It has become an increasingly common practice that software companies collaborate with external developers to develop a software platform for a shared market, constituting software ecosystems. One main concern in adopting the practice of software ecosystem is how to attract external developers to a platform, and how to establish sustainable collaborative relationships with them. We discuss that explicating and in-depth analysis of developers’ objectives and decision criteria can facilitate the design of sustainable collaborations in software ecosystems. Scenarios from Apple iOS and Google Android ecosystems are used for illustration.

1. Designing Software Ecosystems:
How to Develop Sustainable
Collaborations?
Mahsa H. Sadi, Jiaying Dai, Eric Yu
Department of Computer Science
University of Toronto
1
CAiSE 2015 Workshop on Digital Business Innovation and the Future Enterprise
Information Systems Engineering , June 9th, 2015

2. Introduction
Software Ecosystem
A recent practice in which software development
companies collaborate with external developers in order
to develop and extend a software platform for a shared
market
- Jansen, Finkelstein, & Brinkkemper (2009)
Jansen, S., Finkelstein, A., & Brinkkemper, S. (2009).
“A sense of community: A research agenda for software ecosystems”
In 31st International Conference on Software Engineering-Companion Volume, 2009.
ICSE-Companion 2009. (pp. 187-190). IEEE.
2

3. Example: The Mobile Software Ecosystem
3

4. Challenges for Platform Developers
How to build, grow and sustain a software
ecosystem?
How to attract external application developers to a
software platform?
How to establish sustainable collaborative relationships
with application developers over a software platform?
4

5. Position in this study
To sustain and grow collaborative relationships with
application developers over a software platform,
The objectives and decision criteria of the application
developers need to be elicited and analyzed
Contribution of this study
A systematic approach for modeling and analyzing the
objectives and decision criteria of application developers
i* goal-oriented social modeling technique is used to represent the
objectives and decision criteria
5

6. Proposed Approach - General Steps
Question:
How to attract external application developers to a software platform?
How to establish sustainable collaborative relationships with application
developers over a software platform?
Elicit the Technical and Non-
Technical Requirements of a
Sustainable Collaboration
Derive Alternative
Solutions for Designing
a Collaborative
Environment
1
Categorize Different Types of
Application Developers According
to Their Objectives and Decision
Criteria
2 3
6

7. Proposed Approach – Modeling and
Analysis Steps
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
Refine the
Objectives and
Decision Criteria into
Requirements
Identify the
Degree of
Fulfillment of the
Requirements
Identify the
Importance and
Priority of the
Requirements
1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3
Elicit the Technical and Non-
Technical Requirements of a
Sustainable Collaboration
Derive Alternative
Solutions for Designing
a Collaborative
Environment
1
Categorize Different Types of
Application Developers According
to Their Objectives and Decision
Criteria
2 3
7

8. Proposed Approach- Modeling Guidelines
Elicit the
Requirements of
a Sustainable
Collaboration
Derive Alternative
Solutions for Designing
a Collaborative
Environment
1
Identify and
Categorize Different
Types of Application
Developers
2 3
Elicit and Model
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
Refine the
Objectives and
Decision Criteria into
Requirements
Identify the
Degree of
Fulfillment of the
Requirements
Identify the
Importance and
Priority of the
Requirements
1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3
Model
Stakeholders
as Actors and
Roles
Model Operations
and Activities of
stakeholders as
Goals and Tasks
Model the objectives
and Decision Criteria
of Collaborators as
Soft Goals
Model the Reasoning
behind the Adoption of
Activities as
Contribution Links
Model the Relationships
among Stakeholders as
Strategic Dependencies
Use Decomposition and
Means-Ends Links to
Refine the Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4
1.1.5 2.1.1
Guidelines for modeling the objectives
and decision criteria using the i*
modeling technique
8

9. Illustrative Study:
Modeling and Analyzing the Smartphone
Software Ecosystems
9

10. Modeling Collaboration in the
Smartphone Software Ecosystem
Soft Goal
Resource
Role
Goal
Mobile
Platform
Developer
Software
Development
Toolkit
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Mobile
Apps be
Developed
Application
Developer
Strategic
Dependency
10

11. To develop and sustain a software ecosystem
Developer’s satisfaction is a critical dependency for a mobile
platform developer
11

12. Mobile
Platform
Developer
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Mobile
Apps be
Developed
Mobile platform developer needs to elicit and analyze
What factors lead to developers’ satisfaction?
12

13. Eliciting Developers’ Objective
and Decision Criteria
To identify developers’ objectives, we use the study
of Koch & Kerschbaum (2014)
The study surveys the motivations and decision criteria of
the application developers who develop applications for
Apple iOS and Google Android
Koch, S., & Kerschbaum, M. (2014). Joining a smartphone ecosystem:
Application developers’ motivations and decision criteria. Information and
Software Technology, 56(11), 1423-1435.
13

14. Walkthrough 1- Apple iOS Software Ecosystem
Modeling and Analyzing Apple iOS Application Developers’
Objectives and Decision Criteria
14

15. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
What factors lead to iOS developers’ satisfaction?
15

16. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Apple third-party developers are mainly driven by financial
gain.
- Koch& Kerschbaum (2014)
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
16

17. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Intellectual stimulation is also an important factor for the
developers who join Apple iOS ecosystem.
- Koch& Kerschbaum (2014)
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
Non -Technical
Requirements 17

18. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
These developers often prefer to charge fee for their
application being used by Apple iPhone/iPad end users.
- Koch& Kerschbaum (2014)
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
18

19. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Tight Integration
of Platform
The main characteristics of the iOS platform that motivate this
group to join Apple iOS ecosystem are as follows: (a) Large network
size of the platform (composed of the number of users, the market
size, and the number of applications), and (b) the tight integration
of the platform. - Koch& Kerschbaum (2014)
Technical
Requirement
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
19

20. A tightly integrated platform makes the complementary
application development process easier for developers with
strong motivations in financial gains by optimizing development
efforts and facilitating the targeting of the applications.
- Koch& Kerschbaum (2014)
Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
Tight Integration
of Platform
20

21. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
Tight Integration
of Platform
What factors and features influence or
increase intellectual stimulation in
application developers?
To what factors and features tight
integration of software platform
refer to?
Refine the
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
2.1
21

22. Refining the requirements (the application
developers’ decision criteria) requires further data
gathering and refinement of the available
information
To develop models, we remain faithful to the
available information provided in Koch& Kerschbaum
(2014)
We do not add additional information
Refine the
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
2.1
22

23. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
Tight Integration
of Platform
1
2
3
Hypothetical Prioritization
Real-world data is required to prioritize the
requirements
Identify the
Importance and
Priority of the
Decision Criteria
2.2
23

24. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
Tight Integration
of Platform



Hypothetical Evaluation
Real-world data is required to evaluate the
fulfillment of the requirementsIdentify the Degree
of Fulfillment of the
decision Criteria
2.3
Fully-
Satisficed
Partially-
Denied

24

25. Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
Tight Integration
of Platform
How to improve the
fulfillment of the financial
gain motivation of application
developers?
Hypothetical Conclusion
Financial gain is the first priority requirement
of iOS application developersConclude the
Requirements
3
25

26. Mobile Software
be developed
Open
Innovation
iOS Platform
be Developed
iOS Applications
be Developed
Delegate Development of iOS
Applications to External Developers
External
Developers
Attracted
Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Provide Software
Development Toolkit
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Intellectual
stimulation
Increased attractiveness
of [Mobile] platform
Increased Number of Supporting
Applications
Tight Integration
of Platform
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
The same modeling steps can be followed to explicate
the objectives and decision criteria of the platform
developerDerive Alternative
Design Solutions
4
26

27. Mobile Software
be developed
Open
Innovation
iOS Platform
be Developed
iOS Applications
be Developed
Delegate Development of iOS
Applications to External Developers
External
Developers
Attracted
Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Provide Software
Development Toolkit
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Support Application
Developers
Intellectual
stimulation
Increased attractiveness
of [Mobile] platform
Increased Number of Supporting
Applications
Tight Integration
of Platform
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
Derive Alternative
Design Solutions
4
27

28. Mobile Software
be developed
Open
Innovation
iOS Platform
be Developed
iOS Applications
be Developed
Delegate Development of iOS
Applications to External Developers
External
Developers
Attracted
Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Provide Software
Development Toolkit
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Support Application
Developers
Intellectual
stimulation
Build Market Channel
for Applications
Increased attractiveness
of [Mobile] platform
Increased Number of Supporting
Applications
Become Visible to
the Market
Tight Integration
of Platform
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Easy to Target
Application
For selling the mobile applications, developers become
dependent on iOS platform developer, for the goal of
“Applications become visible to the market place”Derive Alternative
Design Solutions
4
28

29. Solution for supporting iOS external developers
To “Build market channels for applications”, and to
“Build app store”
Derive Alternative
Design Solutions
4
Mobile Software
be developed
Open
Innovation
iOS Platform
be Developed
iOS Applications
be Developed
Delegate Development of iOS
Applications to External Developers
External
Developers
Attracted
Apple – iOS
Platform
Developer
iOS
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development
Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Provide Software
Development Toolkit
iOS Apps be
Developed
Financial Gain from
Application Development
Support Application
Developers
Intellectual
stimulation
Build Market Channel
for Applications
Increased attractiveness
of [Mobile] platform
Increased Number of Supporting
Applications
Become Visible to
the Market
Registration Fees
Tight Integration
of Platform
Sell Mobile
Applications
Large Network
Size of the
Platform
30% Revenue
Share
Optimized
Development
Efforts
Build App
Store
Easy to Target
Application
29

30. Summary of Walkthrough 1
We illustrated
Appropriate design solution can be concluded by
elaborate analysis and investigation of the objectives and
decision criteria of third-party developers who collaborate
with iOS
Discussion
Depending on the objectives and decision criteria of
application developers, solutions for supporting external
developers differ.
30

31. Walkthrough 2- Google Android Software Ecosystem
Identifying and Analyzing Google Android Application Developers’
Objectives and Decision Criteria
31

32. Elicit and Identify
Developers’
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
1.1
Google –
Android
Platform
Developer
Android
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development Toolkit
Software
Development Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Android Apps be
Developed
What factors cause Android developers’ satisfaction?
32

33. Google –
Android
Platform
Developer
Android
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development Toolkit
Software
Development Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Android Apps be
Developed
Low Entry
Barriers
Low Technical
barriers
Low Monetary
Barriers
Platform
Openness
Reputation
Experiencing Fun
During Software
Development
Refine the
Objectives and
Decision Criteria
2.1 The same modeling steps has been followed to
explicate the objectives and decision criteria of
Android Application Developers
33

34. Mobile Software be
developed
Open
Innovation
Android Platform be
Developed
Android Applications
be Developed
Delegate Development of
Applications to External Developers
External
Developers
Attracted
Google –
Andorid
Platform
Developer
Android
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Provide Software
Development Toolkit
Android Apps
be Developed
Support Application
Developers
Increased attractiveness of
the mobile platform
Increased number of
applications supporting the
Mobile platform
Low Entry
Barriers
Low Technical
barriers
Low Monetary
Barriers
Platform
Openness
Reputation
Experiencing Fun
During Software
Development
How to improve the fulfillment of the
feeling of being recognized in the
Android application developers?
The same hypothetical analysis steps have been
followed to conclude the requirements.
Conclude the
Requirements
3
34

35. Solution for supporting Google external developers
To “Develop Community Websites” in order to
publicize the information about the innovations to
the end users and the developers’ community
Derive Alternative
Design Solutions
4
Mobile Software be
developed
Open
Innovation
Platform be
Developed
Applications be
Developed
Delegate Development of
Applications to External Developers
External
Developers
Attracted
Google –
Andorid
Platform
Developer
Android
Application
Developer
Mobile Applications
be Developed
Obtain Software
Development Toolkit
Software
Development
Toolkit
Development
Satisfaction
Developer’s
Satisfaction
Provide Software
Development Toolkit
Android Apps
be Developed
Support Application
Developers
Increased attractiveness of
the mobile platform
Increased number of
applications supporting the
Mobile platform
Low Entry
Barriers
Low Technical
barriers
Low Monetary
Barriers
Platform
Openness
Reputation
Experiencing Fun
During Software
Development
Innovations Become
Visible to the
Community
Develop Community
Websites
35

36. Summary of Walkthrough 2
We illustrated
Depending on the objectives and decision criteria of
application developers, solutions for supporting external
developers differ
Conclusion
It is required to elicit and analyze developers’ objectives
and decision criteria as source for identifying the
appropriate requirements for growing and sustaining a
software ecosystem
36

37. Summary
One crucial activity in developing a software ecosystem is to
attract external software developers to contribute to a
software platform
We proposed a model-based approach to systematically
develop and extend sustainable collaborative relationships
with external software developers
The main idea behind our solution is to model and analyze
collaborators’ objectives and decisions
Using scenarios from Google Android and Apple iOS software
ecosystems, we illustrated the viability of the proposed
approach
37

38. Limitations of the Study
Evaluating the proposed approach
Via experimentation in case studies of software
ecosystems
Elaborating the proposed approach
With techniques for eliciting, evaluating, and prioritizing
collaborators’ objectives and decision criteria
38

39. References
Koch, S., & Kerschbaum, M. (2014)
“Joining a smartphone ecosystem: Application developers’ motivations
and decision criteria”
Information and Software Technology, 56(11), 1423-1435.
Sadi, M. H., & Yu, E. (2015)
“Designing Software Ecosystems: How Can Modeling Techniques Help?”
In Enterprise, Business-Process and Information Systems Modeling (pp.
360-375). Springer International Publishing.
Sadi, M. H., & Yu, E. (2014)
“Analyzing the evolution of software development: From creative chaos to
software ecosystems”
In IEEE 8th International Conference on Research Challenges in Information
Science (RCIS), (pp. 1-11). IEEE.
39

40. 40
E-mail: mhsadi@cs.toronto.edu