete in XP. This may result high chances of providing deficient requirements. Agile Modelling (AM) is the chaordic practice based methodology for effective modelling. The interesting part of AM is that it does not tell how to model, but tells about how to be effective as modellers. A Scenario Based Requirement Engineering (SERE) is proposed using AM as alternative to light weighted requirement which one of the most criticized extreme practice of XP. SERE is the implemented description of techniques that helps to understand the task related activities and also facilitates communication among stakeholders and experts. Stakeholders are analysed for understanding a system by identifying the stakeholders in the system and assessing their respective requirements and influence on the system. This will help to get better requirements for system development, but still needs to be validated.

Development of a Path to Home Mobile App for the Geriatric Rehabilitation Program at Bruyère Continuing Care: Protocol for User-Centered Design and Feasibility Testing Studies.

BackgroundAs the population ages, the need for appropriate geriatric rehabilitation services will also increase. Pressures faced by hospitals to reduce length of stay and reduce costs have driven the need for more complex care being delivered in the home or community setting. As a result, a multifaceted approach that can provide geriatric rehabilitation patients with safe and effective person- and family-centered care during transitions from hospital to home is required. We hypothesize that a technology-supported person- and family-centered care transition could empower geriatric rehabilitation patients, engage them in shared decision making, and ultimately help them to safely manage their personalized needs during care transitions from hospital to home.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to design and test the feasibility of a novel Path to Home mobile app to manage the personalized needs of geriatric rehabilitation patients during their transitions from hospital to home.MethodsThis study will consist of (1) codesigning a patient- and provider-tailored mobile app, and (2) feasibility pilot testing of the mobile app to manage the needs of geriatric rehabilitation patients when leaving the hospital. In phase 1, we will follow a user-centered design process integrated with a modern agile software development methodology to iteratively codesign the personalized care transition Path to Home mobile app. In phase 2, we will conduct a single-arm feasibility pilot test with geriatric rehabilitation patients using the personalized care transition Path to Home mobile app to manage their needs during the transition from hospital to home.ResultsThe project was funded in May 2018, and enrollment and data analysis are underway. First results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2019.ConclusionsOur findings will help validate the use of this technology for geriatric rehabilitation patients discharged from the hospital to home. Future research will more rigorously evaluate the health and economic benefits to inform wide-scale adoption of the technology.Registered Report IdentifierRR1-10.2196/11031

Successful Public Health Information System Database Integration Projects: A Qualitative Study.

ObjectiveTo explore the most important public health information system database integration project success factors to include: technological, organizational, project-specific, or external.MethodsThis study involved a cross-case design. Cases were identified through literal replication logic and screened through a survey and review of available literature. Study participants were interviewed through hour-long sessions steered by a semi-structured guide. Survey responses, interview transcripts and available documents were coded and analyzed deductively, and matrices were developed to illustrate relationships.ResultsLeadership among the project’s participants is the most important integration project success factor. This leadership factor manifests in the following ways. Executive sponsors champion the initiative. Informaticians facilitate communication and system requirement collection. Program directors contribute substantive energy to the project and remove obstacles. Some other factors also contribute to project success. For example, strong Financial Management and Support promotes project initiation. Technological aspects impact the final product’s quality. Utilizing formal project management techniques, particularly the Agile software development methodology, contributes to successful project resolution by ensuring daily operational effectiveness.DiscussionThe principal finding illustrates important contributions by project leaders, transcending those of the executive sponsor. Other participants, notably informaticians and program directors, substantially contribute to the project’s success. Additionally, the Agile software development methodology is emerging as a successful approach to project management for these and related projects.ConclusionInvesting in the leadership and project management skills of database integration project participants could improve the success of future projects. State health department staff considering these projects should carefully select project participants and train them accordingly.

Preference in using Agile Development with Larger Team Size

Agile software development includes a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between cross-functional self-organizing teams. Different software houses were visited in a developing country to determine the experiences faced by people working on a real world projects using Agile software development methodology following different variants in different team sizes to determine the preference of using Agile software development methodology in larger team sizes. Several people were surveyed out of which few responded with an opinion of not to use agile development in a team sizes exceeding 25 members. According to the experience of people the ideal team size was 5 to maximum 10. Because according to the survey increase in the number of individuals create issues of communication as it is not possible to keep everyone on the same track with larger teams especially in case of scrum meetings which usually held on daily basis, taking responsibilities as everyone becomes reluctant in taking responsibilities believing someone else will take it, sub teams because the more the number of individuals the more will be the sub teams which indirectly increases the dependency among the teams by breaking the tasks into much smaller chunks. The findings also suggest that customer feedback would increase if the team size is less than 25 which in turn says that the Quality of Software is increased. As this study had only focused on the software companies of a developing country it is recommended that further studies should be carried out by surveying the people of other different developed countries.

Design Thinking Integrated in Agile Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review

Software development raises the relevance as it enables automation of the processes and provides new functionalities to the final consumers; Agile Software Development is an enabler to accelerate software delivery, manage priorities changes and increase productivity. During the software development life cycle, the development team is expected to fully understand customers’ needs, but it is challenged by geographic constraints, narrow project schedule, or short budget. Design Thinking is an approach that promotes the understanding of customer needs considering what is technical and economic feasible. To evaluate how the Design Thinking approach is used integrated with Agile Software Development methodologies, we applied the Systematic Literature Review, which collected, categorized and reviewed 29 articles related to this topic. The results show that most of the integrated models are applied throughout the software life cycle, noting that the model that integrates the DT approach published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Scrum as an agile methodology composes the most frequently used integrated model. The integrated models resulted in a greater approximation of end users and the development team, improving the quality and usability of the software.

Social Success Factors Affecting Implementation of Agile Software Development Methodologies in Software Industry of Pakistan: An Empirical Study

During the past few years it has been observed that the implementation of Agile software development methodologies have become a part and parcel in software development projects not only in large and developed organizations but also in small organizations despite the existence of misapprehension that Agile methodologies are only valid for large scale projects and established organizations. Keeping in view the potential of Agile software methodologies and with the aim of eliminating this misconception, a mixed method methodology was adopted to conduct a study for determining the social factors that contribute or have influence in the successful implementation of Agile software development methodologies. In this study, face-to-face interview sessions were conducted with 271 software professionals that include Portfolio/Program/Project Managers, Scrum Masters and Product Owners representing 28 software development companies operating in Pakistan to gauge the influence of social factors on the success of Agile software projects. The study concluded that the size of the project has nothing to do with the success of a project or otherwise but there exist certain other factors like visionary leadership, degree or level of Agile software practices, congruence value, etc. contribute significantly in success of a project.

Agile software development project evaluation using the partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM) approach in view of critical success indicators

In this study, the Agile software development process is analysed by means of success and failure criteria, and their effects are determined using the partial least squares – structural equation modelling methodology. The study identifies criticial success factors in Agile software development methodology and specifically focuses on indicators to conclude their significance of relationship and impact, so that the possible results are determined, predicted and exterminated in advance. The literature search determined the success indicators of agile projects in a mul ti-dimensional view of factors. Each factor was classified into sub-factors and indicators which helped to obtain a multi-dimensional view of the factors that made them more viable. The answers of the participants were mapped to the detailed criteria and applied to the model developed. The results which showed the effects of each sub-criteria mapped to one of the main criteria of the Agile software development process were determined and evaluated. Keywords: Critical success factors, success criteria, agile software development process, partial least squares – structural equation modeling, success indicator, failure indicator.

Clinician user involvement in the real world: Designing an electronic tool to improve interprofessional communication and collaboration in a hospital setting

ObjectivesUser involvement is vital to the success of health information technology implementation. However, involving clinician users effectively and meaningfully in complex healthcare organizations remains challenging. The objective of this paper is to share our real-world experience of applying a variety of user involvement methods in the design and implementation of a clinical communication and collaboration platform aimed at facilitating care of complex hospitalized patients by an interprofessional team of clinicians. MethodsWe designed and implemented an electronic clinical communication and collaboration platform in a large community teaching hospital. The design team consisted of both technical and healthcare professionals. Agile software development methodology was used to facilitate rapid iterative design and user input. We involved clinician users at all stages of the development lifecycle using a variety of user-centered, user co-design, and participatory design methods. ResultsThirty-six software releases were delivered over 24 months. User involvement has resulted in improvement in user interface design, identification of software defects, creation of new modules that facilitated workflow, and identification of necessary changes to the scope of the project early on. ConclusionA variety of user involvement methods were complementary and benefited the design and implementation of a complex health IT solution. Combining these methods with agile software development methodology can turn designs into functioning clinical system to support iterative improvement.

Implementation of Change Management in Software Development by using Scrum Framework

This paper will focus on implementation of change management in Scrum software development framework . Scrum is one of the mostly used software development framework from the Agile software development methodology. Scrum is based on iterative and incremental process. It is suitable for unstable requirements. The use of Scrum proved to be beneficial due to tight schedule and loosely defined user requirements that often changed during the development. The aim of the paper to study implementation process of change management in Scrum . First part of paper gives detailed information of Scrum framework. The middle of the paper presented the organizational process of agile software development using Scrum. Finally, the paper point out key points for managing changes in Scrum implementation. The primary data collection method was interviews of the industry expertise. The secondary source of data is reference books and Internet articles. This paper will help to understand basics of Scrum software development framework and process of change management in developing projects by using Scrum framework.

High resolution data from everyday life: coproducing a technically robust and engaging sensing platform

ABSTRACTObjectives Researchers are increasingly recognising the potential for connected health devices – in particular, wearables and smartphones - to capture high-resolution, multi-dimensional data from everyday life. The Dementias Platform UK project aims to develop research capacity in this emerging area by providing a combination of hardware and software: a pool of devices capable of generating data supported by a ‘sensing platform’ designed to securely receive, store and link these data with sources, including clinical records and cohort data. We collected feedback from researchers and patients to (i) develop requirements for the sensing platform and (ii) inform procurement of a device pool.
 ApproachSeparate workshops were held to involve (i) researchers (public and private sector) and (ii) over 30 patients from four potential user groups, including people with dementia. Both groups gave feedback on the suitability and acceptability of a range of wearable devices for capturing data for different study purposes. Additionally, researchers commented on the platform functionality. Patients were provided opportunities to handle multiple devices and test them at home. We captured feedback at workshops using notes, which were collated, shared and discussed among the team. An agile software development methodology was used to respond rapidly to changing requirements.
 ResultsPatients supported plans for connected health dementia research and, in principle, were willing to wear devices, provided they consented voluntarily and data were stored securely and confidentially. Many patients were prepared to undergo some level of inconvenience, for example wearing devices for longer periods, particularly if given ongoing feedback about research progress, findings and benefits. Researchers and patients agreed the platform should be open to a wide range of devices, available currently and in future. Researchers envisaged using the platform for a range of projects and data types. As a result, we established a device pool (including wearables, smartphones and tablets) and developed a generic, ‘device-agnostic’ platform to receive and store data. Platform architecture was designed to be as flexible as possible to allow for future modifications.
 ConclusionWe found it was feasible to integrate requirements from both researchers and patients when developing a sensing platform for dementia research. By seeking feedback from both user groups, we were better able to attend to device linkage requirements, platform functionality and acceptability, integrating these within development and procurement processes. Furthermore, we identified aspects of research setup and design that could support sustained engagement from participants, thereby improving data completeness and quality.

Issues in Adopting Agile Methodologies in Global and Local Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review Protocol with Preliminary Results

Issues in Adopting Agile Methodologies in Global and Local Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review Protocol with Preliminary Results

An Objective Compliance Analysis of Project Management Process in Main Agile Methodologies with the ISO/IEC 29110 Entry Profile

Software Process Improvement efforts (SPI) are pursued by organizations for improving the overall quality of their software development processes. However, very small entities (VSEs) avoid them by the lack of required financial and other organizational resources. In contrast, VSEs use agile software development methodologies (ASDMs), but these ASDMs do not foster adherence to best scholastic practices promoted by SPI. Furthermore, while a new ISO/IEC standard (29110) has been recently released for VSEs, it was not designed taking account the ASDM approaches. Thus, we investigate the extent of adherence of main ASDMs (two industrial and one academic type) with this new standard. Initial results provide evidence on the strong need to enhance the two industrial ASDMs (XP and SCRUM). In contrast, the academic ASDM (UPEDU) fits the standard very well but it is scarcely used by VSEs. Hence, it is concluded that there is a knowledge gap between the praxis with ASDMs and the recommended scholastic software processes like the ISO/IEC 29110 standard for VSEs.

Optimized Quality Model for Agile Development: Extreme Programming (XP) as a Case Scenario

The attributes of quality are that it is complex taxonomy, it cannot be weighted or measured but can be felt, discussed and judged. Early assessment and verification of functional attributes (requirements) are supported well by renowned standards while the nonfunctional attributes (requirements) are not. Agile software development methodologies are of high repute as the most popular and effective approaches to the development of software systems. Early requirements verification methodologies in Agile Software Engineering are well focused in this way and hence mainly researched have achieved in functional requirements. For early quality aspects (attributes) in order to bring quality in our design and hence development process, it is very important to consider nonfunctional requirements quality metrics (attributes). A comprehensive work is also being done to propose and validate (using iThink) different quality models which could make sure the quality of agile software products being developed, which will be though available in detail in the literature review (section II). Yet a generic and standard quality metrics model is missing in this for the agile software practices in all, which off course is further needed to make sure that the agile product being developed, will surely accomplish quality characteristics as decided by the stakeholders as well as the mentioned quality standard they are addressing. In this work we have proposed a quality metrics model that fulfills the desired quality attributes exist in ISO/IEC (Quality standards, ISO 9126, ISO 25000) in early requirements, we validated this by performing simulations in iThink technology that also ensures that the quality of item being produced to meet the described criteria.

Agile Software Development Methodologies: Survey of Surveys

Agile software design and development methodologies have been gaining rigorous attention in the software engineering research community since their early introduction in the mid-nineties in addition to being highly adopted by the software development industry. In the last 15 years, an excessive number of research studies have been conducted on agile methods, a great number of notable methods have been proposed and various surveys have been presented by many researchers. In this study, the authors intend to conduct a literature survey study of the surveys of the different agile methodologies ranging from January 2000 to December 2015 using an intuitive research methodology called “Compare and Review” (CR). Furthermore, these survey papers were classified into four major categories according to their area of study. Additionally, the newly proposed agile methodologies that have not been addressed yet in any other literature review were reviewed and compared in terms of where the changes that they proposed lay on the SDLC.

A survey on success factors and obstacles for further adoption of agile in IT organisations

These days IT organisations aspire to implement effective and efficient processes and practices for their software development. One such attempt is by trying to implement agile software development methodologies. Indeed, agile methodologies offer some useful advantages to organisations. These benefits include high team collaboration and customer satisfactions. Numerous agile software development methods such as Scrum, extreme programming (XP), Feature driven development, Kanban, dynamic system development method (DSDM) among many are often being used by various IT organisations. Several studies have shown the success and failure of adoption of agile methods or practices. Our research presents a number of additional critical success factors and obstacles by asking from agile practitioners. Moreover, this paper presents a review of some of the existing studies also. The purpose of this survey is use to present a brief guide related to success factors and obstacles of agile adoption in some companies.