RE-O-POLY: A Game to Introduce Lightweight Requirements Engineering Good Practices

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1 RE-O-POLY: A Gm to Itroduc Lightwight Rquirmts Egirig Good Prctics Rl Smith d Orl Gotl Dprtmt of Computr Scic, Pc Uivrsity, Nw York r-smith@comcst.t; ogotl@pc.du Abstrct This ppr rports o th dsig d ductiol us of bord gm to itroduc orgiztios to bsic Rquirmts Egirig (RE) good prctics. Whil this my sm ituitiv, bsd o our xprics d mpiricl studis ivolvig RE, our positio is tht smll ovic orgiztios c b ssistd i th doptio d improvmt of RE procsss vi simpl, low-cost d crtiv gmply. W outli iitil gm cocpt d th motivtio for such, d summriz our ogoig work. 1. Itroductio Rquirmts Egirig (RE) dficicis r cosidrd o of th commo cuss of projct filurs i my clssic studis of th stt of th softwr idustry [12]. Whil th litrtur is rplt with w procsss d tchiqus tht c ddrss ths dficicis i lrg orgiztios with rquisit rsourcs, much lss tttio hs b pid to how to ffctivly itroduc RE good prctics ito smll ovic orgiztios whr RE xpric d th rsourcs (i.., tim d moy) for dvlopig this comptc is limitd [7]. This work drws upo th my RE prctics dscribd i th litrtur, d idtifis lightwight st tht is ticiptd to hlp smll ovic orgiztios i thir rquirmts dvlopmt d mgmt fforts. Th work lso xplors th us of trditiol gms d simultio s pdgogicl tool d proposs gm-bsd pproch s wy of hlpig such orgiztios itroduc ths prctics i trsprt mr. This ppr dscribs smpl gm, clld RE-O-Poly, tht is bsd o th populr gm Moopoly. It is itdd to tch RE good prctics to ovic rquirmts girs by riforcig smll st of lssos s plyrs ccumult d dischrg projct rsposibilitis. Th structur of this ppr is s follows: Sctio 2 discusss th RE chllgs commo to my softwr dvlopmt projcts withi ovic d mtur orgiztios. It lso idtifis lightwight st of RE good prctics tht c pottilly ssist orgiztios i improvig thir RE procsss i quick d plyful mr. Sctio 3 discusss th pdgogicl pottil for gms, dscribs how thy c hlp orgiztios trsfr d dpt w ids or currt good prctics, d prsts umbr of chllgs to crtig thm. Sctio 4 discusss RE gm dsig d its objctivs, d iitil tril sssios r rportd o i Sctio 5. Sctio 6 summrizs our ogoig fforts d futur pls. 2. Th RE Problm Domi Th siz, complxity d importc of dvlopig som softwr systms strtch currt dvlopmt mthods to thir limits. It mks it difficult to itroduc chgs i th wy i which RE is prformd d mgd. A pl of distiguishd RE rsrchrs idtifid umbr of wksss i trditiol pprochs to girig rquirmts for high ssurc systms, which r lso mor grl RE chllgs [8]: (1) icomplt or mbiguous rquirmts; (2) isufficit rigor; (3) idqut for dvlopmt; (4) ovrmphsis o fuctiol rquirmts; (5) rquirmts problm ot rcogizd; (6) currt prctics lg bst prctics; (7) lck of mturity d guidc; (8) prcivd imprcticbility; (9) lck of wrss; (10) dmittig mistks; (11) sllig id to mgmt; (12) icrsd short-trm cost; d (13) chgig RE prctics ot i slf itrst. Almost hlf of ths chllgs r rltd to th kowldg d us of suitbl procsss d ctivitis, whrs th rmiig chllgs r mor ssocitd with crtig viromt d cultur for RE withi orgiztio. This currt work ims to xmi ltrtiv d simpl wys to promot wrss of RE d to istruct bout prctics to ddrss som of ths chllgs. Th Rquirmts Egirig Good Prctic Guid (REGPG) provids list of 66 good prctics tht covr RE procsss d ctivitis d r

2 pplicbl to ovic orgiztios with littl prior us d kowldg of RE [11]. W took th top t prctics from th REGPG list d distilld thm ito ight sstil lmts to crt lightwight st of RE prctics tht ovic orgiztio c dopt to stblish or improv its RE procsss. Tbl 1 loosly shows how ch lmt ddrsss o or mor of th umbrd RE chllgs listd rlir. Tbl 1. Good Prctics tht Trgt RE Chllgs. Good Prctics Structur Vrsioig Idtifirs Policy Tmplts Lgug Ispctios Chcklist Dscriptio Us stdrd structur i rquirmts documts. Mk th documt sy to chg. Uiquly idtify ch rquirmt. Us policis for rquirmts mgmt d coflict rsolutio. Us stdrd tmplts to rprst idividul rquirmts. Us lgug simply, cosisttly d cocisly. Orgiz forml rquirmts ispctios. Us chcklists for vlidtio d lysis. 3. Lrig Gms Bfits Highr qulity lowrs cost of rquirmts documts. Rducs costs of chgig rquirmts. Provids umbiguous rfrcs to spcific rquirmts. Provids guidc for ll ivolvd i rquirmts mgmt. Dfid coflict rsolutio procss fcilitts fstr rquirmts. Rquirmts r prstd i cosistt wy so thy r mor udrstdbl Rquirmts r sir to rd d udrstd. Fids high prctg of rquirmts problms. Hlps to focus th vlidtio procss. Fstr, mor complt lysis of rquirmts. Chllg Addrssd 1,3,4 2 2 All 1,3 1,7 1,2,3,5 2, 3,5 Gms hv th bility to provid trtimt d ply whil t th sm tim ductig th plyrs. This is commoly rfrrd to s dutimt [13]. Wh gms drw from rl lif d modr cultur, thy c b powrful tool for fcilittig lrig. For xmpl, rol-plyig computr gm-bsd viromt hs b usd to simult vrythig from mgig footbll gm (.g., Mdd NFL 200X d NCAA Footbll ) to costructig tir civiliztios (.g., Sid Mir s Civiliztio gm). Th militry uss simultio gms to vlut strtgis, xplor scrios d rvl uxpctd wksss i bttlfild positios. Rctly, mgmt cosultts hv b ggig with busiss ldrs to us gm-ply to xplor possibl futurs d trds i thir idustris [1, 10]. A sigifict mout of rsrch hs go ito usig gms s lrig tool. Sic th plyrs i gm r ctivly ggd s prticipts, thy r mor motivtd d likly to lr d rmmbr w iformtio th thy would from mr pssiv listig [9]. Figur 1 is illustrtio of th ffctivss of vrious kids of lrig procsss. Th vrticl xis rprsts th lvl of motiol ggmt d th horizotl xis rgs from pssiv to ctiv lrig mods. Our positio is tht RE ductio d triig c bfit from spctrum of pprochs, gm-ply big th closst pproximtio to rl projct xpric. Figur 1. Lrig Expric [9]. MIT dvlopd Eductio Arcd to xmi th ffctivss of gms s tchig mthod. This hs srvd to dmostrt th socil, culturl d ductiol pottil of vido gms by iititig w gm dvlopmt projcts, coorditig itrdiscipliry rsrch fforts, d iformig public covrstios bout th somtims uxpctd uss of this mrgig rt form i ductio [9]. 3.1 Pdgogicl Pottil Empiricl vidc for improvd lrig vi trditiol tchig mthods (.g., lcturs) is mixd d dpds o othr fctors, such s fcilittor s skills or th studts bckgroud [2]. Gms dd dditiol dimsios to th lrig procss by supportig ctiv, xpritil d problm-bsd lrig, d by providig immdit fdbck [3]. Gms hv svrl dvtgs i lrig viromt, rltig ot oly to cogitiv d ffctiv lrig, but to thir bility to motivt, itrst d ffct chg. Gms c lso b itrisiclly motivtig. Th lmts to hc itrisic motivtio r idividul blc btw skills d chllg, gols whos ttimt is ucrti, d surpriss or othr thigs tht ttrct th usrs tttio to stimult thir curiosity [5]. Gms hv trditiolly b socil xpric whr mor th sigl plyr commoly plys thm. Th comptitio or collbortio tht is ihrt i th gm grlly hlps to stimult th lrig procss.

3 Gms r hc prt of ffort to R-gir Eductio [4] tht supplmt or rplc trditiol pprochs to triig. O of th rlir studis o lrig, motivtio d th us of gms ws coductd by Thoms Mlo [5]. As prt of his dissrttio, Mlo usd ight vrsios of gm clld Drts to tch frctios, d obsrvd how diffrt vrsios of th gm wr courgig or discourgig th wy childr plyd with ths gms d lrd with thm. Mlo's itrisic motivtio thory xplid tht th four ky chrctristics to crt istructiol gms r chllg, ftsy, cotrol d curiosity. Ftsy is usd to chllg lrrs to imgi tht thy r compltig th ctivity i cotxt i which thy r rlly ot prst. Cotrol is xpricd wh th plyr fcs choics tht produc cosqucs (good or bd). Chllg is crtd by hvig clr gols tht r rlvt for th lrr. Curiosity is rousd by th itrigu of th gm. Som of th most commo istructiol gms i us r: digitl gms, bord gms, crd d dic gms, rol-ply, rgizrs d icbrkrs. For istc, bord gms such s Th Msio of Hppiss, th first bord gm producd i th Uitd Stts, tught childr bout good d bd [1]. XP Wr, crd gm plyd with spcilizd dck, is populr i tchig ky pricipls bhid gil softwr dvlopmt d th us of pttrs [6]. Simultio viromts r lso powrful lrig tools tht courg xplortio by llowig lrrs to mipult thir lrig xpric. Mtphoriclly, prticipts hv sdbox for lrig -- sf hv i which to pply w ids. I cdmi, simultios commoly hc lcturs, supplmt lbs d hlp gg studts. I th workplc, simultios r oft cost-ffctiv wy to tri prsol (.g., i disstr plig). 3.2 Gm Dsig Chllgs Gms, i y form, c ply vlubl rol s prt of y lrig procss. Howvr, thy my hv som drwbcks d prst umbr of chllgs i thir dvlopmt. Will th gm cptur tttio d courg prticipts? Ar thr uitdd cosqucs? Byod th cdmic cott, wht othr typs of iformtio might b covyd by gms? Will gtiv thms or udsirbl prspctivs b covyd by ductiol gms? How c domi spcific pricipls (RE hr) b dptd to ductiolly rlvt cotxts? How do you bst chiv th pdgogicl pottil of th gm d subsqutly vlut whthr this hs b chivd? 4. A RE Gm Smll ovic orgiztios d fst, costffctiv d pilss mthod to itroduc d dopt RE, hc th id for usig simpl d fmilir gms to tch RE good prctics. Our cottio is tht simultio-bsd gms c b ffctiv tools for ddrssig th multipl dimsios of softwr girig ductio d triig. A RE gm could b dsigd to courg plyrs to xplor, gotit d rticult crti rquirmts i ordr to wi. Sic rquirmts r oft coflictig d uprioritizd, plyrs would hv to lr to rsolv coflicts d dtrmi prioritis i ordr to progrss i th gm. I th gm, plyrs would b livig virtul livs i viromt tht forcs thm to mk costt dcisios. Morovr, th gm plyig viromt could b cofigurd to courg stkholdrs to discuss d rch rsolutio o y coflictig prioritis [1, 2]. Thy would th xpric th cosqucs of thos dcisios i wy tht simults th ctul projct xpric, xcpt tht cosqucs would b flt immditly (through loss of tur, poits or positio o bord). RE-O-Poly is first-grtio bord-bsd d projct-bsd simultio gm tht icorports th lightwight st of ight RE prctics mtiod i Sctio 2. It is dsigd to hlp lrrs: Gt brod ovrviw of typicl RE problms d chllgs. Udrstd th vlu of RE, its procsss d good prctics, d lr how to pply som simpl tchiqus. Mk proctiv dcisios bout projcts tht ddrss busiss ds d rquirmts. Rspod ppropritly to uticiptd situtios tht impct projcts tht thy r ivolvd with. Th dsig gol bhid th gm is to gg th lrr, without big ovrly pdtic. Th gm is bsd o th populr Moopoly gm, which ws dvlopd i th public domi. Usig th Moopoly itrfc s modl providd th dul bfit of shortig th gm dsig tim s wll s offrig plyrs prov d fmilir itrfc. Also, th bord gm cocpt courgs fc-to-fc commuictio which is usful for lrig bout discursiv ctivity. Discussig d qustioig xprics from th gm fostrs turl d sf tm buildig viromt. Lstly, th gm is supposd to b fu. Drmtic dcisio-mkig d comptitiv lmts of th gm ris itrst, motivt rptd gm sssios d mk th gm hcd pdgogicl xpric.

4 Fr Thik Tim Aul Prformc Rviw (Roll dic, gt 10*totl Dtrmi / Prit Sttmts Scrio Clcult Itrst Complx Avrg I Triig A l y s & E x p l o r Clcult Itrst Complx Rl-tim Fuds Trsfr / Exchg Scrio DOCUMENT & VALIDATE RE-O-Poly Scrio s Avrg RE o Vctio (Miss tur) ELICITATE Ahd of Schdul (Collct 200 Avrg Dtrmi / Prit Sttmts s Scrio Rl-tim Fuds Trsfr / Exchg Complx C h g M g m t Clcult Itrst Qulity of your work is poor go dirctly to triig! Egg Cosultt (Py 200 Avrg Complx Clcult Itrst Scrio Dtrmi / Prit Sttmts Rl-tim Fuds Trsfr / Exchg Strt Hr / Itrtio (Collct 200 Figur 2. A Erly Smpl RE-O-Poly Itrfc. RE-O-Poly is dsigd for ovics -- plyrs w to RE. It is mt to b usd i cojuctio with RE triig or to riforc lssos prviously lrd. It is itdd to b fcilittd d th projcts usd d to b tilord to th domi of th orgiztio (.g., dfs, mdi, fic, tlcoms, tc.) A rly prototyp of th gm bord is show i Figur 2 d th ky gm cocpts r s follows: Stkholdr Stisfctio Poits (, which plyrs r lloctd t th strt of th gm d th ithr r or forfit s th gm progrsss. s for th plyrs to ow, ru d buy rsourcs for (.g., tools), usig SSPs d through udrtkig d ssssig tsks. For purposs of illustrtio, w hv suggstd thr smpl projcts tht my ris i ficil istitutio: bsic (clcult customr itrst), vrg (dtrmi / prit customr sttmts) d complx (rl-tim lctroic fuds trsfr / xchg systm). Scrio s, which show wht hpps wh RE good prctics r implmtd or ot, such s th us of rquirmts tmplts or crful lgug to writ tomic d umbiguous rquirmts. Ths r istructiol d provid th opportuity for plyrs to r or los SSPs ccordig to th prcivd importc of th prctic. s, which provid plyrs with opportuity to r or los SSPs by swrig grl RE qustios bsd o o of th prctics tught i th Scrio s, such s r-wordig problmtic rquirmt. Th fcilittor c b th djudictor. Th Gm Bord covrs four bsic stgs i RE procss: Elicittio, Alysis d Explortio, Documttio d Vlidtio, d Chg Mgmt. Lik Moopoly, ply is dvcd by th roll of th dic. O circuit roud th bord rprsts o pss through typicl d bsic RE procss for th thr projcts udr study. Th ittio is to covy th fct tht multipl circuits (or itrtios through RE ctivitis) r rquird o y o projct. Plyrs tk Owrship, d hc rsposibility for, th vrious stgs of th RE procss o th diffrt projcts usig SSPs. To scur owrship of licittio tsks o th simpl projct costs 100 SSPs, o th vrg projct costs 150 SSPs d o th complx projct costs 200 SSPs. Sic mor is t stk with th complxity of th projct d with progrss of RE ctivitis, th umbr of SSPs rquird grdully icrss with circuit of th bord. A plyr who lds o projct slot hs th opportuity to buy owrship (if uowd) by pyig th mout of SSPs show d rcivs th corrspodig. If othr plyr lds o projct slot tht is lrdy owd, th projct owr gts to pos Spcific RE Problm or Chllg rltig to th phs of th RE procss whr th projct is loctd. For xmpl, if it is th Complx i th Elicittio Phs, th problm posd might b: How would you go bout dtrmiig th stkholdrs for th lctroic fuds trsfr systm d / or list iitil st? If th projct owr is ot stisfid with th rspos, th th othr plyr must py th owr th mout of SSPs idictd s th qulity cotrol cost o th bck of th. If th owr is stisfid, th th othr plyr pys othig. Othr plyrs, guidd by th fcilittor, c ct s Qulity Gtkprs to courg discussio d dcisio mkig. Th combitio of Scrio d s provid for tchig d ssssmt viromt i grl trms. Th ittio is to s how wll th plyrs trsfr this lrig to formultig d ddrssig projct-spcific problms d chllgs. 5. Iitil Exprics with Gm-Ply Durig cocpt dvlopmt of th gm, th dsig d ruls wr voltil. Iput ws gthrd from vrious sourcs: idustry d cdmic litrtur, d Pc Uivrsity fculty d studts. Oc th RE moopoly-bsd cocpt ws grd upo, rly gm ids wr crtd, d sssios wr plyd with fmily mmbrs of th first uthor d with scod yr computr tchology studts t locl commuity collg i Nw York City whr th first uthor tchs. Th gm sssios cosistd of thr to four plyrs, bcus with mor th ight plyrs th gm ws foud to los its ffctivss du to lowr lvls of prticipt itrctivity.

5 Prior to plyig th gm with th studt group, th fcilittor gv brif ovrviw of bsic RE pricipls. I typicl gm sssio, th ruls wr xplid d th gm commcd without my problms. Plyrs fmilirity with th Moopoly-lik itrfc md it sy to udrstd. Aftr th gm ws compltd, th plyrs wr dbrifd (vrbl fdbck) to obti thir rctio to th gm d to gug thir lrig xpric. I most css, th plyrs with som prlimiry softwr dvlopmt kowldg smd to udrstd d ccpt th RE good prctic mssgs. Th prticipts with o prior xpric dd mor tim to ccpt or udrstd why th prctics wr migful. O mor xpricd prticipt likd th cocpts d blivd it formd th bsis of somthig tht could b usful with furthr rfimt d dvlopmt. 6. Coclusios d Futur Work Smll ovic orgiztios d fst, costffctiv d pilss wy to itroduc d dopt RE, hc th id for th cocpt of th RE-O-Poly gm s pottilly itrstig wy to tch RE good prctics to ususpctig udic. Bsd o vry prlimiry rsults th gm sms to b fu d cpturd th tttio of th prticipts wh plyd i swift d tim-boxd mr. Bsd o discussio ftr gm-ply, prticipts pprd mor comfortbl with bsic RE cocpts, so th pdgogicl pottil of usig gms to tch RE good prctics is crtily worth xplorig mor fully. Rsrch ito sy-to-dopt pprochs to itroducig RE cocpts will bfit both cdmi d idustry. I idustry, if projct stkholdrs udrstd d prctic RE, th rsults r likly to b qulity softwr projcts tht mt th ds d xpcttios of stkholdrs. I cdmi, if th xt grtio of softwr girs udrstds th thory d prctics bhid RE, thir trsitio to idustry my b smoothr. Also, ths girs c bcom gts of chg for bttr RE i thir rspctiv orgiztios [14], which is sstil to ddrssig th full st of chllgs listd rlir. Our ogoig work icluds dvlopig th gm cocpt with cocrt projcts, scrios d tsks, d xpdig th study to cotrol viromt whr w c produc bttr dt for sttisticl lysis. It is obviously sstil to udrstd th impct of th gm o popl who hv som triig with RE prctics vrsus thos who do ot, d lso to ssss th RE kowldg of th popl who hv b xposd to th gm vrsus thos who hv ot. W r dsigig such post gm-ply ssssmt istrumts. Also, it would b usful to msur th triig s impct o prticipt s job skills. 7. Ackowldgmts Th first uthor would lik to thk CS150 studts t th Itrboro Istitut i NYC d fmily mmbrs who slflssly volutrd thir tim. 8. Rfrcs [1] El-Shmy, S. Triig Gms: Evrythig You Nd to Kow About Usig Gms to Riforc Lrig. Strlig VA: Stylus Publishig, [2] Grris, R., Ahlrs, R. d Diskll, J.E. Gms, motivtio d lrig: rsrch d prctic modl. Simultio d Gmig, 33(4), 2002, pp [3] Kuppi, M., Kujl, S., Altio, T. d Lhtol, L. Itroducig Rquirmts Egirig: How to Mk Culturl Chg Hpp i Prctic. IEEE Itl. Cof. o Rquirmts Egirig, Ess, Grmy, IEEE Computr Socity, 2002, pp [4] Lmk, J. Bcomig th villg: ductio cross livs. I G. Wlls d G. Clxto (ditors), Lrig for Lif i th 21st Ctury: Socioculturl Prspctivs o th Futur of Eductio. Lodo: Blckwll, 2002, pp [5] Mlo, T.W. d Lppr, M.R. Mkig Lrig Fu: A Txoomy of Itrisic Motivtios for Lrig. I R.E. Sow d M.J. Frr (ditors), Aptitud, Lrig d Istructio: III. Cotiv d ffctiv procss lyss. Hilsdl, NJ: Erlbum, 1987, pp [6] Morls, A.W. XP - Extrm Progrmmig trir Joshu Krivsky ivts othr crd gm. Dr. Dobbs's Portl, Novmbr 20, 2002 d Ju 19, 2007, [7] Nikul, U. Itroducig Systmtic Rquirmts Egirig Prctics i Smll Orgiztios with Esy to Adopt Mthod. Doctorl Thsis, Dpt. of Iformtio Tchology, Lpprt Uivrsity of Tchology, [8] RHAS'05 Workshop Rport. Itl. Cof. o Rquirmts Egirig, Pris, Frc, IEEE Computr Socity, [9] Sms, Bill. OLN whr do gms fit ito ductio. Ohio Lrig Ntwork's TchU Oli Smirs, 2006, [10] "Shll w ply gm?" Th Ecoomist, Ju 2, 2007, pp [11] Sommrvill, I. d Swyr, P. Rquirmts Egirig: A Good Prctic Guid. Chichstr, Egld, Joh Wily d Sos, [12] Stdish Group. Th CHAOS Rport, 1994 d 2003 vrsios, (ccssd Oct 15, 2006). [13] Usry, M.W. A Cs for Egirig Edutimt i th 21st Ctury. I Buildig o Ctury of Progrss i Egirig Eductio - Frotirs i Eductio 2000 Cofrc Procdigs, D. Budy d G. Bjdov (ditors), pp.s1a-20-s1a-24, Pisctwy, NJ: IEEE, Octobr [14] Wirig, R. d Ebrt, C. Gust Editors' Itroductio: RE'03 -- Prcticl Rquirmts Egirig Solutios. IEEE Softwr, 21(2), 2004, pp