Brainstorming versus a Scenario-based Approach: Results of an Empirical Study

Although important advances have been made to improve the requirements elicitation process, this problem is still a challenging research topic for the Requirements Engineering community. Motivated by this fact, we propose the CREAS method (Creative Requirements Elicitation Assisted by Scenarios), an approach for requirements elicitation that leverages and brings together scenario-based and creativity techniques. In this paper, we seek to answer the following research question: Does CREAS have a better impact on the elicitation of requirements with respect to a Brainstorming process? To answer this question, we have designed and run a quasi-experiment to compare CREAS and Brainstorming under similar conditions. The participants were required to elicit the requirements for two different problems in two different sessions using both approaches. Results evidence the existence of significant differences between the methods. The statistical outcomes show that the requirements obtained with CREAS are more complete, precise and present less over-specification.

[1]  Bashar Nuseibeh,et al.  Requirements engineering: a roadmap , 2000, ICSE '00.

[2]  Tore Dybå,et al.  Evidence-based software engineering , 2004, Proceedings. 26th International Conference on Software Engineering.

[3]  Tore Dybå,et al.  A systematic review of statistical power in software engineering experiments , 2006, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[4]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics (5th Edition) , 2006 .

[5]  Kristina Shea,et al.  TAXONOMY OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS , 2011 .

[6]  Luisa Mich,et al.  A framework for understanding collaborative creativity in requirements engineering: Empirical validation , 2014, 2014 IEEE 4th International Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE).

[7]  Fabio Massacci,et al.  An experiment on comparing textual vs. visual industrial methods for security risk assessment , 2014, 2014 IEEE 4th International Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE).

[8]  Oscar Pastor,et al.  Empirical research methodologies and studies in Requirements Engineering: How far did we come? , 2014, J. Syst. Softw..

[9]  R. Ledesma,et al.  Cliff's Delta Calculator: A non-parametric effect size program for two groups of observations , 2010 .

[10]  R. Grissom,et al.  Effect sizes for research: A broad practical approach. , 2005 .

[11]  PastorOscar,et al.  In search of evidence for model-driven development claims , 2015 .

[12]  Oscar Pastor,et al.  In search of evidence for model-driven development claims: An experiment on quality, effort, productivity and satisfaction , 2015, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[13]  Sara Jones,et al.  Requirements Engineering as Creative Problem Solving: A Research Agenda for Idea Finding , 2010, 2010 18th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference.

[14]  Nelly Condori-Fernández,et al.  An empirical comparative evaluation of requirements engineering methods , 2010, Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society.

[15]  Luisa Mich,et al.  Applying a pragmatics-based creativity-fostering technique to requirements elicitation , 2005, Requirements Engineering.

[16]  Davi Viana,et al.  Evaluating the REMO-EKD technique: A technique for the elicitation of software requirements based on EKD organizational models , 2013, 2013 3rd International Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE).

[17]  Anna Perini,et al.  Requirements comprehension: A controlled experiment on conceptual modeling methods , 2011, Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE 2011).

[18]  Luisa Mich,et al.  Creativity Techniques for Requirements Elicitation: Comparing Four-Step EPMcreate-Based Processes , 2018, 2018 IEEE 7th International Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE).

[19]  Robert J. Gaizauskas,et al.  CM-Builder: an automated NL-based CASE tool , 2000, Proceedings ASE 2000. Fifteenth IEEE International Conference on Automated Software Engineering.

[20]  Diana Adler,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 2016 .

[21]  Martin S. Feather,et al.  Requirements and Specification Exemplars , 1997, Automated Software Engineering.

[22]  Claes Wohlin,et al.  Using Students as Subjects—A Comparative Study of Students and Professionals in Lead-Time Impact Assessment , 2000, Empirical Software Engineering.

[23]  M. Field.  Defying the Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of Conformity , 1996 .

[24]  J. Robertson,et al.  Requirements analysts must also be inventors , 2005, IEEE Software.

[25]  Glenn Gamst,et al.  Applied Multivariate Research: Design and Interpretation , 2005 .

[26]  Klaas Sikkel,et al.  A systematic mapping study on empirical evaluation of software requirements specifications techniques , 2009, 2009 3rd International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement.

[27]  Natalia Juristo Juzgado,et al.  Effectiveness of Requirements Elicitation Techniques: Empirical Results Derived from a Systematic Review , 2006, 14th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE'06).

[28]  Betty H. C. Cheng,et al.  Research Directions in Requirements Engineering , 2007, Future of Software Engineering (FOSE '07).

[29]  Barbara A. Kitchenham,et al.  Effect sizes and their variance for AB/BA crossover design studies , 2018, 2018 IEEE/ACM 40th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE).

[30]  Jan Mendling,et al.  On the Usage of Labels and Icons in Business Process Modeling , 2010, Int. J. Inf. Syst. Model. Des..