The Awareness of Biases in our Intuition: Understanding Influences on Decision-Making in User-Centred Agile Requirements Engineering

Krombholz, Robert

Abstract

During recent decades, software development in all industries has experienced an impactful change from feature focused and sequentially planned to usercentred and agile approaches. Reasons are continuously evolving technologies and with it fast changing markets and customer expectations to receive products fitting latest standards and their needs. To cope with this unstable environment and high expectations, organizations must adapt using user-centred and agile frameworks, methodologies and processes. Due to correlated changes in organisational structures, role expectations including responsibilities and needed skill sets change. Classical roles adapt and new roles emerge, trying to fulfil all expectations from organisations as well as from customers.

An observed phenomenon is irrational decision-making (DM) in this complex, timely and stressed environment, which contradicts rational decisions to maximize outcomes. What triggers this observed irrational DM and is it possible to become aware and handle it? The aim of this study is to understand influences that cause irrational DM in user-centred agile requirements engineering (UCARE) with the motivation to avoid inefficient or even harmful and emotionally loaded collaborations due to subjective discussions.

Literature on RE and psychological DM got reviewed to create a conceptual framework for understanding this phenomenon. Insights from the literature review uncovered gaps and left open questions: Why do identified processes and roles influence thinking processes and why do resulting heuristics influence DM? To answer the questions, the results of a thematic analysis of semi-structured interview data got used to extend the conceptual framework. Analysis results revealed new insights on influences of time and available knowledge as cause for irrational DM. Based on those insights, a reviewed approach to support awareness of influences got introduced. As conclusion, it was acknowledged that heuristics and intuitive DM is a necessity to cope with today’s expectations. However, awareness of potential for biases is important to guide evolvements of processes or models through future research and manage their influences on DM in practice.

Citation

Krombholz, R. The Awareness of Biases in our Intuition: Understanding Influences on Decision-Making in User-Centred Agile Requirements Engineering. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2023
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17869/enu.2023.3175289
• Award Date: Jul 6, 2023