The document discusses approaches for prioritizing end-user feedback to software companies. It identifies three areas of concern: feedback gathering, analysis, and decision making. Within feedback gathering, it proposes allowing end-users to express priority through ratings, categories or discussion. Feedback analysis involves clustering similar issues and analyzing sentiment, affected users and issue type. Decision making considers validating priorities across sources and feedback channels. The goal is to effectively prioritize large amounts of end-user feedback to inform software releases.
Heuristic Evaluation of User Interfaces: Exploration and Evaluation of Niels...Ultan O'Broin
Discussing the seminal usability (HCI) paper by Nielsen, J. and Molich, R., (1990): Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. Literature review included.
The SUPERSEDE project will provide advancements in several research areas, from end-user feedback and contextual data analysis, to decision making support in software evolution and adaptation. But the major novel contribution will be in integrating methods and tools from the mentioned areas, thus providing a new solution framework for software evolution and adaptation for data-intensive applications.
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW), the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, brings its expertise in Data Management and Information Processing, Usability Engineering and Data Visualization into the SUPERSEDE project.
This short presentation gives an overlook about FHNW and its role in the SUPERSEDE project.
Heuristic Evaluation of User Interfaces: Exploration and Evaluation of Niels...Ultan O'Broin
Discussing the seminal usability (HCI) paper by Nielsen, J. and Molich, R., (1990): Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. Literature review included.
The SUPERSEDE project will provide advancements in several research areas, from end-user feedback and contextual data analysis, to decision making support in software evolution and adaptation. But the major novel contribution will be in integrating methods and tools from the mentioned areas, thus providing a new solution framework for software evolution and adaptation for data-intensive applications.
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW), the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, brings its expertise in Data Management and Information Processing, Usability Engineering and Data Visualization into the SUPERSEDE project.
This short presentation gives an overlook about FHNW and its role in the SUPERSEDE project.
Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) is a non-profit research foundation established by the Autonomous Province of Trento and inheriting the activities of Istituto Trentino di Cultura (ITC), which was based on the ideas of Bruno Kessler, a long-time member of the local government and founder of the University of Trento.
In this presentation you will find out more about FBK and its role in the SUPERSEDE project
Priore 2017 - release planning and project management toolsSupersede
Presentation shown on the PrioRE'17 workshop, which is part of the 1st International Workshop on Requirements Prioritization and Enactment (27/02/2017-02/03/2017, Essen, Germany)
UZH, the University of Zurich is the largest university in Switzerland and among the top 100 universities world-wide. In this presentation you will see which important role the Requirements Engineering Research Group (RERG) oh UZH has in the SUPERSEDE project.
Waarom RFEM de optimale rekensoftware is voor uw ingenieursJo Gijbels
De rekensoftware RFEM is t.o.v. andere rekensoftware:
1 Gebruiksvriendelijker
2 Produceert sneller resultaten
3 Maakt sneller een rapport van de berekening
4 Gemaakt met Duitse topkwaliteit en wereldwijd gebruikt
5 Lagere onderhoudskosten door vele licenties
6 Ondersteuning via Webinars, Social Media, Blogs
7 Heeft vele extra mogelijkheden t.o.v. andere rekensoftware
Distrifood Interview - Enorme kans voor supers in vers-bewerktWouter de Heij
Meer over de toekomst van de supermarkt:
- http://wdeheij.blogspot.nl/2013/03/the-future-of-supermarkets-niks-geen.html
En waarom nieuwe conserveertechnologie het verschil gaat maken:
http://wdeheij.blogspot.nl/2013/03/houdbaarheid-en-mild-conserveren-een.html?q=supermarkt en dus chemie geen toekomst heeft:
http://www.foodlog.nl/artikel/chemische-conseveringsmiddelen/
Life is long, and so is our travel bucket list. We've got plenty of destinations on our agenda, but in addition to the "wheres," there are many activities we hope to take part in when we travel. Read on for 18 travel goals we think everyone should have on their list, from wandering through ancient ruins to speaking a foreign language.
Learn more in Upstart University course "Choosing Your Production Method" >> (http://bit.ly/2croGyL)
Aeroponics is an exciting plant production technique growing in popularity. However, it does have some less than favorable elements. Find out why clogging is such an issue in aeroponics, how it impacts labor, and how to find more information in this presentation.
With over 20 years of success, Cinetransformer is a unique, world-class experiential mobile events & marketing company and a designer/manufacturer of specialty and custom vehicles.
Cinetransformer creates and operates mobile events of virtually any kind, engaging the senses like no other marketing medium can. The result? Powerful emotional connections and memorable experiences that generate audience excitement and buzz!.
"Convention of Security Presidential homage Zero"
Before the eminent risk of attacks terrorist and of death, against the person of the President or a leader political in the world; and the danger that implies the submission and delivery of power total in the hands of a single person, something as important as it is the representation of the President of the Republic or the nation and the insecure Social and policy that this represents...
Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) is a non-profit research foundation established by the Autonomous Province of Trento and inheriting the activities of Istituto Trentino di Cultura (ITC), which was based on the ideas of Bruno Kessler, a long-time member of the local government and founder of the University of Trento.
In this presentation you will find out more about FBK and its role in the SUPERSEDE project
Priore 2017 - release planning and project management toolsSupersede
Presentation shown on the PrioRE'17 workshop, which is part of the 1st International Workshop on Requirements Prioritization and Enactment (27/02/2017-02/03/2017, Essen, Germany)
UZH, the University of Zurich is the largest university in Switzerland and among the top 100 universities world-wide. In this presentation you will see which important role the Requirements Engineering Research Group (RERG) oh UZH has in the SUPERSEDE project.
Waarom RFEM de optimale rekensoftware is voor uw ingenieursJo Gijbels
De rekensoftware RFEM is t.o.v. andere rekensoftware:
1 Gebruiksvriendelijker
2 Produceert sneller resultaten
3 Maakt sneller een rapport van de berekening
4 Gemaakt met Duitse topkwaliteit en wereldwijd gebruikt
5 Lagere onderhoudskosten door vele licenties
6 Ondersteuning via Webinars, Social Media, Blogs
7 Heeft vele extra mogelijkheden t.o.v. andere rekensoftware
Distrifood Interview - Enorme kans voor supers in vers-bewerktWouter de Heij
Meer over de toekomst van de supermarkt:
- http://wdeheij.blogspot.nl/2013/03/the-future-of-supermarkets-niks-geen.html
En waarom nieuwe conserveertechnologie het verschil gaat maken:
http://wdeheij.blogspot.nl/2013/03/houdbaarheid-en-mild-conserveren-een.html?q=supermarkt en dus chemie geen toekomst heeft:
http://www.foodlog.nl/artikel/chemische-conseveringsmiddelen/
Life is long, and so is our travel bucket list. We've got plenty of destinations on our agenda, but in addition to the "wheres," there are many activities we hope to take part in when we travel. Read on for 18 travel goals we think everyone should have on their list, from wandering through ancient ruins to speaking a foreign language.
Learn more in Upstart University course "Choosing Your Production Method" >> (http://bit.ly/2croGyL)
Aeroponics is an exciting plant production technique growing in popularity. However, it does have some less than favorable elements. Find out why clogging is such an issue in aeroponics, how it impacts labor, and how to find more information in this presentation.
With over 20 years of success, Cinetransformer is a unique, world-class experiential mobile events & marketing company and a designer/manufacturer of specialty and custom vehicles.
Cinetransformer creates and operates mobile events of virtually any kind, engaging the senses like no other marketing medium can. The result? Powerful emotional connections and memorable experiences that generate audience excitement and buzz!.
"Convention of Security Presidential homage Zero"
Before the eminent risk of attacks terrorist and of death, against the person of the President or a leader political in the world; and the danger that implies the submission and delivery of power total in the hands of a single person, something as important as it is the representation of the President of the Republic or the nation and the insecure Social and policy that this represents...
Usability Testing in Federal Libraries: A Case Studynullhandle
Presentation given to the Federal Library Information Network (FLICC) Emerging Technologies Working Group on improvised usability testing of a redesigned electronic resources access portal for the U.S. Supreme Court Library.
This is a rapid usability audit we conducted for a client's first stab at a mobile app. We took a hybrid approach, using heuristic evaluations a cognitive walkthrough, with the goal of discovering top usability issues and making recommendations. Nielsen and Molich originally thought of heuristic evaluations as a "discount method" to get quick on user interfaces; we found that that, plus the cognitive process, returned solid knowledge in a short time frame.
Develop a robust and effective book recommendation system that provides personalized suggestions to users, enhancing their reading experience and promoting diverse literary exploration.
IOSR Journal of Computer Engineering (IOSR-JCE) is a double blind peer reviewed International Journal that provides rapid publication (within a month) of articles in all areas of computer engineering and its applications. The journal welcomes publications of high quality papers on theoretical developments and practical applications in computer technology. Original research papers, state-of-the-art reviews, and high quality technical notes are invited for publications.
This project was conducted as part of my M.S. in Interaction Design and Information Architecture. For this project, I worked with a group and a representative from Denon. As a group, we tested the user experience of their HEOS application.
Goal-aware Analysis of Software License RisksSupersede
A presentation on "Goal-aware Analysis of Software License Risks" presented in the iStar Workshop in June 2017 in Essen, Germany. (http://istar17.thss.tsinghua.edu.cn/).
Modelling Prioritisation Decision-making in Software EvolutionSupersede
A presentation on "Modelling Prioritisation Decision-making in Software Evolution" presented in the PrioRE workshop in January 2017 (https://prioresite.wordpress.com/)
A Survey on Software Release Planning Models - Slides for the Presentation @ ...Supersede
Software release planning (SRP) is the problem of selecting which features or requirements will be included in the next release or releases. It is a crucial step in software development, which happens to be extremely complex given the need to reconcile multiple decision making criteria, (e.g., business value, effort and cost), while considering several constraints (e.g., feature precedencies, resource availa-bility). For this reason, several SRP models have been proposed in the literature. The objective of this study is to provide an updated review of SRP approaches reported in the literature.
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
Richard's aventures in two entangled wonderlandsRichard Gill
Since the loophole-free Bell experiments of 2020 and the Nobel prizes in physics of 2022, critics of Bell's work have retreated to the fortress of super-determinism. Now, super-determinism is a derogatory word - it just means "determinism". Palmer, Hance and Hossenfelder argue that quantum mechanics and determinism are not incompatible, using a sophisticated mathematical construction based on a subtle thinning of allowed states and measurements in quantum mechanics, such that what is left appears to make Bell's argument fail, without altering the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics. I think however that it is a smoke screen, and the slogan "lost in math" comes to my mind. I will discuss some other recent disproofs of Bell's theorem using the language of causality based on causal graphs. Causal thinking is also central to law and justice. I will mention surprising connections to my work on serial killer nurse cases, in particular the Dutch case of Lucia de Berk and the current UK case of Lucy Letby.
Body fluids_tonicity_dehydration_hypovolemia_hypervolemia.pptx
PrioRe 2017 workshop presentation
1. End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization
Norbert Seyff, Melanie Stade, Farnaz Fotrousi, Martin Glinz, Emitza Guzman, Martina Kolpondinos-Huber, Denisse Munante Arzapalo,
Marc Oriol, and Ronnie Schaniel
1
2. Motivation and Goal
End-user feedback gathering allows software companies to
elicit end-users’ experiences and requirements.
Several feedback channels allow a large group of end-users to
continuously communicate feedback, which can lead to large
numbers of feedback.
Most channels invite everybody to communicate feedback.
This includes end-users with low reputation and therefore
feedback can be misleading.
Software companies need to decide which feedback issues are
of high priority and should be considered in a next release.
The goal of our work is to provide approaches engaging end-
users in feedback prioritization. 2
3. Three areas of concern
3
Feedback
Gathering
Feedback
Analysis
Decision
Making
End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization
“It is so
difficult to
upload files
with this
app!”
4. Prioritization within Feedback Gathering
4
Feedback
Gathering
Feedback
Analysis
Decision
Making
End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization
“It is so
difficult to
upload files
with this
app!”
5. Feedback approaches supporting the
communication of priorities
Provision of feedback approaches which allows end-users
to express the importance of their feedback using
Textual description of priority
Ratings (e.g., “How urgent is this for you?”, “How
important is this for you?”, How important is this for
project success?”, 1-10 rating)
Selection of a category (e.g., “Feature shortcoming”,
“Bug report”, “Praise”)
5
“It is so difficult to
upload files with this
app!”
8 of 10
“Feature shortcoming”
6. “It is so difficult to
upload files with this
app!”
Feedback approaches supporting the
discussion of feedback among end-users
Provision of feedback approaches which allow end-users
to prioritize existing feedback.
Social networks allow for a communication of
(dis)agreements (“I like”), but interpretation is tricky
Tailored solutions such as the “Garuso” (Game-based
Requirements Elicitation) platform provide more
sophisticated methods (relevance, popularity).
End-users earns points for rating feedback provided by
others (Gamification).
6
1
1 2
5 9
0
0 1 4 2
7. Prioritization within Feedback Analysis
7
Feedback
Gathering
Decision
Making
End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization
“It is so
difficult to
upload files
with this
app!”Feedback
Analysis
8. “It is so difficult to
upload files with this
app!”
Number, Sentiment and Type
Number of feedback issues discussing the same issue
Automatic clustering of feedback
Number of feedbacks within a cluster
Sentiment of the feedback issue
A sentiment reflects the feeling or view in a feedback
text
Automatic classification: positive, neutral or negative
sentiment
Type of feedback issue
Automatic classification: e.g., feature shortcoming, bug
reports, feature requests
8
similar feedback received:
21 times
sentiment:
negative
classification:
feature shortcoming
9. “It is so difficult to
upload files with this
app!”
Monitoring Data and Feedback Issues
Use of other information to automatically define the
priority of a feedback issue.
Use of monitoring to identify the number of affected
end-users
Use of monitoring to gather more accurate data about
the feedback description
Use of monitoring to better understand a particular
end-user
9
User A needs on average
3 min and 28 taps to
upload a file
All users need on average
30 seconds and 8 taps to
upload a file.
All users need on average
2 min 34 seconds and 23
taps to upload a file.
OR
10. Prioritization within Decision Making
10
Feedback
Gathering
Feedback
Analysis
End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization
“It is so
difficult to
upload files
with this
app!”Decision
Making
11. “It is so difficult to
upload files with this
app!”
Other Sources and Validation
11
different reputations
different sources
Other Requirements and Feedback Issues
Requirements from other sources might discuss the
same need as incoming feedback issues
Validation of End-user Feedback Priority
Decision maker can finally decide and prioritize a
feedback based on evidence from different sources
(different weights).
Validation of requirements from other sources with the
help of feedback channels
Decision maker can ask end-users about their opinion
on requirements gathered from other sources
12. Conclusion
Prioritized end-user feedback can
help to build software systems (release
planning)
Most end-user feedback is text-based
that is hard to interpret in terms of priority
Ideas to elicit information about
prioritization
Motivation of end-users (Gamification,
inform end-users about decisions)
Validity of information
12
Feedback
Gathering
Feedback
Analysis
Decision
Making
End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization
Editor's Notes
Building software systems which reflect the needs of end-users is crucial for their success. Hence it is important to gather end-user requirements and to include them in requirements prioritization and release planning activities. However, involving a large number of end-users in requirements elicitation activities can be cumbersome using traditional requirements elicitation methods (e.g., interviews), also because end-users are often out of organizational reach [1]. In such settings, end-user feedback gathering is one way that allows software companies to elicit and consider end-users’ experiences and requirements for software development, maintenance and evolution activities. For this purpose, companies can make use of feedback communication channels such as app stores (e.g., Google Play, Apple’s App Store), social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) and built-in feedback mechanisms which are part of the software application itself.
However, there are several issues regarding the elicitation and analysis of end-user feedback. Most of the feedback channels available (e.g., Twitter) do not focus exclusively on the communication of feedback relevant to software development, maintenance and evolution: they also allow for a discussion on various topics regarding a software application [2]. Therefore, identifying relevant feedback can be difficult in case a large amount of data is available and cannot be manually conducted within a reasonable amount of time and effort. Furthermore, feedback communicated using natural language text, does not follow any predefined structure or template. It is more the informal description of an issue or need than a formalized requirement. Some feedback channels also allow the documentation of multi-modal feedback descriptions which include screenshots and audio recordings. The lack of structure and the use of multi-modal descriptions can have a negative effect on the analysis of the feedback issue and can complicate the definition of a requirement [3], whether it is done manually or with the help of (semi-)automatic approaches.
Another critical issue is trust [4]. Most channels invite everybody to contribute and communicate feedback. It means that feedback issues can also be communicated from end-users with low reputation and might be misleading, not representing the opinion of the majority of end-users. In the worst case, some end-users might even negatively affect the evolution of a system by exaggerating or reporting wrong issues. These problems sometimes make it hard for a software company to decide which feedback issues actually are of high priority and should be considered in a next release of their software application.
The goal of our work is to provide approaches which go beyond the elicitation of end-user feedback and also establish an order of priority for the feedback issues gathered. We want to achieve this by involving end-users in the prioritization of feedback issues and by realizing (automated) feedback analysis approaches to generate priorities for feedback issues. This will, for example, allow software companies to generate adequate release plans [5].
present our ideas for the EDFP approach in the following structure and with a feedback example
Our ongoing research within the EU project SUPERSEDE has revealed that there exist feedback channels (e.g., social networks) where a large number of feedback is communicated. Investigating end-user feedback communicated via Twitter, we have learned that the manual analysis of this feedback by software development companies is not feasible, because it would consume too much time and effort [2]. Hence, involving end-users in this task and making use of automated approaches for feedback analysis is needed to support the identification and prioritization of relevant feedback. In the following paragraphs we present several ideas the authors are working on to allow for and support End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization. We structure these ideas by looking at feedback gathering, feedback analysis and the inclusion of end-user feedback in decision making.
present our ideas for the EDFP approach in the following structure and with a feedback example
Our ongoing research within the EU project SUPERSEDE has revealed that there exist feedback channels (e.g., social networks) where a large number of feedback is communicated. Investigating end-user feedback communicated via Twitter, we have learned that the manual analysis of this feedback by software development companies is not feasible, because it would consume too much time and effort [2]. Hence, involving end-users in this task and making use of automated approaches for feedback analysis is needed to support the identification and prioritization of relevant feedback. In the following paragraphs we present several ideas the authors are working on to allow for and support End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization. We structure these ideas by looking at feedback gathering, feedback analysis and the inclusion of end-user feedback in decision making.
Elicitation of end-user feedback is a first crucial step for end-user involvement in software development, maintenance and evolution. There exists a broad range of methods and tools which allow end-users to communicate their needs (e.g., [6]). The following ideas allow prioritization within feedback gathering and are currently explored by the authors.
Feedback Approaches Supporting the Communication of Priorities. There exist feedback communication channels which provide means for end-users to go beyond text-based feedback descriptions and to communicate a priority. This priority can be expressed, for example, by using ratings and it might cover different interpretations of what is actually meant by priority (e.g., importance for the individual end-user vs. importance for application success). Furthermore, some of these channels also allow end-users to specify the type of feedback they are communicating. For example, this could include a selection to define if a feedback issue is a “bug report” or a “feature request”. Communicating a priority should be possible with little effort to avoid that end-users cancel the feedback communication. Allowing end-users to also communicate a priority regarding their request is a first important step towards End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization. However, such priorities need to be looked at with care, as end-users might have their own interpretation of what they actually want to communicate via the priority field; they often will just express their subjective opinion. It is essential to validate such priorities in order to gain trust.
Garuso
picture in the top: here other end-users can select a rating
picture at the bottom: results of a voting/rating
Feedback Approaches Supporting the Discussion of Feedback amongst End-users. Some feedback channels allow end-users to discuss their feedback with peers. This includes, for example, social networks that enable end-users to communicate their agreement or disagreement (e.g., by using likes) regarding the feedback issues which have been gathered [7]. An example for a forum that focuses on requirements elicitation and prioritization is Garuso (Game-based Requirements elicitation). It enables stakeholders outside organizational reach to communicate, discuss and rate their ideas over a forum-like online platform. Garuso makes use of gamification elements to motivate end-users to participate which was explored in previous research by the authors [8]. We consider approaches such as Garuso to allow for an early validation of relevance and priority of end-user feedback issues. However, ratings of end-users, for example expressed with “I like”, might be ambiguous as it might not be clear what the end-user providing the rating is actually fond of. Apart from commenting on the content, a like could also discuss the representation style of a feedback issue or simply show that one end-user is friendly with another one. To avoid such ambiguity, Garuso proposes a two-dimensional mechanism which covers grouping based on relevance (irrelevant, neutral, and relevant) and rating based on popularity (dislike, neutral, and like). Further, to avoid false contributions, i.e., grouping and rating of feedback issues only to earn points, Garuso offers the possibility to deliberately not taking any decision by selecting no decision (which gives the same amount of points to the end-users as if they grouped and rated a feedback issue).
present our ideas for the EDFP approach in the following structure and with a feedback example
Our ongoing research within the EU project SUPERSEDE has revealed that there exist feedback channels (e.g., social networks) where a large number of feedback is communicated. Investigating end-user feedback communicated via Twitter, we have learned that the manual analysis of this feedback by software development companies is not feasible, because it would consume too much time and effort [2]. Hence, involving end-users in this task and making use of automated approaches for feedback analysis is needed to support the identification and prioritization of relevant feedback. In the following paragraphs we present several ideas the authors are working on to allow for and support End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization. We structure these ideas by looking at feedback gathering, feedback analysis and the inclusion of end-user feedback in decision making.
End-user feedback needs to be analyzed. Ideally there are automated methods and tools in place which support the analysis of the feedback gathered. We discuss how analysis can be used to generate priorities for end-user feedback issues.
Number of Feedback Issues Discussing the Same Issue. One possible option to analyses feedback issues is to group them and build clusters of end-user concerns. Obviously, the number of feedbacks within a cluster can help to indicate a priority. This could also mean that feedback from different channels is analyzed and clustered.
Sentiment of the Feedback Issues. We use the term sentiment to refer to the feeling or view reflected in a feedback text. A text could express a negative (e.g., “I hate uploading files with this app!”) or positive (e.g., “The performance of this app is amazing!”) sentiment. More negative sentiments could express higher end-user dissatisfaction and could therefore indicate a higher resolution urgency [9].
Type of Feedback Issues. The type of a feedback issue (e.g. bug report, feature request, general praise) might be explicitly communicated by end-users but there also exist automated approaches to do so [10] [11]. We assume that in most cases certain feedback types (e.g., bug report) might be more critical to be resolved and therefore have a higher priority than other issues (e.g., feature request).
Monitoring Data and Feedback Issues. Several other informations can help to automatically define or tailor the priority of a feedback issue. For example, there might be situations where one single end-user reports an issue (e.g., “My video stream is constantly buffering”). However, with the help of monitoring data, it is possible to analyze the dimension of this problem and detect if other end-users also experience a similar problem. This can help to prioritize and address the problem. Another example of the benefits of monitoring data is that monitoring can also be used to identify how the software is being used and detect which are the most used and important functionalities. This information can be helpful to better understand the priority of incoming feedback. In case it addresses a widely and intensively used functionality, the feedback might be of higher priority.
present our ideas for the EDFP approach in the following structure and with a feedback example
Our ongoing research within the EU project SUPERSEDE has revealed that there exist feedback channels (e.g., social networks) where a large number of feedback is communicated. Investigating end-user feedback communicated via Twitter, we have learned that the manual analysis of this feedback by software development companies is not feasible, because it would consume too much time and effort [2]. Hence, involving end-users in this task and making use of automated approaches for feedback analysis is needed to support the identification and prioritization of relevant feedback. In the following paragraphs we present several ideas the authors are working on to allow for and support End-user Driven Feedback Prioritization. We structure these ideas by looking at feedback gathering, feedback analysis and the inclusion of end-user feedback in decision making.
The requirements prioritization decision making is a crucial activity in software development [12]. These decisions often involve different stakeholders including representatives of end-users, managers, and developers [13] and they are often based on different criteria such as development effort, user impact, costs, resource constraints. Several decision making techniques have been proposed to support requirements prioritization [14]. In the following paragraphs, we discuss ideas on how to involve end-users in the decision making process.
Other Requirements and Feedback Issues. In many software development organizations feedback issues might not be the only source for gathering requirements. In case feedback issues and requirements from other sources (e.g., interviews or workshops with different stakeholder groups) discuss the same need as incoming feedback issues, this indicates a high priority, in particular when different stakeholder groups are involved. Furthermore, it is important to define to what extent a specific source influences the overall priority of a requirement by e.g. defining weights for each source that contributes to a requirement. We are also envisioning mechanisms that assess the quality of the incoming feedback and generate a reputation score for particular end-users. Eventually this can also be used as weighting mechanisms which gives a higher priority to feedback from trusted senders with a solid reputation.
Validation of End-user Feedback Priority. Even though we have identified several ideas on how to determine the priority of a feedback issue, decision makers will need to be involved to finally decide on the priority of a feedback issue. We foresee that a high number of evidences on a feedback’s priority might be helpful for decision makers to make a final decision. Therefore, we recommend that a decision maker (e.g., a product owner) has access to and can visualize end-user driven feedback prioritization derived from different sources. Furthermore, feedback issues can be used as input for other requirements elicitation and negotiation activities in order to be discussed with other stakeholders to ensure their validity.
Validation of Requirements from other Sources with the Help of Feedback Channels. We also foresee that feedback channels will be used to validate requirements from other sources. For example, in case the Product Owner is unsure about some of her ideas and the importance of these ideas, she can ask end-users for their priority (e.g., via a new discussion thread in an online forum or a popup-window within an application).
End-user feedback is becoming more important for the evolution of software systems. However, it is crucial to better understand the importance and relevance of end-user feedback. Prioritized end-user feedback can help to build software systems which are widely accepted by end-users and to make the software evolution process more efficient.
In this paper, we presented first ideas on how to engage end-users in feedback prioritization. Furthermore, we explored (automated) analysis approaches which exploit information gathered from end-users to prioritize their feedback. We are currently realizing the bespoke prioritization approaches within the SUPERSEDE EU project. Next steps will include an investigation into the consequences of involving end-users in feedback prioritization. We expect that transparent prioritization approaches will help end-users to understand why a feedback issue is eventually considered for implementation and will help to continuously engage end-users in feedback gathering and prioritization activities.