Our Requirements Engineering tutorial on Human Values in Requirements Engineering, as presented at RE2021

1. Human Values
in Requirements Engineering
RE’21
Jon Whittle1
& Waqar Hussain2
1 CSIRO’s Data61 & Monash University
2 Monash University

2. Agenda
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. What are human values?
3. BREAK - 10 minutes
4. Human Values in Technology Design
5. BREAK - 15 mins
6. Human Values in Industry Practice
7. BREAK - 15 mins
8. Human Values - Changing Future Practice
9. Wrap Up

3. How we will run this tutorial
Interactive!
Please keep your videos on if possible and actively participate
Ask questions verbally if possible (please raise your hand); use the chat for
comments where you don’t want to interrupt the flow of the discussion
Flexible on agenda
We’ve planned out the agenda but if we spend longer on some items
because you are interested, that’s OK

4. Welcome
and
Introductions
Session
1
Hi there!
Hello!

5. Human Values!
5

6. What do you value?

8. Does SE research address
values?

9. Only 16%
considered values
Is this a number for software engineering research to be proud of?
9

10. Human Values
in Technology
Session
2
Methods and interactive exercise

11. Methods to embed
values in technology
Values
Centered
Design
Values
Sensitive
Design
Values-Aware
Design
Methods

12. Value Sensitive Design (VSD)
12
Value sensitive design
VSD
VSD
Methodological Structure
Conceptual
Investigation
Empirical
Investigation
Technical
Investigation

13. Value Centered Design
13
Value centered design
VCD
VCD
13
Opportunity Identification
Design
Iteration
Evaluation
Process Structure and Relationships

14. Design a system for contact
tracing
Interactive Exercise

15. Plan for exercise
1. Brief description of contact tracing app
2. Which values are most important for contract tracing app?
3. How would the values influence the requirements?

16. Contact Tracing
App - CovidTrack
Intended to support contact tracing of COVID-19 at national level by:
▸ Allowing users to check-in at locations using a QR-code
▸ Tracking users’ location to aid if necessary in tracking contacts of a
positive case
▸ Warn a user if they have been within 1.5m of a positive case for 15
minutes or more
▸ Allowing health authorities to access the data to manage a COVID-19
outbreak

18. Value Importance
(1=none,
5=critical)
Rationale
Privacy 5 Users won’t use if not assured personal data remains private
National security 5 To manage COVID-19 outbreaks
Freedom 4 Freedom of movement/action without being surveilled
Equality 5 To ensure all types of users can use
Honesty 3 Some users may try to circumvent system (e.g. turn off GPS)
Helpful 5 Users won’t use if not usable
Responsible 3 Appeal to users’ sense of responsibility
Preserving Public Image 2 Some users may be embarrassed by notifications
Social Power 2 Users necessarily concede power to government
Respect for Tradition 3 Users from different variety of ethnic backgrounds

19. Value Requirement
Privacy CovidTrack must ensure that all user data is only available to authorised officials for the
purposes in the terms and conditions
National security CovidTrack provides aggregated data from multiple jurisdictions for national level mapping
Freedom Users may, via a FOI request, obtain access to all their data within 7 days, via the CovidTrack
app
Equality CovidTrack should fully support all recent Android and iOS versions
Honesty CovidTrack will remind users at regular intervals to use the app in an honest way
Helpful CovidTrack will provide regular feedback to users on positive stories on how data is used
Responsible CovidTrack will provide clear explanations to users why data is being collected (and how it is to
be used)
Social Power CovidTrack will enforce time limits on data storage with clear protocol for what happens after
time limit
Respect for Tradition CovidTrack will provide contextualised versions for different ethnic backgrounds

20. Human Values
in Industry Practice
Session
3
2 Case studies and
Discussion/Reflections

21. Case Study 1
Human values in software engineering:
Contrasting case studies of practice

22. The Koala and the Wallaby
Wallaby
(IT Service Provider)
500 employees
Scaled Agile Framework
Handbook of values
Koala
(Global Software Consultancy)
7000 employees
Agile + User-Centered
Strong Values-based framework

23. Case 2
Participant Demographics
Case 1

24. Research Design and results
24
2 Organizations
31 Interviewees
4 Lifecycle Phases
Research Design
10 Practices
29 Sub Practices
9 Challenges
15 Sub Challenges
12
Recommendations
17 Sub
Recommendations
Development Practices

25. ▸ Global technology company
▸ Agile and OSS
▸ Strong corporate values
framework

26. Three
Pillars
1. Sustainable Business
2. Software Excellence
3. Social Justice

27. ▸ Diverse workforce
▸ Ethics: Social Justice
▸ Being a teacher
▸ Positive impact on the world
▸ “I am not prepared to do that”
▸ “enjoying life and pleasure”
▸ Problem solving
▸ Equality/usability/accessibility
▸ Conflicted
▸ Product excellence
▸ Avoid waste
▸ Autonomy and flexibility
▸ Technological innovation
▸ Diversity and Inclusion
▸ Internal training
▸ Make an impact
▸ Financial sustainability
▸ Social Justice
Developer values Corporate values

28. ▸ IT Services Provider
for Large Public
Organisation
▸ Agile methods
▸ Strong corporate
values framework

29. Culture Handbook
CIO Portfolio

30. Values to
Behaviour
1. Cultivate teamwork.
2. Make It Happen.
3. Lead innovation.
4. Embrace continual learning.
5. Value Health and Energy.

31. Developer values Corporate values
▸ “I like solving complex problems”
▸ Fun/enjoyment/excitement
▸ “going out to the people and
actually working with them”
▸ Accessibility
▸ Usability
▸ Security by design
▸ “Don’t lie”
▸ “self-confessed geek”
▸ “pushing back the boundaries”
▸ Creativity
▸ Pay the bills
▸ “ok to fail, but fail fast”
▸ “anything that goes into
production needs to be
accessible”
▸ Open and honest
▸ Teamwork
▸ Excellence

32. Key Findings
32
Values are explicitly
addressed
Maturity Varies
Only considered
partially during SDLC
Developers need values
awareness
Culture influences individuals and practices
Support mechanisms
help
Values alignment is
nuanced
Evolution rather than
revolution in practices
Standards
Regulations

33. Case Study 2
How Can Human Values Be Addressed in Agile Methods?
A Case Study on SAFe

34. Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
34
SAFe Essential Configuration

35. Research Participants

36. Observations

37. What did we find?

38. Release Train Engineer
Make SAFe Soulful
* this should be added to SAFe

39. Recruitment/Induction/Training
Values Alignment (Dept. to Team)
Collective Responsibility
Values Discussion
Findings: Values Intervention Points
Roles
Ceremonies
Practices
Tools
Culture
Processes
Artefacts
Vision & Strategy Documents
User Stories/Epics
Product Backlog
Values statement
Personas
Product/business owner
Team/group incharge
Developer
Values Champion/
Translator/Propagator
Values based Elicitation
Values based testing
Feedback loops
Project Increment planning
Retrospective
Workshop/ group discussion
Inspect and adapt
Human Centered Design Tools
Modifying existing processes

40. Examples: Modifying existing artefacts for values

41. Reflections / Discussion

42. Human Values in
Future Practice
Session
4

43. Lifecycle
stage
Challenge Considerations Practices
Requirements
Engineering
How to Elicit
values?
Values are vague
People aren’t necessarily honest
when they tell you values
Stakeholders don’t know what their
values are
Apply User centered and Participatory
Design (practices/techniques)
Design and
Development
How to designing
and developing with
/for values
Values link is lost between
requirements and design artefacts
Operational definitions of values
Developers lack awareness and
access to techniques that enable
values-based design and
development
Apply User centered and Participatory
Design (practices/techniques)
Software
testing
Missing techniques
and criteria to
evaluate software
for values
Values are vague and we lack
adequate quantitative and qualitative
metrics to evaluate and test software
for values
Use qualitative assessment of user values
Validate values implementation against
regulations and standards(e.g. AAA for
accessibility)

44. Lifecycle
stage
Challenge Considerations Practices (more detailed)
Requirements
Engineering
How to
Elicit
values?
Values are vague
People aren’t necessarily
honest when they tell you
values
Stakeholders don’t know
what their values are
Apply User centered and Participatory Design
1. Including actual users for eliciting value concerns
2. Using personas to consider/assume user values
3. Using prototypes to analyse assumptions about values
4. Using diversity in members selected from various stakeholder groups
5. Focusing on cultural sensitivities
6. Being considerate of language needs of different stakeholder groups
7. Developing empathy with users, emulating their experiences
8. Building an atmosphere of trust for stakeholders to voice their opinions
9. Applying user feedback to improve mockups and prototypes
Design and
Development
How to
designing
and
developing
with /for
values
Values link is lost between
requirements and design
artefacts
Operational definitions of
values
Developers lack awareness
and access to techniques
that enable values-based
design and development
Applying user-centred design techniques
1. Using inclusive designs (accessible and usable by most if not all people)
2. Involving actual users during design and development
3. Making simple adaptations to design practices to be more inclusive
Be reflective, diversity-aware and responsible creators of technology
4. Using and validating personas to address risky value assumptions
5. Being transparent & open to accountability about implementation practices
6. Being mindful of project impact regardless of project type
7. Being considerate of various cultures, gender, naming, etc.
8. Designing systems without storing unnecessary personal data
9. Following, standards & regulations and having internal and external audits

45. Lifecycle
stage
Challenge Considerations Practices
Software
testing
Missing techniques
and criteria to
evaluate software
for values
Values are vague and
we lack adequate
quantitative and
qualitative metrics to
evaluate and test
software for values
Apply User centered and Participatory Design
1. Including actual users for eliciting value concerns
2. Using personas to consider/assume user values
3. Using prototypes to analyse assumptions about values
4. Using diversity in members selected from various stakeholder groups
5. Focusing on cultural sensitivities
6. Being considerate of language needs of different stakeholder groups
7. Developing empathy with users, emulating their experiences
8. Building an atmosphere of trust for stakeholders to voice their opinions
9. Applying user feedback to improve mockups and prototypes
Througho
ut the
lifecycle
Raising awareness
among technology
creators
Developers often need
social awareness but
are time pressured with
minimal opportunities
to learn more about
values conscious
design and
development
techniques
Roles
Workshops etc

46. Learn more about values
Reading list of selected papers:
● Best places to start :
○ A Case for Human Values in Software Engineering (Recommended for a quick
overview of the area if you don’t have much time to read)
○ How Can Human Values Be Addressed in Agile Methods? A Case Study on SAFe
(Introduced in the tutorial)
○ Human Values in Software Engineering: Contrasting Case Studies of Practice
(Introduced in the tutorial)
○ Operationalizing Human Values in Software Engineering: A Survey
(Recommended read if you have more time on your hand)
○ Value-based requirements engineering: method and experience
○ Values Sensitive Design

47. Thank you for your attention
and participation!
47
Waqar Hussain, PhD
Research Fellow
Faculty of IT, Monash
University, Australia
Jon Whittle, Professor
Director, CSIRO’s Data 61
Australia