The Integration of Design Thinking and Lean Software Development from the Perspective of Product Owners and Scrum Masters

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1 The Integration of Design Thinking and Lean Software Development from the Perspective of Product Owners and Scrum Masters Master of Science Thesis in the Management and Economics of Innovation Programme ULRICH FRYE TINA INGE Department of Technology Management and Economics Division of Innovation Engineering and Management CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Göteborg, Sweden, 2013 Report No. E 2013:089

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3 MASTER S THESIS E 2013:089 The Integration of Design Thinking and Lean Software Development from the Perspective of Product Owners and Scrum Masters ULRICH FRYE TINA INGE Supervisor: Examiner: INGO RAUTH MARIA ELMQUIST Department of Technology Management and Economics Division of Innovation Engineering and Management CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Göteborg, Sweden 2013

4 The Integration of Design Thinking and Lean Software Development from the Perspective of Product Owners and Scrum Masters Ulrich Frye, Tina Inge Ulrich Frye, Tina Inge 2013 Master s Thesis E 2013:089 Department of Technology Management and Economics Division of Innovation Engineering and Management Chalmers University of Technology SE Göteborg, Sweden Telephone: + 46 (0) Chalmers Reproservice Göteborg, Sweden 2013

5 Abstract DesignThinkingasamanagerialconceptisbeingadoptedbyanincreasingnumberofcompaniesin variousindustriestoboosttheiroutputofinnovativeproductsandservicesinordertogaina competitiveedgeonthemarket.thisthesispresentsanexploratorycasestudythatwasconducted attheglobalenterprisesoftwareproducer,softwareco,whointroduceddesignthinkingintheir softwaredevelopmentorganizationin2011.since2009,softwaredevelopmentatsoftwarecohas routinelybeencarriedoutaccordingtoleansoftwaredevelopmentandtheagilesoftware developmentmethodofscrum. ThesoftwaredevelopmentteamsatSoftwareCoaretypicallyassembledinaccordancewiththe Scrummethodologyandcomprisetwomanagers,anarchitect,andanumberofdevelopers.Thetwo managershavespecificrolesandresponsibilitiesandareassignedthetitlesofproductownerand ScrumMaster.ThesuccessofintegratingDesignThinkingwiththeexistingapproachtodevelop softwarecriticallyhingesonthemanagerialstaffofthesedevelopmentteams.thisqualitativestudy exploredhowproductownersandscrummastersperceivetheintegrationofdesignthinkingwith LeanSoftwareDevelopmentandScrum.SpecificfocuswasplacedonhowDesignThinkingpractices integratewithleansoftwaredevelopmentprinciplesandscrumpractices. TheoreticalmisalignmentswereidentifiedbetweenDesignThinkingpracticeelements,Lean SoftwareDevelopmentprinciplesandScrumpractices.Wheninvestigatedinpractice,these theoreticalmisalignmentswerenotperceivedverystronglybyproductownersandscrummasters. Nonetheless,practicalchallengeswereseentoarisefromtheintegrationofDesignThinkingwith LeanSoftwareDevelopmentandScrum.Byexploringtheoreticaldisaccordsinapracticalsetting,this thesisservesasanearlysteptowardsthedevelopmentoftheoryregardingthesuccessfulintegration ofdesignthinking,leansoftwaredevelopmentandscrum. Keywords: DesignThinking,LeanSoftwareDevelopment,AgileSoftwareDevelopment,Scrum,ProductOwners, ScrumMasters i

6 Acknowledgements Thisresearchwasconductedwiththesupportandguidancefromseveralindividualstowhomweare trulyappreciative.oursupervisor,ingorauth,providedongoingguidance,criticalfeedback,and encouragementthroughoutthisthesis.also,wewouldliketoextendourgratitudetosoftwarecofor theircollaborationandgrantingusaccesstoconductourinterviews. AspecialthankyougoestoLPSandTHfromSoftwareCo.LPSprovidedearlyinsightswhichformed thefoundationofthisstudy,andestablishedinitialcontactswithintervieweesinindiaforwhichwe areextremelygrateful.thsharedhisexperiencesaboutdesignthinkingatsoftwarecowhichgreatly enhancedourunderstandingofthestudy scontext,andwealsoacknowledgehiseffortstoconnect uswithpotentialinterviewees. Lastbutnotleast,weareverythankfultotheemployeeswithinthesoftwaredevelopment organizationatsoftwarecowhogavetheirsupporttoourthesisbytakingtimeto participateinourinterviews. Göteborg,2013 UlrichFrye TinaInge ii

7 TableofContents Abstract...i Acknowledgements...ii Introduction CaseCompany Background Purpose ResearchQuestion Delimitations...6 LiteratureReview DesignThinking LeanThinking Agile LeanSoftwareDevelopment SynthesisofDesignThinking,LeanSoftwareDevelopment,andScrum TheoreticalFramework...16 Methodology ResearchApproach ResearchStrategy ResearchDesign:ExploratoryCaseStudy Sampling ResearchMethods DataCollection QualityCriteria...22 EmpiricalResults Exploratory ProfileofProductOwnerandScrumMaster PerceptionofDT DesignThinkingvs.LeanSoftwareDevelopment ChallengestoDesignThinking...42 Analysis LeanSoftwareDevelopment,Scrum,andDesignThinking...45 DiscussionofResults EndUsers

8 6.2 Visualization Synthesis Conclusion...52 AreasforFurtherResearch...53 Sources...54 Appendix:Interviewguide

9 1 Introduction Companiesinallindustriesaroundtheworldareunderimmensepressuretocreateinnovative productsandservicesinordertobecompetitiveinthemarket.thesoftwareindustryisnoexception tothisandsomecompanieshavetakentoadoptingalternativeapproachestotraditionalproduct developmentwiththegoaltodevelopmoredesirableoffers.softwarecoisoneoftheleading enterprisesoftwarevendorsworldwideandin2011begantoformallyintroducedesignthinking(dt) intotheirdevelopmentorganization.althoughappliedforovertwoyearstothesoftware developmentcontextatsoftwareco,theunderstandingofdtanditsadditiontotraditional approachestosoftwaredevelopmentisstillinitsinfantphase.thus,softwarecowaschosenasthe organizationtostudybecauseitisanearlyadopterofdtinthesoftwareindustry. HildenbrandandMeyer(2012)conductedapilotcasestudytounderstand,primarily,thesynergies involvedinintertwiningdtwithleansoftwaredevelopment(lsd)andthescrumprocessframework mostlyfromaprocessperspective.however,agapinthisresearchwasidentifiedasany misalignmentsbetweentheapproachesfromanindividualscrumteammember sperspectivewere notstudied.giventheinfluenceaproductowner(po)andscrummaster(sm)possessasleaderson ascrumteaminsoftwaredevelopmentcompanies,itisvaluabletounderstandtheirperceptionof howdtintegrateswithlsdandthescrumprocessframework. ThemaincontributionofthisthesisistoprovideatheoreticalandempiricalanalysisonhowDT,LSD, andthescrumprocessframeworkalignfromthepo sandsm sperspective.thisspecificareamight beusefulforresearchersinterestedintheoverallunderstandingofhowdtcanmigratefromthe designindustryintothesoftwaredevelopmentindustry,similartohowleanandagilemigratedfrom themanufacturingindustrytothesoftwaredevelopmentindustry. 1.1 CaseCompany SoftwareCoisagloballeaderinenterprisesoftwaredevelopmentandassociatedserviceswithmore than50,000employeeslocatedinmultiplecountries.softwaredevelopmenttakesplaceintheir developmentlabswhicharedistributedinvariouscountriesglobally.theirsoftwareproductsare usedbymorethan200,000customersaroundtheworld. Tocreateinnovativeproductstoservetheirglobalcustomerbase,SoftwareCohasadoptedDT.DTis definedonsoftwareco swebsiteasaroutineinnovationmethodologythatenablesthetwohalves ofthehumanbraintoactinsynergy,effectivelycombiningitscreativeandanalyticalcapabilities.in termsofpracticalexecution,thegeneraldtapproachaspracticedatsoftwarecoisshowninfigure 1below.Theapproachillustratedbelowishighlyiterativeandallowsreturningtopreviousactivities orphasesshouldtheneedbeidentifiedbasedoninsightsgainedatanystage. 3

10 Figure1:DTprocess DTwasrolledoutatSoftwareCointhreedifferentwaves.ThefirstwaveofDTprojectsstartedin 2011atSoftwareCo sfacilitiesingermany,whilethesecondwaveofdtprojectscommencedin 2012andprimarilyinvolvedSoftwareCoofficesinGermany,India,andChina.Finally,thethirdwave ofdtprojectsstartedattheendof2012andisongoing. 1.2 Background DThasrisenasamanagementconceptpromisingincreasedinnovativenessthroughausercentered approachtoinnovation.dthasitsoriginsinthedesignrealmbuthasenteredthemanagement realmandgainedconsiderableacceptanceasanapproachtoproductdevelopmentandproblem solving(hassi&laakso,2011).variouscompaniesindifferentindustrieshavetakentousingdtin theirproductdevelopmentpracticestocomplementandenhancetheirexistingapproaches. TheconceptofLeanThinkingoriginatedintheautomotiveindustryanddescribedtheproduction managementsystemattoyotaalongwithmanufacturingtechniques(stone,2012).ithassince penetratedintoallareasofmanagementandisprimarilyconcernedwithwasteandvaluein organizationaloperations,withthegoalofminimizingtheformerandonlyretainingactivities contributingtothelatter(poppendieck&cusumano,2012;stone,2012). JustasLeanThinking,thetermAgilealsocamefromthemanufacturingsectorandreferstoa producer sflexibilitytorespondtochangesinanunstableenvironmentandcustomerneeds(devor, Graves,&Mills,1997;Poppendieck&Cusumano,2012).Theneedforincreasedflexibilityand responsivenesstocustomerrequestswassubsequentlyidentifiedinsoftwaredevelopmentsettings andagroupofdeveloperscreatedamanifestobaseduponanumberofagileprinciplesthatwere specificallyadaptedtosoftwaredevelopment(becketal.,2001;highsmith,2001).withinagile severalmethodshavebeencreatedthataimatmakingthedevelopmentprocessmoreresponsive andflexible(wölblingetal.,2012). OnespecificmethodofAgileistheprocessframeworkofScrum.TheScrumprocessframework prescribesthecompositionofdevelopmentteams,eventsintheprocess,andtangibleobjects (Schwaber&Sutherland,2011).TworoleswithintheScrumteamareofparticularinterest:theSM andthepo.individualsfillingtheseroleshavespecificmanagerialdutiestocarryoutandprinciples toadhereto;theprimaryresponsibilityofthepoisthefunctionalityoftheproductandthevalueit createsforallstakeholders,whilethesmisconcernedwiththeexecutionoftheprojectandsmooth runningoftheprocess(schwaber&sutherland,2011). LSDandScrumhavebeencombinedsuccessfullywithinthesoftwaredevelopmentindustryandhave becomecommonpractice.dthasgrownfromthedesigndisciplineintothemanagementdisciple. 4

11 Theseapproaches,asseparateentities,havebeenimplementedanddocumentedfrompractitioners perspectivesbutthereislittleevidenceoftheirdetailedstudyinacademicliterature.thereiseven lessliterature,fromeitherapractitioneroracademicperspectivethatfocusesonunderstandingthe combinationofdt,lsd,scrumapproachesinproductdevelopment. Approximatelyfouryearsago,SoftwareCointroducedanapproachtotheirsoftwaredevelopment thatisfoundeduponlsdprinciples,andisexecutedthroughthescrumprocessframeworkandin 2011,SoftwareCostartedaninitiativetorolloutDTthroughoutitsdevelopmentorganization. HildenbrandandMeyer(2012)investigatedDTandLSDincombinationonScrumteams,butother previousstudiesonthetopicwerenotevidentfromathoroughliteraturesearch.intheirbook chapter,intertwiningleananddesignthinking,hildenbrandandmeyer(2012)takeaholistic perspectivetounderstandifandhowtheseapproachestosoftwaredevelopmentcanbecombined orwhetherdtissimplyasubstituteforlsdonascrumteam.theauthorsconcludedthatthese approachestosoftwaredevelopmentcanbeintertwined,asopposedtodtbecomingasubstituteor replacementandsuggestedaprocessshowinghowdtcanbeintertwinedwithlsdonascrumteam. WhiletheworkofHildenbrandandMeyer(2012)isavaluableearlycontributiontogain understandingtowardsthecombinationofdtandlsdonascrumteaminsoftwaredevelopment projects,thereareaspectsinthestudythatraisequestionsandwarrantfurtherinvestigation.the bookchapterinquestiondescribesthestudyofasinglesoftwaredevelopmentprojectwithina globalenterprisesoftwarecompany.first,onesinglecaseisonlyastartingpointinunderstandingif thecombinationofdtandlsdonscrumteamsareindeedcomplementaryapproachesastheywere claimedtobe.itisthereforequestionableifthefindingscanbeconsideredvalidforanyother,let aloneall,softwaredevelopmentprojectsthatutilizetheseapproaches,bothwithintheircase companyandthewiderindustry.second,theinvestigatedcaseitselfdoesnotappeartobequite representativeofarealdevelopmentprojectasitwouldgenerallybecarriedoutwithinsoftware developmentcompanies,becausethecustomerherewasasailingteamsponsoredbythedeveloping companyitself,foraspecificevent.naturally,thatspecificcompanyhadagreatinterestinthe successoftheproject: Besidestheclassicalsupportofasponsor,SAPisparticularlyinterestedin showcasingitstechnology... (Hildenbrand&Meyer,2012,p.221).Sincetheprojectwasashowcase, itmaybeconsideredlimitedinitscomparabilitytosoftwaredevelopmentprojectsforindustry customerswithinthesoftwareindustryatlarge. Besidesthelimitationsoutlinedabove,HildenbrandandMeyer(2012)mostlytookaprocess perspectiveofthecombinedapproachesandthemethodswithin.whilstthisangleisentirely legitimate,itleavesroomforexpansion.anotherinterestingaspectforinvestigationconcernsthe individualsthatareworkingonthesoftwaredevelopmentscrumteamsandtheirperceptionofthe combinedapproaches.inparticular,teammemberswithmanagerialdutiesandresponsibilitiesfor thesuccessoftheprojectsandtheirunderstandingofthecombinedapproachesappeartobe worthwhilestudyingbecausethesuccessoftheintegrationofdthingescriticallyonthose.as outlinedearlier,theseindividualsinquestionareposandsms. BaseduponworkingwithintheLSDandScrumapproachatSoftwareCo,experiencedSMsandPOs arelikelytohaveacquiredcertainwaysofworkingandgainedexperienceaccordingtothe underlyingprinciplesandpracticesoflsdandscrum.thesesmsandposnowhavetofurtheradapt 5

12 assoftwarecoisrollingoutdtthroughouttheirsoftwaredevelopmentwiththegoalofcreating moredesirableandinnovativesoftwareproducts. ThisthesisinvestigatedthecombinationofLSDandDTonScrumteamsinsoftwaredevelopment projects,asperceivedbymanagerialstaffcomposedofposandsms.particularemphasisisputon thealignmentofunderlyinglsdprinciplesandscrumpracticeswiththedtpracticeelements.thus, acasestudywasconductedwithinsoftwarecotoinitiallyexplorethetopic;thestudyandits findingsaredescribedinthefollowingchapters. 1.3 Purpose ThepurposeofthisthesisistocontributetotheacademicunderstandingofthecombinationofLSD anddtonscrumteams.giventhelimitedresearchonthesubject,thisstudyprimarilybuildsupon thedtworkbyhildenbrandandmeyer(2012).itcontributesbyinvestigatingtheintegrationofthe aboveapproachesfromtheperspectiveofmanagerialstaffonscrumteamswhoareresponsiblefor thesuccessofsoftwaredevelopmentprojects. 1.4 ResearchQuestion BasedonthecurrentstateofacademicliteratureconcerningLSDandDTaneedhasbeenidentified tofurtherstudythecombinationoftheseinapracticalsettingsuchassoftwaredevelopment.this needforunderstandingisparticularlyobviouswhenconsideringindividualswhohavesignificant experienceinmanagingsoftwaredevelopmentprojectsaccordingtolsdprinciplesonscrumteams, andareresponsiblefortheintegrationofdtintothisexistingapproach.inordertoexplorethetopic andgainaninitialunderstandingfromtheperspectiveoftheseindividualsleadingthelsdanddt activitiesonscrumteamsatsoftwareco,thefollowingresearchquestionisansweredbythisstudy: HowdotheDTpracticeelementsofenduserempathy,visualization,andsynthesisintegrate withlsdandtheagilemethodofscrumfromtheperspectiveofproductownersandscrum Masters? 1.5 Delimitations ThisstudyinvestigatedtheuseofDTonsoftwaredevelopmentprojectsatSoftwareCo.Thus,the scopeofthestudywaslimitedtoonlycoverasinglecompany;withinthecompany,onlythe softwaredevelopmentorganizationwasstudiedeventhoughdtisbeingutilizedinotherpartsofthe companyaswell.thiswasdeemedappropriatebecausethisthesiscontributestothegeneralfieldof innovationmanagement,anddtinthesoftwaredevelopmentorganizationatsoftwarecowas introducedtoimprovetheinnovativenessoftheirsoftwareproducts. ThedevelopmentorganizationatSoftwareCoisdispersedglobally;forthereasonofaccess provided,thisinvestigationonlycovereddevelopmentlabsinindiaandgermany.culturalaspects, bothorganizationalandethnical,werenotconsideredinthisresearch.theunitsofanalysiswere individualsfillingmanagerialrolesonsoftwaredevelopmentteams,otherteammembersorstaff outsidetheseteamswerenotconsidered. 2 LiteratureReview Thischapterintroducestheliteratureandtheoriespertainingtothisexploratorycasestudy. OverviewsareprovidedaboutthehistoryandcurrentstatesofknowledgeandpracticeaboutDT, 6

13 LeanThinking,Agile,andLSDapproachesaswellastheScrumprocessframeworkforsoftware development.theaboveapproachesareutilizedbysoftwarecointheirsoftwaredevelopment activities,withdtbeingthelatestaddition. 2.1 DesignThinking HerbertA.Simonappliedthenotionofdesignasawayofthinkingtothedesignrealminthe1960s, morerecentlyithasbeenappliedtothemanagementrealmbybothacademicsandpractitioners (Hassi&Laakso,2011;Simon,1969).Withintheacademicrealm,DTintermsofhowdesignersthink hasbeendiscussedanddescribedforoverthirtyyears(johansson,woodilla,&çetinkaya,2011). However,theapplicationofthewaydesignersthinktothemanagementrealmisfairlynewbut growinginimportance,partiallyduetotheviewthat designhasbecometooimportanttobeleftto designers (Brown&Katz,2011,p.381). JohanssonSköldberg,Woodilla,andÇetinkaya(2013)arguetherearethefollowingtwodiscourses ondt:scholarlyandmanagement.thescholarlydiscoursereferstodesignerlythinkingtheoryto practiceandisacademicallyfoundedinthefieldofdesignwhereasthemanagementdiscourse appliestodesignpracticesandcompetencesoutsideofthedesignfield(johanssonsköldbergetal., 2013).ThisstudyfocusedonDTelementsappliedtomanagementroleswithinthesoftware developmentindustry.therefore,onlythemanagementdiscourseondtisdiscussedasthe designerlythinkingdiscourseisoutsidethescopeofthisresearch.however,itisimportanttonote thattherearediscoursesinthedesignrealmthatconcentratesontheskillsandabilitiesofdesigners, forexample(simon,1969),thatcouldbeusedtofurtherinvestigatebutgiventhechoicetofocuson themanagementrealmthisisalsooutsideofthescopeforthisthesis Definitions ThetermDTdoesnothaveawelldefinedmeaningbutisusedinavarietyofwaysandmultiple contexts.moreover,thetermisbecomingincreasinglyubiquitous(kimbell,2011).ingeneralterms, DTisthoughtofashavingtwomainaspects:ausercentricphilosophyorapproachtoproblem solving(brown,2008;dunne&martin,2006;hassi&laakso,2011;kimbell,2011;seidel&fixson, 2012). Table1listsaselectionofdefinitionsgiveninliteratureforDT.However,itisimportanttonotethat definingdtintoasingulardefinitioncanbeconsideredafutileeffortbecausetherearemany differentdiscoursesondesignanditisinherentlyindividualisticbasedonthedesigneraseloquently statedbyjohanssonsköldbergetal.(2013,p.14) totalkaboutdesignandleavingthedesignerout isliketalkingaboutmusicandleavingthemusiciansout. 7

14 Table1:DesignThinkingDefinitions (Holloway,2009,p.51) Atermusedtodescribehowdesignerstypicallyapproach problemsolving (Brown,2008,p.86) Adisciplinethatusesthedesigner ssensibilityandmethodsto matchpeople sneedswithwhatistechnologicallyfeasibleand whataviablebusinessstrategycanconvertintocustomervalue andmarketopportunity (Dunne&Martin,2006, pp.512,517) Designthinkingresultsfromthenatureofdesignwork:a projectbasedworkflowaround wicked problems (Owen,2007,p.17) Theobversecomplementtoscientificthinking (Hassi&Laakso,2011,p. 53) DTisasetofcertainpractices,cognitiveapproaches,and mindsets (JohanssonSköldberget al.,2013,p.124) Awayofdescribingadesigner smethodsthatisintegratedinto anacademicorpracticalmanagementdiscourse Processes Asstatedabove,DTcanbedescribedinageneralsense,ratherthanasingularspecificdefinition,as usingausercentricapproachtosolveproblems(dunne&martin,2006).however,inbothacademia andpractice,thereisattentiongiventounderstandingthespecificprocessassociatedtodtbut similartothedefinitionthereisnotasingularuniversalprocessfordtbutratherthereseemstobe underlyingcommonalitiesorelementsassociatedtotheseprocesses.whileitisimportanttohavea generalunderstandingofprocessesassociatedwithdt,forthisthesistheunderlyingcommonalities orelementsofdtmentionedbelowarethemainlensusedinansweringtheresearchquestion Elements HassiandLaakso(2011)conductedanextensiveDTliteraturestudyof50booksorarticles,ofwhich theyused31,tocreateathreedimensionalframeworkforthedifferentelementsassociatedtodt. ThisframeworkassignedthreemainDTcategoriesthathaverelatedDTelements.Thesecategories arepractices,cognitiveapproach,andmindset(hassi&laakso,2011).thisresearchwillfocuson thepracticecategoryasopposedtothecognitiveapproachormindsetcategoriessincethisisthe mostrelevantcategoryforansweringtheresearchquestion.thisexploratorycasestudyisconcerned withlookingathowindividualsworkandthetangibleapproachestheyuse,asgiveninthepractice category,ratherthandifferentstylesorwaysofthinkinggivenineitherthecognitiveormindset categories(hassi&laakso,2011). Moreover,asstatedinthebelowliteraturesectionforLSDandScrum,thesetwoapproachesto softwaredevelopmentfocusmoreonthetangiblewaysofworking,activities,anduseofspecific artifacts.asaresult,usingtheelementsgiveninthebelowsectionforthedtpracticecategorywasa comparablelevelofanalysis Practices DTpracticescanbedescribedas tangibleapproaches,waysofworking,activities,andtheuseof specifictools (Hassi&Laakso,2011,p.55).Therearefivemainelementsthatareconsideredby HassiandLaakso(2011)tobeDTpractices:humancenteredapproach,thinkingbydoing,visualizing, synthesis,andcollaborativeworkstyle.thesearefurtherelaboratedonbelow. 8

15 1.HumanCentered Thehumancenteredapproachputspeoplefirstbydevelopingempathyforandunderstandingofthe customerand/orusers.observationandethnographyarethekeymethodsusedindevelopingthe emphaticunderstanding.dtisoftenreferredtoascustomer,userorhumancentricdesignasthisis oneofthemostprominentissueshighlightedindtliterature(hassi&laakso,2011). 2.Thinkingbydoing Thinkingbydoingisatangibleanditerativeapproachthatcreatesknowledgeinapracticalmanner byarapid,systematic,anditerativeprocess.thinkingbydoinginvolvescreatingcontinuous prototypingthathelpsinideation.prototypesareseenasatooltohelpbothdevelopandexplore ideasinsteadofbeingdirectrepresentationsoftheproduct(hassi&laakso,2011). 3.Visualizing VisualizingishowoneexpressesandmakessenseofthingsinDTbyusinganymediaoutsideof wordsandsymbols.visualizingallowsacommonunderstandingofideassothattheycanbe discussedandshared(hassi&laakso,2011). 4.Synthesis Adivergentandconvergentapproachorsometimesreferredtoassynthesisinvolvescomingtoa solutionbybroadeningthescopeandthennarrowingitbyusingselectionandsynthesis.dttypically startsusingadivergentapproachtoallowformultiplealternativesorideastobeconsideredinstead oftakingtheinitiallybestidea.thedivergentapproachisnotlimitedtothebeginningbutcanbe usedthroughoutdt.theconvergentapproachthenallowsforpatternsandrelationshipstobe discovered(hassi&laakso,2011). 5.Collaborativeworkstyle HassiandLaakso(2011)notedthatvirtuallyallDTauthorsplaceanemphasishavingacollaborative workstyleindt.acollaborativeworkstyleinvolveshavingawiderangeofstakeholders.moreover, collaborativethinkingisbythinkingoutsideofyourownheadbyinteractingwithothers(hassi& Laakso,2011). Asstatedabove,DThasstartedtodiffuseintothemanagementdiscoursefromthedesignworld. ThebasicsofDTincludeempathyandunderstandingtowardtheuserandahumancentered philosophy.theelementsofdtcanbeclassifiedintothreecategories:practices,cognitiveapproach, andmindset(hassi&laakso,2011).thesedtcategoriesalongwiththerelatedelementsare summarizedintable2. 9

16 Table2:DTElementsandCategoriesaccordingtoHassiandLaakso(2011) DTCategory DTElements Practices Humancentered/Empathy Thinkbydoing/Actionbased Visualizing Diverging&Converging Collaboration Cognitiveapproach Holisticviewpoint Integrativethinking Abductivethinking Mindset Futureoriented Explorative Experimental Summary AsexplainedaboveandillustratedinTable2,thispaper sfocusisonthedtelementsinthepractices categoryassummarizedintheextensiveliteraturereviewconductedbyhassiandlaakso(2011). ThisviewpointwillallowthestudytohavethetangiblewaysthatPOsandSMsworkasthelevelof analysisandtolookattheirperceptionofdtfromapracticeperspective,ratherthanmakea comparisonoftheassociateddtprocessesormethods. 2.2 LeanThinking LeanThinkinghasitsoriginintheautomotiveproductionindustryinJapan.ThetermLeanwasfirst usedinconnectionwithproductionmanagementpracticedattoyotaandhascontinuedtoevolve forseveraldecades(hines,holwe,&rich,2004;poppendieck&cusumano,2012;stone,2012).the morespecifictermleanproductionoriginallydescribedmanufacturingtechniques(stone,2012)and wasthenexpandedtodescribe anyefficientmanagementpracticethatminimizedwaste,including inproductdevelopment (Poppendieck&Cusumano,2012,p.26). Onthemostbasiclevel,LeanThinkingdistinguishesbetweenwasteandvalueinanorganization s operations.asdefinedbywomackandjones(1996)instone(2012,p.114),wasteis anyhuman activitywhichabsorbsresourcesbutcreatesnovalue andvaluedenotes acapabilityprovidedtoa customerattherighttimeatanappropriateprice,asdefinedineachcasebythecustomer. Moreover,themostbasicpremiseofLeanThinkingistoactivelyidentifyandeliminatewastefrom thefirm sprocesseswiththegoalofonlyretainingactivitiesthataddvalue(stone,2012).allinall, fivebasicprinciplesofleanthinkingwereproposedbywomackandjones(1996)andarelistedby HaqueandJamesMoore(2004,p.3)as: Specifyvalue:definevaluepreciselyfromtheperspectiveoftheendcustomerintermsofa specificproductwithspecificcapabilitiesofferedataspecificpriceandtime. Identifythevaluestreamandeliminatewaste:identifytheentirevaluestreamforeach productorproductfamilyandeliminatewaste. Makethevalueflow:maketheremainingvaluecreatingstepsflow. Letthecustomerpullthe(value)process:designandprovidewhatthecustomerwantsonly whenthecustomerwantsit. 10

17 Pursueperfection:striveforperfectionbycontinuallyremovingsuccessivelayersofwasteas theyareuncovered. PoppendieckandCusumano(2012)elaboratefurtherthatLeanThinkingemphasizesforemostthe decreaseinwasterelatedtoresourcesintermsoftimeandstaffandatthesametimepromotesthe creationofvalueforthecustomerandthecompanythroughproducts.additionalbenefitsoflean Thinkingarethoseassociatedwitha moreflexible,iterative,lightweightdevelopmentprocess (p. 27).Furthermore,valueisalsoincreasedbyaddingfeaturesorservicesthatarevaluedbycustomers butdonotcontributetotheinternalwaste,e.g.shorteneddeliverytimes(hinesetal.,2004). 2.3 Agile SimilartoLeanThinking,Agilealsohasitsoriginsinthemanufacturingindustry(Poppendieck& Cusumano,2012)andbasicallydescribesaproducer sabilitytobeflexibleinordertobesuccessfulin anenvironmentofcontinuouschange(devoretal.,1997).thisneedfortheabilitytorespondto changeswasidentifiedforandappliedtoasoftwaredevelopmentsettingwhenseventeensoftware expertsdraftedtheagilesoftwaredevelopmentmanifesto(highsmith,2001),whichwasfounded upontwelveunderlyingprinciples AgileSoftwareDevelopmentPrinciples Theagilesoftwaredevelopmentmanifestowasbuiltonthefollowingtwelveprinciples(Becketal., 2001): Ourhighestpriorityistosatisfythecustomerthroughearlyandcontinuousdeliveryof valuablesoftware. Welcomechangingrequirements,evenlateindevelopment.Agileprocessesharnesschange forthecustomer'scompetitiveadvantage. Deliverworkingsoftwarefrequently,fromacoupleofweekstoacoupleofmonths,with apreferencetotheshortertimescale. Businesspeopleanddevelopersmustworktogetherdailythroughouttheproject. Buildprojectsaroundmotivatedindividuals.Givethemtheenvironmentandsupportthey need,andtrustthemtogetthejobdone. Themostefficientandeffectivemethodofconveyinginformationtoandwithina developmentteamisfacetofaceconversation. Workingsoftwareistheprimarymeasureofprogress. Agileprocessespromotesustainabledevelopment.Thesponsors,developers,andusers shouldbeabletomaintainaconstantpaceindefinitely. Continuousattentiontotechnicalexcellenceandgooddesignenhancesagility. Simplicitytheartofmaximizingtheamountofworknotdoneisessential. Thebestarchitectures,requirements,anddesignsemergefromselforganizingteams. Atregularintervals,theteamreflectsonhowtobecomemoreeffective,thentunesand adjustsitsbehavioraccordingly AgileSoftwareDevelopmentMethods Withintheoverallagilesoftwaredevelopmentapproach,severalspecificmethodssuchasScrumand ExtremeProgramminghaveemergedwiththegoalofmakingthesoftwaredevelopmentprocess moreresponsiveandflexible(wölblingetal.,2012).inthefollowingsection,scrumisfurther 11

18 elaboratedonbecauseitisoneofthemostusedagilemethodologiesinsoftwaredevelopment(del Nuevo,Piattini,&Pino,2011)andhasmanagerialaspectsattachedtoit(e.g.Pries&Quigley,2011). TheScrummethodisutilizedbySoftwareCointheirdevelopmentactivities. Scrum Scrumisdefinedbyitscreatorsas aprocessframework...usedtomanagecomplexproduct development (Schwaber&Sutherland,2011,p.3),andhasalsobeendescribedasamethodto manageprojectsthatisfocusedonimmediateobjectivesanddeliverablesofinvolvedpeople(pries& Quigley,2011).Assuch,itisnotaprocessortechniqueforbuildingproductsbutrathera managementframeworktodevelopandsustaincomplexproductssuchassoftwarebyemployingan iterativeandincrementalapproach(schwaber&sutherland,2011).scrumisalsonotacomplete methodologysinceitdoesnotincludespecificpractices.instead,itaimstooptimizetheprocessof softwaredevelopmentwithintheoverallvaluestream(poppendieck&cusumano,2012).thescrum processframeworkencompassesvariousevents,rolesofmembersinscrumteams,andartifacts. Scrumeventsaresprints,springplanningmeetings,dailyscrums,sprintreviewsandsprint retrospectives.theprimaryeventsarethesprints,whichareblocksoftimelastingfourweeksor less,inwhichprogrammingtakesplaceandaimtoresultinworkingsoftwarereleaseswhichcanbe inspectedandtestedbyendusers(maylor,2010;schwaber&sutherland,2011).thesereleasesare typicallypresentedatsprintreviewsthatfolloweachsprintandallowfrequentcustomerfeedback onfunctionality,whichinturninfluencessubsequentpriorities(rising&janoff,2000). AScrumteamistypicallycrossfunctionalandcomprisedofthedevelopmentteam,thePO,andthe SM.Thedevelopmentteamisselforganizingwithmemberspossessingthenecessaryskillstodeliver thefinalproduct.recommendedteamsizerangesbetweenthreeandninemembers,notcounting thepoandsm(schwaber&sutherland,2011). ThePOisresponsibleandaccountablefordecidingwhatneedstobedone,i.e.managingtheproduct backlog.byperforminghis/herduties,thepo smainundertakingistomaximizethevalueofboth theproductandthedevelopmentteam(poppendieck&cusumano,2012;schwaber&sutherland, 2011).Assuch,inalargerorganizationalcontext,thePOcanbeseenasthelinkbetweenthe developmentorganization,thewiderorganization,andexternalentities.thesm sroleistomakethe processrunassmoothlyaspossibleandcontinuouslyimproveitalongthewayby,forexample leadingmeetingsandtrackingprogress.(rising&janoff,2000).specifically,thesmprovideshis/her servicestothepo,thedevelopmentteamandtheorganizationatlarge(schwaber&sutherland, 2011). Scrumartifactsservetomakethedevelopmentprocessmoretransparent,makekeyinformation visibleandthusallowinspectionandadaptation.thethreetypesofartifactsareproductbacklog, sprintbacklogandincrements.anartifactofkeyimportanceistheproductbacklogwhichisdefined as anorderedlistofeverythingthatmightbeneededintheproductandisthesinglesourceof requirementsforanychangestobemadetotheproduct (Schwaber&Sutherland,2011,p.12).The productbacklogiscontinuouslyevolvingandassuchisnevercomplete.itisthesoleresponsibilityof thepotomanagetheproductbacklog,prioritizeitemsinitandensuretheyareaddressedbythe team(schwaber&sutherland,2011). 12

19 2.3.3 SummaryofLeanThinkingandAgile Asstatedabove,bothLeanThinkingandAgilehavetheirorigininthemanufacturingindustriesand havesubsequentlymadetheirwayintodifferentsettingswhichincludethesoftwaredevelopment industry.themainpremiseofleanthinkingistomakethevaluestreammoreefficientby eliminatinganyprocessesthatdonotaddvalue.themainideabehindagileisforanorganizationto bemoreresponsiveincontinuouslychangingenvironments. Simplyput,bothLeanThinkingandAgileputthecustomersandtheirsatisfactionfirstbuttheydoso indifferentmanners.whileleanthinkingemphasizesefficiencyandplanning,agilebuildsupon customizationresultingfromclosecustomercontactandinteraction.butasproveninpractice,itis possibletooptimizeagileoperationsbasedonleanthinking,especiallyinthesoftwaredevelopment industrywherethiscombinationhasbeenpracticedsincetheearly2000s.byoperatinginshortand iterativecyclesthatproduceworkingsoftware,userscanbeinvolvedfrequentlytoenable identificationofcustomervalueandrespondtoupdatedrequests(wölblingetal.,2012). 2.4 LeanSoftwareDevelopment Intheearly2000s,LeanThinkingstartedtodiffuseintoareasoutsideofthemanufacturingindustry suchaslogistics,military,constructionandservices.asaresult,thisdeliveredproofthatinpractice LeanThinkingisapplicableacrossvariousfields(Hinesetal.,2004;Poppendieck,2002).Although LeanThinkingoriginallyrelatedtopracticesparticulartotheautomotivemanufacturingindustry,it couldbetransferredintoothersettingsbyviewingitasasetofprinciplesorconceptsratherthan specificpractices(poppendieck&cusumano,2012).basedonthisview,leanthinkingenteredthe softwaredevelopmentviaagilepractices(hildenbrand&meyer,2012),becausetherearemany similaritiesandanalogiesbetweentheirrespectiveelements(poppendieck&cusumano,2012). ByintegratingAgileandLeanThinking,sevenprinciplesforLSDwereproposedin2003andhave sincebecomepopularinthesoftwareindustry(poppendieck&cusumano,2012).theseven principlesforlsdare(poppendieck&cusumano,2012;poppendieck.lcc,2010): 1. Optimizethewhole:LSDshouldbefoundedonadeepunderstandingofajobthatcustomers wouldlikedoneandhowthisjobmightbemediatedbysoftware. 2. Eliminatewaste:wasteisanythingthatdoesn teitheraddcustomervaluedirectlyoradd knowledgeabouthowtodeliverthatvaluemoreeffectively. 3. Buildqualityin:continuouslyintegratesmallunitsofsoftwareintolargersystemstoavoid findingdefectsinthefinalverification. 4. Learnconstantly:developmentisallaboutcreatingknowledgeandembeddingthat knowledgeinaproduct;delayirreversibledecisionstothelastresponsiblemoment,based onbestavailableknowledge. 5. Deliverfast:thinkofsoftwareasaflowsystemwheresoftwareisdesigned,developed,and deliveredinasteadyflowofsmallchangesbasedondeepunderstandingofwhat stakeholders value. 6. Engageeveryone:empoweringpeople,encouragingteamwork,andmovingdecisionmaking tothelowestpossiblelevelbycomposingmultidisciplinaryteamsencompassingthe completevaluestream. 7. Keepgettingbetter:failureisalearningopportunityandshouldbeusedtochallengeand improveexistingstandardsbasedonthescientificmethod. 13

20 ThesesevenprinciplesforLSDdonotoffermuchinthesenseofparticularrolesandresponsibilities ofindividuals.instead,theyfocusonhowtooperateinanorganizationalsettingofsoftware development,whiletheagilemethodofscrumgivesclearlydefinedrolesincludingthepoandsm. Tosummarize,LSDfocusisonpractices,orhowtooperateinanorganizationalsettingforsoftware development,againthismakesthepracticecategoryfordttheappropriatecategoryfor comparison. 2.5 SynthesisofDesignThinking,LeanSoftwareDevelopment,andScrum AvisualrepresentationoftheabovedescriptionsforthedevelopmentofLeanThinkingandAgile intothesoftwaredevelopmentindustryisshowninfigure2.thecontextstudiedinthisthesis projectisconcernedwithdtbeingintegratedwithlsdandscrum. TounderstandtheintegrationofLSD,Scrum,andDT,thefiveDTpracticeelementsasgivenbyHassi andlaakso(2011)arecomparedbelowwiththesevenlsdprinciplesandthescrumpracticeof writingbacklogsandengagingcustomers.thecomparisonisdonetoidentifyanysynergiesand discrepanciesbetweenthose. ManufacturingIndustry DesignIndustry LeanThinking Agile AgileSoftwareDevelopment LeanSoftwareDevelopment Scrum DesignThinking Figure2:Contextofstudy(shadedareainvestigated atsoftwareco) DThasaclearhumanfocuswhichispracticedbydeeplyempathizingwiththeuserofthefinal product.onthesurfacethisalignswellwithlsdandscrum.thefirstprincipleoflsd,optimizingthe whole,requiresathoroughunderstandingofwhatjobthecustomeristryingtoaccomplish.as stated,scrumisanagilemethodandisthereforebuildonthepremiseofbeingflexibleand responsive.thisrequiresagoodknowledgeofwhatthecustomervalues,whichistobegained throughfrequenttestingofworkingsoftwarereleasesbyendusers.however,adiscrepancyexistsin thatdtfocusesonempathytofindlatentneedswhilelsd sandscrum sfocusisonthecustomer satisfaction.aseconddiscrepancyisthatwhentakenatfacevalue,itseemsthatlsdandscrumare focusedonthecustomerratherthantheenduser.whilstnospecificmentionofendusersis apparentinlsd,scrumdoesmentiontheenduserfortestingofsoftwarereleases,butonlyforthe purposeofgainingcustomerfeedback,judgingcustomersatisfactionandadjustprioritiesfor subsequentdevelopmentwhicharearguablyverydifferentnotionsthanempathizingwithhumans usingaproductorservice.nevertheless,owingtoalackofcleardefinitionofthetermcustomer,end usersmaybeincludedinit.however,thecustomeranduserarerarelythesameintheenterprise softwaredevelopmentindustryandthecustomermaybeunawareofwhattheactualuserdoes value.therefore,apotentialmisalignmentexistsinthatdtplacesemphasisonfindinglatentneeds 14

21 ofendusers,whilelsdandscrumarefocusedoncustomersatisfactionanddonotexplicitly mentionenduserempathy. CollaborationinDTreferstoworkinginmultidisciplinaryteamstoachievethedesiredoutcome.This practicematcheswellwithscrumwhichcallsforselforganizingteamscomposedofmembersthat bringallnecessaryskillstotheproject,andvalueisputonindividualsandinteractions.thelsd principleofengagingeveryoneintheentirevaluestreamtodelivertheproductisalsoquiteeasily equatedwiththemeaningofcollaborationindt,butcouldbeinterpretedashavingawiderscope. TheDTpracticeelementofvisualizingfacilitateseasiercommunication,forexamplethrough storyboards.onthecontrary,scrumcallsforproductbacklogsaswrittenlistsofallrequirementsand specificationsfortheproductbeingdeveloped.ifdtprecedestheactualsoftwaredevelopment phaseaccordingtothescrumframework,thegeneratedstoryboardscouldbeconsidereda precursororfoundationfortheproductbacklogs.eventhoughthebacklogmaybuildon,orevolve fromastoryboard,theprocessofgeneratingeachisquitedifferent.noneofthelsdprinciplesisin agreementorindiscrepancywithvisualizingindt. DTisanactionbasedapproach,includingtherapidcreationofprototypesthroughouttheprocess. Twoofthegoalsofprototypingaretolearnandfailquicklyandcheaply.Thesetwoareinperfect alignmentwiththelsdprinciplesofdeliveringfast,learningconstantly,andcontinuouslygetting betterbyconsideringfailureasalearningopportunity.althoughitcouldbearguedthatfailureis wasteandassuchopposesthesecondprincipleoflsd,itreasonsthatearlyandcheapfailureisstill lesswastefulthanlaterfailureswhicharemorecostly.thescrummethodologyaimsatproducing workingsoftwarereleases,whichrequirestheactionofprogramming.thus,ifworkingsoftwareis analogoustoprototypes,thenscrumisalsoanactionbasedapproachandthispracticealignswell withdt. PerhapsthebiggestconflictexistsbetweenDTandLSDwhentheDTpracticeofconvergingand divergingisconsidered.itismostapparentduringtheideationmodeofdt,wheretheprimary objectiveistocreatelargeamountsofideas.alargeamountofideasimpliesbynecessitythatsome, ifnotmost,ofthoseideaswillbediscarded.whenthinkinginleanterms,discardinganythingisa wasteandthustheideationmodeindtviolatestheunderlyingfundamentalpremiseoflsd eliminatingwaste.moreover,itcanbequestionedtowhatextenttheiterativedtpracticeof converginganddivergingultimatelyaddsvaluetoanystakeholders.converginganddivergingmay occurtosomeextentduringtheexecutioninscrummode;however,hereanychangesusually originatefromexternalsources,i.e.thecustomers,whileindttheinternalteamitselfisrequiredto convergeanddivergeontheirownaccordandbasedontheirownresearch.thecomparisonofdt, LSD,andScrumdiscussedabovearesummarizedinTable3forclarity. Table3:SummaryofDT,LSD,andScrum DT Agile LSD Scrum Differences Enduserempathy Customersatisfaction Visualizing N/A Writingrequirementsinbacklogs Synthesis Wasteelimination N/A Similarities Actionbased Collaboration 15

22 HildenbrandandMeyer(2012)haveinvestigatedthecombinationofDTwithLSDonScrumteams andhavefoundanumberofcommonalitiesinfundamentalvalues.asoutlinedabove,theseinclude thecollaborationofmultidisciplinaryteams,valueforboththebusinessandcustomers,andtheir iterativenature.further,theauthorsarguethatdtandlsdaddress differentchallengesand aspectsinadevelopmentprojectlifecycle (Hildenbrand&Meyer,2012,p.219).Quitecorrectlythey pointoutthatlsdisconcernedwithexecutionaspectssuchasdeliveringhighqualityinatimely fashion.dtontheotherhandisfocusedonwhattoexecuteordeliver,i.e.ensuringthattheproduct isindeedofvaluetothecustomer. Anextlogicalsteptobuilduponthestudyistocriticallyassessandinvestigateanychallengesthat arisefromthecombinationofdtandlsdonscrumteams,particularlytotheindividuals,posand SMs,whichareinchargeofrunningtheseScrumteams.Basedontheirexperienceincarryingout theseroles,theyhaveattainedcertainpracticesandwaysofworking.withtheintroductionofdtin additiontolsdonscrumteams,theseindividualsarepotentiallyfacingchallengesthatoriginate fromthecontradictingrequirementsasoutlinedabove.whiletheelementsmaynotbemutually exclusive,therecouldnonethelessbedifficultiesinadaptingtodtandintegratingitwithlsdon Scrumteams. 2.6 TheoreticalFramework Followingtheinvestigationandanalysisoftheliterature,thetheoreticalframeworkpresentedin Figure3belowhasbeendeveloped.Thefocusoftheframeworklieswithindividualsratherthanthe processesorapproaches.theindividualsofconcernarethosethattakeontherolesofsmandpo accordingtothescrumprocessframework.inthepreviouslsdonlyapproach,theyarereferredto aslsdmanager.withtheadditionofdttodevelopmentprojects,theyshouldalsoadoptthe elementsincludedinthedtmanagerrole.thefocusofthisthesiswasplacedontheidentified misalignments;therefore,theoverlappingelementsofactionbasedandcollaborationwerenot specificallyaddressedduringthedatacollection. DTMANAGER LSDMANAGER Enduser empathy Visualizing Synthesis Actionbased Collaboration Customer satisfaction Writingbacklogs Waste elimination Figure3:Theoreticalframework Basedontheabovetheoreticalframework,thefollowingstudyinvestigatestheadditionofDTtothe existinglsdapproachonscrumteamsatsoftwarecofromtheperspectiveofposandsms.the 16

23 investigationisconcernedwithhowtheseindividualsperceivetheadditionofdtanditseffecton theirwayofworking.studiedindetailarethetheoreticalmisalignmentsbetweenthefollowingdt practiceelementsandlsdprinciplesandscrumpractices:(1)enduserempathyvs.customer Satisfaction(2)Visualizingvs.WritingBacklogs(3)Synthesisvs.EliminatingWaste 3 Methodology Thischapteraimstoexplainthedesignandmethodsusedtoanswertheresearchquestion. Moreover,thepurposeofthemethodandsamplingstructurewillbediscussed.Also,adescriptionis providedonhowdatawascollectedandthevalidityandreliabilityofthegatheredinformationis discussed. 3.1 ResearchApproach Thefirststepinresearchistypicallytodecidebetweentwotypesofreasoning,deductiveand inductive,thatarethenusedtogainabetterunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweentheoryand research(bryman&bell,2011;saunders,lewis,&thornhill,2007).deductivereasoningstartswitha verybroadspectrumofinformationandconvergestoaspecificconclusion.wilsondefinesdeductive reasoningas developingahypothesis(orhypotheses)basedonexistingtheory,andthendesigninga researchstrategytotestthehypothesis (Wilson,2010,p.7).Inductivereasoning,ontheotherhand, istheoppositeofdeductivereasoninginthatthetheoryisgeneratedoutoftheresearch(bryman& Bell,2011).Inductiveresearchcanbethoughtofasa bottomup approachtobuildingknowledge; theresearcherisrequiredtouseobservationsanddatatofindpatternsandregularitiestodevelopa tentativehypothesisthatwillleadtogeneralconclusionortheory(babbie,2001). ThisstudyusedinductivereasoningsincethemainfocuswasonDTanditsrelationshipwithLSD principlesandthescrumprocessframework,whichisnotyetwidelycoveredinacademicliterature. Anadvantageofusinginductivereasoninginaresearchstudythatisexploringanewareaisthatitis aniterativeprocessthatallowstheflexibilitytogobackandforthbetweentheresearchandtheory (Bryman&Bell,2011).However,thereisariskthataninductiveresearchapproachmayrequiretime beyondtheplannedscopeofastudyandleadawayfromanarrowandfocusedstudyandresultin generalandbroadresultsthataresuperficial(bryman&bell,2011).theinductiveapproach,in contrasttothedeductiveapproach,hasahighlevelofuncertaintysinceitrequirestheresearcherto generatetheoriesandconclusionsoutofspecificobservationsanddata(saundersetal.,2007). Theserisksweremitigatedbycreatingaschedulethatincludedtimeforiterativeworkand continuousassessmentstoinsurethattheresearchwasnotdeviatingfarfromtheansweringthe researchquestion. 3.2 ResearchStrategy Aresearchstrategyisdescribedasthegeneralorientationoftheconductofbusinessresearchand canbequantitative,qualitativeoramixtureofboth.quantitativeresearchfocusesonquantification andanalysisofdataandismorealignedtodeductivereasoning,whereasqualitativeresearch focusesonwordsinordertogeneratetheoriesandismorealignedtoinductivereasoning(bryman& Bell,2011).Inordertoanswertheresearchquestionforthisstudy,aqualitativestrategywasused becausethepurposeofthestudywastocontributetotheacademicunderstandingofthe combinationoflsdanddtonscrumteamsbasedoninductivereasoning. 17

24 3.2.1 QualitativeResearch Qualitativeresearchis,forthemostpart,inductivewiththeaimofgeneratingtheoryormeanings fromdatacollectedinthefield(creswell,hanson,plano,&morales,2007).dtisarelativelynew areaofstudyandthisresearchstudyisfocusedonunderstandinghowsmsandposadapttodtina specificdepartmentataspecificcompanyataspecificpointintime.qualitativeresearch,as opposedtoquantitativeresearch,ismorealignedtothisfocussinceittakesamoreinterpretiveand naturalisticapproach(denzin&lincoln,2005).thismakesqualitativeresearchasuitablestrategyfor thisstudysincethereislimitedamountoftheorytobuildahypothesisthatcouldbequantitatively tested. Qualitativeresearchpresentssomerisks,suchasmisunderstandings.Itiscriticalinqualitative researchthattheinterviewersensuretheyhavetheinterviewees responseinsteadofdependingon theirownassumption(britten,jones,murphy,&stacy,1995).thiswasaddressedbyhavingtwo researcherswithvariedbackgroundlistentotheinterviews,followedbyadiscussion,and transcriptionthatwasreviewedbybothresearchers. 3.3 ResearchDesign:ExploratoryCaseStudy Theresearchdesignselectedforthisinvestigationwasanexploratorycasestudy.Acasestudy researchdesignallowsdetailedanalysisofasinglecase.ingeneral,acasecanrefertoeitherofa singleorganization,location,person,orevent(bryman&bell,2011).importantly,acasestudy shouldbeconductedwithinitsreallifecontext(yin,2003).asuccinctdefinitionofacasestudyis givenbydulandhak(2008,p.4): Acasestudyisastudyinwhich(a)onecase(singlecasestudy)or asmallnumberofcases(comparativecasestudy)intheirreallifecontextareselected,and(b)scores obtainedfromthesecasesareanalyzedinaqualitativemanner.thequalitativemannerhere impliesthatnostatisticalanalysisiscarriedout,butitdoesnotrefertothemethodsofdata collectionormeasurement(dul&hak,2008). Thetypeofbasicdesignforthiscasestudyisasinglecase(asopposedtomultiplecases)witha singleunitofanalysis(insteadofmultipleunits).avalidrationaleforselectingasinglecaseiswhen theresearchershaveaccesstoapreviouslyinaccessiblesituationwhichwasthecasewithsoftware Co;inthisinstancethecaseisrevelatoryandasinglecaseisappropriate(Yin,2003).Further,many businessresearchersadvocateusingcasestudydesignsforexploratoryresearchwherethereisa limitedamountoftheoryavailableandthecontextisimportant(dul&hak,2008). Thisstudywastheoryoriented,whichmeansthattheobjectivewastocontributetotheory development,ratherthantocontributetotheknowledgeofoneormorespecifiedpractitioners. Withintheoryorientedresearch,DulandHak(2008)distinguishbetweenthreetypesofactivities: exploration,theorybuilding,andtheorytesting,whicharetobecarriedoutinsequence.dueto timelimitations,thisstudyfocusedonlyontheinitialactivityofexploration,ofboththeoryand practiceasillustratedinfigure4. 18

25 Inthisthesis,boththetheoryandpracticepertainingtothecombinationandintegrationofDT elementsandlsdprincipleswereexplored.theunitofanalysiswasindividualsactingincertainroles withinthedevelopmentorganizationatsoftwareco.inordertoallowaninitialunderstandingofthe topic,theexploratorycasestudydesignwasselectedbecauseitallowsadetailedinvestigationofthe topicandtoanswertheresearchquestion.sincetheresearchquestionisabouttheperceptionof individualsinrelationtoaspecifictopic,acasestudyisanappropriateresearchdesignasitallowsa thoroughexplorationoftheissue.asinglecasestudyratherthancomparativewaschosendueto havinggainedaccesstoasinglecompany,softwareco,earlyonintheprojectaswellasresource andtimelimitations.moreover,softwarecoprovidedauniquesettingtoinvestigatetheintegration ofdt,lsdandscrum. 3.4 Sampling Inordertoachievethepurposeandaddresstheresearchquestionofthisstudy,apurposive samplingstrategywasemployedwithinthecase.purposivesamplingreferstosamplingthatisnot carriedoutrandomlybutratherwiththeaimtosampleparticipantsthatarerelevanttotheresearch question,andismostcommonlyusedinqualitativeresearch(bryman&bell,2011). Thepopulationforthestudy ssamplewasdefinedasfollows:theunitsinthepopulationhadtobe experiencedincarryingouttheroleofeithersmorpointhedevelopmentorganizationatsoftware Co.Inaddition,theseindividualswererequiredtohavebeeninvolvedinatleastoneprojectwhere DTwasused.ThisminimumcriterionofasingleDTprojectwasnotsettoahighernumberbecause DTwasintroducedatSoftwareCodevelopmentorganizationtwoyearspriortothisstudy.Since mostdevelopmentprojectshavedurationinexcessofoneyear,theavailablepoolofrespondents whohaveworkedonmorethanonedtprojectwouldhavebeentoosmalltoreachameaningful samplesize. Oncethepopulationofthestudywasestablished,snowballsamplingwasconducted.Thisstrategy wasusedfortworeasons.first,theextentoftheentirepopulationwasunknowntotheresearchers, andhencenoaccuratesamplingframecouldbedetermined.second,initialaccesstothecasewas providedbytwoindividuals,whothesubsequentsamplingwascontingenton.thus,thesamplingfor thisstudycommencedwithtwoinitialcontactswithwhichexploratoryinterviewswereheld;oneof thesetwointervieweesprovidedalistofindividualswithinthepopulation.furtheron,interviewees inthepopulationprovidedfurthercontacts. Theory oriented research Explorationof theoryfor finding propositions Explorationof practicefor confirmingrelevance ofproposition Propositionavailable (pathtaken) Explorationof practiceforfinding propositions Propositionnotavailable (pathnottaken) Figure4:Researchdesignflowchart(adaptedfromDulandHak(2008) 19

26 3.5 ResearchMethods Employingaqualitativestrategyimpliesthatthemethodsusedforthisstudyweremainlyofa qualitativenature.theonequalitativeresearchmethodwasthesemistructuredinterview;itis explainedalongwithadescriptionofhowtheywereconductedinthefollowingsubsections SemistructuredInterview Semistructuredinterviewsareawidelyutilizedmethodinqualitativeresearch.Sincetheycover questionsrelatingtospecifictopics,whichareaskedinasimilarmannertoallintervieweesinthe sample,theyprovidereasonablecomparabilityofresponses.atthesametime,theflexibilityofsemi structuredinterviewsalsoallowsfornewaspectstobediscussedastheyemergeinthecourseofan individualinterview.furthermore,emergingaspectscanbecarriedovertosubsequentinterviews. Theemphasisofqualitativeinterviewsingeneralistocapturetheviewoftheintervieweesrelating tothetopic(bryman&bell,2011). Inthecaseofthisthesis,semistructuredinterviewsweregivenpreferenceoverunstructured interviewsbecausetherewasafairlyclearfocus,thusallowingtheresearcherstoaddressmore specificissues.also,semistructuredinterviewsallowfornewthemestoemergethatmaybe consideredimportantbytheinterviewees.thus,thismethodwaschosenratherthanstructured interviewsbecausetheywereconsideredtoorigid.thirteeninterviewswereconductedoverthe phonewithintervieweeslocatedeitherinindiaoringermany,whiletheresearcherswerebasedin Sweden.Anadditionalthreerespondentswereinterviewedinpersonduringtheresearchers visitof thesoftwarecodevelopmentlabsinindia.ofatotalofsixteeninterviews,fourteenwereconducted withbothresearcherspresent,withusuallyoneleadingtheinterviewandtheothertakingnotesand askingadditionalquestionsastheyarose.further,allinterviewswererecordedandtranscribed within24hoursoftheinterview.theroutineemployedforinterviewtranscriptionswasthateach researchertranscribedonehalfoftheinterviewandthencrosscheckedthetranscriptionofthe otherhalfinordertoensurethequalityofthetranscription.inthreecases,oneresearcher transcribedanentireinterviewwhichwassubsequentlycheckedbytheotherresearcher. 3.6 DataCollection Asbrieflymentionedabove,thedatacollectionforthisstudystartedwithtwoexploratoryinterviews withdtexpertsatsoftwareco,oneinindiaandoneingermany.theseexploratoryinterviews servedtwopurposes;onebeingtonarrowthetopicofthestudyandthesecondwastoprovide somecontextualinformationaboutthecaseintermsoftheorganizationanditspractices.thesetwo exploratoryinterviewsweresemistructured,andthesecondonewasfoundedonthefirst.while theseinitialinterviewsmainlyinformedtheresearchersaboutthecontextandbackgroundofthe case,knowledgewasalsogainedthatcontributedtowardsaddressingtheresearchquestion. Therefore,someaspectsoftheexploratoryinterviewsarealsoincludedintheresultspresentedlater oninthisthesis. Followingtheexploratoryinterviews,aseriesofsemistructuredinterviewswasconductedwithPOs andsmsthatmatchedthecriteriaforthestudy spopulation.intotal,fourteenoftheseinterviews wereheldwiththreerespondentslocatedingermanyandtheothereleveninindia.moreover, preliminaryfindingswerepresentedtoanddiscussedwithagroupofdtstakeholdersatthe SoftwareCodevelopmentlabsinIndia.Theoutcomefromthediscussionsservedasatriangulation means. 20

27 3.6.1 InterviewGuide Interviewguideswereusedandcomplementedwithadhocquestionsasneededforboththe exploratoryandprimarydatacollectioninterviews.bynecessity,theguidesfortheexploratory interviewsdifferedconsiderablyfromthosefortheactualdatacollectionbecauseadifferentgoal waspursuedineachphase.eventheinterviewguidesforthetwoexploratoryinterviewswere similaronlytoalimitedextentbecausethesecondlargelyevolvedfromthefindingsofthefirst interview. Theinterviewguidefortheprimarydatacollectionevolvedsomewhatafterthefirstinterviewwas held,butnomajorchangesweremade.thefinalinterviewguideisincludedintheappendixandis representativeforthemajorityoftheprimarydatacollectioninterviews,albeitexactphrasingand theorderofquestionsdifferedbetweeninterviews. Whendesigningtheinterviewguides(forbothphases),recommendedguidelinesregardingtheorder ofquestions,typeofquestionsandamountofquestionswereadheredto.withrespecttothe creationofsemistructuredinterviewguides,brymanandbell(2011)providethefollowing recommendations,whichwereadoptedbytheresearchers:logicalflowinorderofquestions, avoidingleadingquestions,languagethatiseasilyunderstoodbytheintervieweesbutnottoo simple,questionsweredesignedinawaythattheycaninformtheresearchquestionwithoutbeing toospecific.theguidewasstructuredintofiveoverallsectionsasfollows: 1. Introductionoftheresearchersandthestudy,assuranceofanonymity 2. Factualquestionsaboutprofessionalexperience 3. PerceptualquestionsaboutDT 4. PerceptualquestionsabouttherolebeforeandaftertheintroductionofDT 5. Concludingsectionwithanopportunityfortheintervieweestoraiseissuesrelatedtothe topicsthatwerenotcoveredduringtheinterview Eachsectionwasstructuredsuchthatquestionswerearrangedindecreasingorderofimportance, flowedfrommorefactualtomoreperceptualquestions,andalsoprogressedfromopentowards specificquestions.thisstructuringwasdoneaccordingtotheperceptionoftheresearchers,which maynotnecessarilyreflectthatofinterviewees.furthermore,compromiseshadtobemadewhere e.g.perceptualquestionsweredeemedveryimportant.inordertokeeptheinterviewsflexible,the exactquestionsandtheirordervariedtosomeextentbetweenindividualinterviews;also, spontaneousfollowupandprobingquestionswereaskedastheyaroseduringacourseofan interview.theinterviewguidewasreviewedandpretestedwiththisthesis supervisoratthecenter forbusinessinnovation,chalmersuniversityoftechnology DataAnalysis ThecollecteddatawerecodedandanalyzedusingtheonlinesoftwareDedoose(SocioCultural ResearchConsultants,2013).Thisparticularsoftwarewaschosenbecauseitallowedrealtimeonline collaborationbetweentheauthorsandwasavailablefreeofchargeforalimitedtime.allinterview transcriptswereimportedintothesoftwareandcodeswereappliedtorelevantexcerpts.thefirst toplevelcodesection Profile&PerceptionofDT containsresponsesthatwereusedtobuilda contextandgeneralunderstandingoftheinterviewees backgroundandperceptionofdt.thecodes underthesecondtoplevelcodeof DifferencesbetweenDTandLSD specificallyaddressthemain differencesidentifiedintheliteraturethatconstitutethetheoreticalframework,andresponses 21

28 withinthesecodeswereusedtoaddresstheresearchquestion.thethirdtoplevelcode Challenges wasusedtoidentifyresponsesthataddressedpracticalchallengesthatwerementionedbythe respondentstoarisefromtheintegrationofdtwithlsdandscrum.thecodestructureispresented below. Profile&PerceptionofDT Definition Opinion Mostimportantaspect Roles&responsibilities DifferencesbetweenDTandLSD(addressesresearchquestion) Enduserempathyvs.customersatisfaction Visualizingvs.backlogs Synthesisvs.wasteelimination IntegrationChallenges 3.7 QualityCriteria Qualitycriteriaareofparticularconcerninquantitativeresearch.Regardingqualitativeresearch,no clearconsentappearstoexistamongstresearchersabouttherelevanceorexactdefinitionof reliability(bryman&bell,2011).nonetheless,themainqualitycriteriapertainingtotheconducted studyarediscussedinthefollowingsubsections.indetaildescribedareissuesofthestudy s reliabilityandvarioustypesofvalidity Reliability Inageneralsense,reliabilityinthecontextofaresearchstudyisreferredtoaswhetheritsresults arerepeatable.reliabilityforqualitativestudiescanbeconsideredtobeeitherexternalorinternal. Externalreliabilityreferstotheextentastudycanbereplicatedandinternalreliabilityisconcerned withthelevelofagreementamongstresearcherswithinateamregardingtheirobservations(bryman &Bell,2011). Theresearchersacknowledgethat,duetothenatureofthecasestudy,theexternalreliabilityisvery low.despitethisawareness,therewaslittlethoughthatcouldbedonetoimprovetheexternal reliability.thisisowedtothetransientnatureofthesocialsettingthatwasstudiedataparticular pointintimeandthesinglecaseapproach.areplicationofthestudywiththesamesamplewilllikely yielddifferentresultsbecausetherespondentswillhavemadeadditionalexperiencesregardingthe researchtopicwhichalmostinvariablychangetheirperception.nonetheless,theclearresearch questionandsystematicapproachshouldimprovetheexternalreliabilityasmuchaspossible,given thecircumstances. Inaddressingtheinternalreliability,thepairofresearchersdiscussedimmediatelyaftereach interviewthemainpointscoveredandimpressionsreceived.documentingthemainpointsofthese discussionsensuredacommonviewpointoftheoutcomeofeachinterview,especiallyforlater analysis Validity Validityisconcernedwiththeintegrityoftheoutcomeofresearchstudies,andvarioustypesof validityexistwhichshouldbeaddressedforanybusinessresearchstudy. 22

29 Measurement/constructValidity Measurementorconstructvalidityisofprimaryconcernforquantitativestudiesandrefersto whethercorrectoperationalmeasureswerechosenformeasuringaparticularconcept.possible waystoimprovetheconstructvalidityaretoutilizemultiplesourcesofevidence(triangulation)and haverespondentsreviewtheresearchfindings(bryman&bell,2011).theresearchersinthisstudy attemptedbothmethodstoimprovetheconstructvalidity.however,duetothescopeofaccess grantedtothecase,nootherinformationsourcethanpersonalinterviewscouldbesecured. Furthermore,owingtotimerestrictionsbothfortheresearchersandtherespondents,validationby theintervieweescouldnotbesecuredbeforethefinalizationofthestudy. InternalValidity Internalvalidityreferstothevalidityofafoundcausalrelationshipinquantitativeresearch,i.e. whetheranassumedindependentvariablecauseschangeinthedependentvariable(bryman&bell, 2011).Sincethisstudywasexploratoryonlyandqualitativeinnature,nodependenciesbetween variablesweredevised.therefore,internalvalidityinthissenseisofnoconcernforthisthesis. Inparticularforqualitativeresearch,internalvaliditycanbeviewedasthelevelofagreement betweentheoreticalconceptsandobservationsmade.internalvalidityviewedinthiswaycanbe improvedbyprolongedexposureoftheresearchersamongstthesubjectsbeingstudied(bryman& Bell,2011).Whilstundoubtedlydesirable,thisexposuretoincreaseinternalvaliditywasnotfeasible duetothespatialseparationoftheresearchersandtheactualsocialsettingofthestudy. ExternalValidity Theconceptofexternalvalidityaddressesthegeneralizabilityofthestudyoutsideitsspecific context.externalvaliditycantypicallybeenhancedbyusingrepresentativesamples,whichrequires carefulsamplingtechniques.forqualitativeresearch,theexternalvalidityisusuallyweakduetothe useofcasestudiesandsmallsamples(bryman&bell,2011).thisweaknessappliesequallytothe casestudypresentedinthisthesisbecauseoftherelativelysmallsamplesize,anditsunique contextualsetting.butsincethestudyisexploratory,thegoalisnotforthefindingstobe generalizablebutratherserveasafirststeptowardsamorethoroughinvestigationofthetopic. Further,intheviewoftheresearchers,thisstudycouldserveasonepartinalarger,comparative casestudyforwhichtheresultswouldachieveahigherexternalvalidity. EcologicalValidity Theecologicalvalidityofaresearchstudyisconcernedwiththeapplicabilityofitsfindingsto people severydayreality.ecologicalvalidityistypicallycompromisedbyresearchersinterferingwith theirrespondents naturalenvironmentorroutines(bryman&bell,2011).wecannotaccurately assesstowhatextenttheinterviewscarriedoutforthisstudyhaveaffectedthenaturalsettingsthe intervieweesnormallyworkin,sincewedonotknowwhattheyare.however,sincetheinterviews wereexclusivelyconcernedwithpastexperiencesandtherespondentswereguaranteedanonymity, webelievethattheecologicalvalidityhasnotbeennegativelyaffectedbyourresearchdesignand methods. 4 EmpiricalResults Theempiricalresultspresentedherearethesummarizedfindingsfromtwoexploratoryinterviews andelevensemistructuredinterviewswithposandsms.theexploratoryinterviewsarepresented 23

30 separatelybecauseeachcoveredslightlydifferenttopics,andthesecondinterviewbuiltonthe findingsfromthefirst.theremainderofthechapterispresentedaccordingtothestructured analysisandcodingstructurepresentedinsection3.6.2andincludesaggregatedfindingsfromthe sampleofposandsms. 4.1 Exploratory AninitialexploratoryinterviewwasconductedwithaDTexpertfromSoftwareCo sconsulting organization.thisexperthasworkedasbothadtcoachandfacilitatoratsoftwarecoandisakey personintheimplementationofdtatthesoftwarecodevelopmentlabsinindia.thisfirst exploratoryinterviewwasconductedtogainanoverviewofdtactivitiesatsoftwarecoandtobuild ageneralfoundationofknowledgeonthetopic.asecondexploratoryinterviewwasheldwith anotherdtexpertwhoiscurrentlybuildingupadtteamatsoftwarecowhichwillbeprovidingdt consultancyservicestocustomerorganizations.thissecondinterviewwasconductedtofurther explorethetopicsandissuesthathademergedfromthefirstinterviewandtonarrowthefocusof theresearch,whichwasdeemedtoobroadafterthefirstinterview FirstExploratoryInterview TheDTexpertfirstconfirmedthattheDTprojectsincludedintherolloutwavesarecarriedoutin thedevelopmentorganizationofsoftwarecoonlybystatingveryclearlythat theprojectsarefrom thedevelopmentorganization,whereas Icomefromadifferentorganization,theconsulting organization.asaresult,thefocusoftheresearchwasnarrowedtoincludeonlythedevelopment organizationatsoftwarecoandspecificallyfocusonwave2dtprojectsthatwereconductedin eitherindiaorgermany. TheintervieweethenelaboratedontheteamstructureforDTprojectsthatwererunattheSoftware CodevelopmentlabsinIndia.Theteamsaretypicallycomposedofsixtosevenmemberswith varyingroles.theroleswerethenexplainedasbeing:developers,interactiondesigners,architect, SM,andPO.Inthewordsoftheintervieweetheteamsareassembledasfollows: thewaythey assembletheteamsnowis,theyhavesomedevelopers,somearchitects,someuserinteraction designers,sm,whichiscomingfromtheleanmethod,andthentheyhavethepoandsometimesthey mayusesomepeopleindevelopmentalso.normallythat showtheyassembletheteams. The intervieweethenexplainedthatthesmandthepotypicallytakeonmanagerialrolesonthe developmentteam: thesmiswhattheprojectmanageriscalledatsoftwarecoandthepoisthe productmanager. BasedonthisinsightthatthemanagersofdevelopmentteamsatSoftwareCoare termedsmandpo,thescopeoftheresearchwaslimitedtoconcernindividualsworkinginthese roles. Furthermore,theintervieweedescribedhowduringthesewavesSoftwareCohasboth traditional projects anddtprojectsthatareworkedonsimultaneouslybydevelopmentstaffmembers; they havetheirdayjobandresponsibilitiesandduties.dtisanadditionaltaskgiventothem,and thereforetheyaretryingtodoboth. Itwasthenexplainedthatthetraditionalprojectsare requirementbasedandrunaccordingtothelsdapproach: traditionalsoftwaredevelopment projectsarerequirementbased.therearesomerequirementscomingfromthecustomers,whichare thentakenasspecificationsbysomepeoplesomewhereatsoftwarecoandthosespecificationscome toindiaandherethedevelopersandarchitectsworktogetherandwritethecodeinthelean method. DTontheotherhandwasstatedasbeingaverydifferentapproachtorunaproject, DTis 24

31 completelyexperimental.weknowthetopicbutwedon tknowtherequirementssotheyhavetogo exploreandgoandmeettheusersdotheresearchwiththeusers. Thiscomparisonandthestated differencesconfirmedthattheproposedtopicofthisstudy,thecombinationoflsdanddt,was relevantandworthwhileinvestigating. Overall,thisfirstexploratoryinterviewintroducedhowDTprojectsarerunatSoftwareCoand helpedtonarrowthefocusoftheresearch.thefindingsaresummarizedbelow. 1. Thisintervieweewasabletoprovidedirectaccesstodevelopmentteammanagerswhowere involvedinwave2dtprojectsatthesoftwarecodevelopmentlabsinindia.theseprojects hadbeenrunningforaboutoneyearandhencetherewouldbeampledatatobegathered; moreover,sincetheprojectswerejuststartedinthebeginningof2012theywerestill relevantandfreshinthememoryofprospectiveindividualsinthestudy spopulation. 2. TheseprojectswereprimarilyconductedinIndiaandGermanyandthusthedatacollection wouldbelimitedtothesetwolocations. 3. ThemostimportantlearningwasthatthesoftwaredevelopmentteamsatSoftwareCoare composedaccordingtothescrummethodwithposandsmsastheteammanagers.this helpedtofurtherdevelopthespecificmangerroleasthisthesis perspective. 4. ThereisadistinctdifferencebetweenDTprojectsandtraditionalprojectsatSoftwareCo. ThetraditionalprojectsarerunaccordingtotheLSDapproach,whichareconsideredvery differentthanthewave2projectsthatusedt.thiswasinterestingsinceposandsmsare requiredtoworksimultaneouslyonbothtypesofproject.therefore,itwasdecidedthatthis researchwouldinvestigatethedifferencebetweenlsdanddtapproachesfromthe perspectiveofposandsms SecondExploratoryInterview ThesecondexploratoryinterviewwasconductedwithaDTexpertatSoftwareCowhoworkson diffusingdtatsoftwarecointoareasoutsideofsoftwaredevelopment.thisindividualgave credencetohowdtisbeingusedatsoftwarecoinareasoutsideofsoftwaredevelopmentbystating SoftwareCohasalotofdifferentdesignthinkerswithinit,globally.AndwehaveaDTinitiative comingfromthesalesforcetribe,we regettingitfromteamswhoaredevelopingcustomsoftware forourcustomersandit snotonlyforproductdevelopmentwhichthecentralinitiativewassetupto do. Since,asdescribedbythisexpertonthematter,DTcanbeuseddifferentlyinamultipleof differentsettings,itwasveryimportantforthisresearchtofocusonasingledepartmentinorderto generateaspecificcontribution.sincethecombinationoflsdanddtwasconsideredtobeofmost interest,theproductdevelopmentdepartmentwasselectedasthefocusforthisthesis. TheintervieweethenexplainedthedistinctionbetweenLeanandAgileatSoftwareCo,aswellas mentioningthatmostprojectsarerunaccordingtotheseapproachesratherthandt.whenasked whethermost,ifnotallprojectsatsoftwarecoarerunaccordingtolean,agileandscrumprinciples, theresponsewas: That strue.iwasafraidyouwouldsaythatallprojectsarerunaccordingtodt principles andthatwouldnotbetrue. TheintervieweeexplainedthedistinctionbetweenLeanand Agileas youhavetomakeadifferencebetweenagile,whichis,weusescrumasanagile methodology,andlean.leanhasmuchmoreofthecomponentofhowpeopleworktogetherand trustonteamsandnotjustonupper/middlemanagement. Furthermore,therespondentclarified thatdtisnotseenasareplacementtoleanandagile,butshouldbemoreseenasanaddition,...i 25

32 wouldbeverycautiousnottopromotedtassomethingcompletelynewanddifferent,sothatpeople don tgoohmygodwe vegottothrowouteverythingwejustlearnedandnowstartnew,butthere arealotofsimilaritiesthatyoucanuse. TheintervieweeproceededtohypothesizethatitmightbemorechallengingforPOsthanSMsto adapttodt.underlyingthishypothesisisthatposhavehistoricallybeenresponsiblefortheproduct andhaveahardertimetakingastepbacktomentororfacilitatethedtprocessthatinvolvesa sharedteamresponsibilityfortheproduct.inarguingforsmsbeingmoreequippedtorunadt projecttheintervieweemadethecommentthat SMsarelesspartial.Theycanbemore,theycanI thinkfacilitate;itistheclassicproblemofbeingafacilitatorandparticipateatthesametime.sms tendtomonitorandsupporttheprocessratherthanfeelresponsibleforproductsthatare happening. ThesecommentshelpedtoemphasizetheimportanceonunderstandingtheroleofPOs andsmsondtprojects.therewasaclearindicationthattherolesgivenfromthebackgroundinlsd hadaneffectonhowdtprojectsaremanagedbytheindividualsfillingtheseroles. AninterestingaspectconcerningWave2projectswasbroughtforwardbythisintervieweethatin statingthattheywereconductedinbothindiaandgermany.thedtexpertreferredtoaclassical probleminwhich wehavepeopleingermanythatfeelresponsiblefortheproductandtheninindia wehaveavery,verylarge,puredevelopmentorganization.justbecauseoftimeandcostitishardto createprojectsthatinvolveeveryone. ThisimpactofhavinganoffshoredevelopmentteaminIndia workingondtprojectswherethedifferentstakeholdersareinanothercountrywasseenasa significantissueintheimplementationofdt.however,giventhescopeandaccessforthisresearch theseissuesofculturaldifferences,althoughpotentiallysignificant,werenotconsideredthefocusof thisstudy.however,intermsofwasteeliminationandcustomerinvolvement,thespatialseparation issuewasexploredinalogisticalcontext. Finally,thisDTexpertbroughtuptwoprobablechallengesforScrumteammanagersconcerningDT anditscombinationwithlsdandscrumbysayingthat POshaveaveryclearideaintheirheadof whattheyexpectandwhattheywouldlikethesolutiontobe;partofdtistoinvolvemorepeople withdifferentbackgroundsinthatdefinitionphaseandbecauseyouhaveapowhoisusedtohave theresponsibilityfordefiningtheproductitisveryhardforhimorhertogobacktotheteamand stayopenmindedandinvolveeveryoneopenly.ithinkthatisononehandarealproblem.ithinkthe otherproblemthatwehaveisthatagileandscrumistheretooptimizehowfastweproduce somethingwithquality. WhilethefirstpartofthisstatementdirectlyaddressedchallengesforPOs, thelatterpartabouttheoptimizationwasinterpretedtobemoreapplicabletosmsbecausethey areconcernedwithefficiencyandexecution.therefore,thisstatementsubstantiatedtheresearch directiontostudythecombinationoflsdanddtfromtheperspectiveofbothposandsmssince thepotentialchallengesidentifiedintheliteraturereviewtothemwasconfirmedbythis interviewee SummaryofExploratoryInterviews ThesetwoexploratoryinterviewshelpedtonarrowthefocusofthisresearchtofocusonDTfromthe perspectiveofposandsms.bothposandsmswerehypothesizedbythetworespondentstoface challengesrelatedtotheimplementationofdt.moreover,itwaslearnedthattheprojectsat SoftwareCousedtobeprimarilybasedonLSDprinciplesandtheAgilemethodScrum,andthatwith theintroductionofdttherewasanadditionratherthanreplacementeffect.finally,theidea 26

33 emergedthathavingaspatialseparationbetweencustomers,endusers,anddtteamscouldbe problematic.althoughtheremaybeaculturalaspectassociatedtothespatialseparationthecultural aspect,culturaldifferencewasdecidedtobeoutsideofthescopeofthisstudy. ThefollowingsectionspresenttheempiricalfindingsthatweregatheredfrominterviewingbothSMs andposconcerningtheintegrationofdtwithlsdandscrum.theseinterviewsweremotivatedby theoutcomeofthetwoexploratoryinterviewsandtheliteraturereview. 4.2 ProfileofProductOwnerandScrumMaster IneachsemistructuredinterviewthatwasheldwithbothPOsandSMs,informationwascollectedto gainabetterunderstandingoftheirrolesandresponsibilitiesforsoftwaredevelopmentprojectsat SoftwareCo RolesandResponsibilities Ingeneral,aScrumteamatSoftwareCowasdescribedascomprisingfiveoverallroles:PO,SM, Architect,Quality,andDevelopers.Anintervieweestatedthat wehavethesethreeorithink overallfiverolesinsideascrumteam.oneisthesm,theotheristhepo,thirdbeingthearchitect, thereisalsoapersoninvolvedonthequalityside,thatisthefourthrole,andofcoursetheregular developers.soeveryteaminsoftwareco,everyscrumteaminsoftwarecowillhavethesefive roles. However,anotherintervieweestatedthatonaScrumteamthe PO,UIdesigner,and Architecttheyarethekeypeople. Thisintervieweeidentifiedanewrole,UIdesigner,whichcouldbe consideredtobeoutsidethefivepreviouslymentionedscrumteamroles,showingthatthereistoa degreesomeambiguityandflexibilityontheroleswithinascrumteamatsoftwareco.however,all intervieweesincludedbothapoandsmwhendescribingascrumteamandtheserolesarethefocus ofthedatacollection. ScrumMaster ThemainresponsibilityofaSMonLSDprojectsatSoftwareCoconcernsthedailyexecutionofthe project.oneintervieweeplainlydescribedthisrolebystating Executionismyresponsibilityasa SM,whileanotherintervieweeechoedthisthoughtbystatingthatforaSM.thefocusismoreor lessontheexecutionpart,meetingthedeliverables,gettingitvalidatedwiththecustomersatthe end. ThissamethoughtwasstatedagainbydescribingtheroleofSMas theroleistodeliver, execute,andmeetallthetimelines,theprocesseswithinsoftwareco,andalsovalidationwith customersattheend. Intermsofthebacklog,whichcontainstherequirementsfortheproject,theSMs responsibility involvesexecutingthebacklogbydeliveringtherequirementswithininacertaintimeframe,usually asprint.however,thesmdoesnothavemuch,ifany,involvementingatheringtherequirementsor creatingthebacklog.asmstatedthisbysaying Forme,IjustknowthereisabacklogandIhaveto getitdeliveredfromtheteambythisdate. Therefore,theSMs responsibilitiesincludedelivering therequirementsinthebacklogbutnotdefiningorgatheringthem.additionally,thesmis responsibleforvalidatingtheserequirementsandresultingsoftwarereleaseswiththecustomerat theendofasprint,butthisresponsibilitydoesnotincludequestioningiftheserequirementsarethe rightrequirementsfortheproject. 27

34 Overall,theroleofSMonLSDprojectsisbestdescribedasbeingaprocessgatekeeperforthe project.anintervieweeconciselystatedthisbysaying, TheSMroleisbasicallylikeaprocessgate keepertryingtoensureeverythingisplace,andthereissmoothfunctioningoftheteam. Atitscore,theroleandassociatedresponsibilitiesofaSMforsoftwaredevelopmentprojectsat SoftwareCodoesnotseemtochangedrasticallywiththeintroductionofDT.However,therewere stillsomenotablechangesinthesmrole.thesechangesweregenerallyseeninthebeginningofa projectwithlessofanimpactinthelaterimplementationorexecutionphases.thisisbecausewith theintroductionofdt,theoverallstructureofthescrumteamshiftedbybecominglesshierarchal andmoredemocraticinnature.theshifttoamoredemocraticteamisdescribedbyaninterviewee as,...withdt,allofusdidthecustomerinterviews,allofusunderstoodtheproblem,wewereallat thesamelevelwhenalltheproblemshadbeenidentified. Anotherintervieweesupportedthis perceptionbystating: Alltherolesarethesamehere(DT).Youjustgotothecustomerortheend userandcollecttherequirements,thencomebackwhereyouallsittogether,brainstorm,dothe ideationphase,comeupwiththedesignyourselfandthenimplementit.soyou llbeonthesame page,theentireteamwillbeonthesamepage. ThisideathatintroducingDTchangedtheoverall structureofthescrumteamfromateamwithindividualsiloedresponsibilitiestoamoredemocratic teamwithoutspecificroleswasacommonthemegivenbyallinterviewees. ThischangetoamoreflatteamstructurewithoutdefinedrolesimpactedtheroleofSMbywidening hisorherresponsibilitiestoincludejobsoutsideofexecutionanddelivery.anintervieweeillustrated thischangebystating butwithdtithinkithaschanged.youarepartoftheteam,youarealready doingit,youarecollectingtherequirementsyourselfbyobservingthem(endusers),youare validatingitwiththemasasmalso,andyoumeettheendusers. Anotherintervieweeemphasized thisstatementbysaying asasm,ijustknowthereisabacklogandihadtogetitdeliveredfromthe teambythisdate.thatisallthatusedtomattertome(beforedt),butnowiknowinlengthand breadththeentirebackloganditsbackground. ItisclearfromthesequotesthatSMs responsibilitiesdidnotsomuchchangebutinsteadwerewidenedbyparticipatingindefiningthe problemstatement,bybeinginvolvedinthecollectingofrequirements,aswelltheideationinthe beginningphasesofthesoftwaredevelopmentproject. ProductOwner ThemaindutyofaPOonLSDprojectswasdescribedasbeingresponsiblefortheoverallcontentand productintheproject.thishighlevelresponsibilitywasdescribedbyanintervieweeas our(po) role,asweunderstand,isthatweareoverallresponsiblefortheproduct,soyouhavealotof problems,youneedtoliveuptoacertaintime,youneedtodeliveracertainscope,youneedtotake careofyourbudget,youneedtoconvincecustomerstobuyit. Anotherintervieweeemphasizedthis statementbysaying I(PO)amnotalinemanager.AtSoftwareCowehaveaseparation,sopeople arecontentresponsibleandotherpeoplearepeopleresponsible Iamresponsibleforthecontentfor theteam. Ittermsofthebacklogandrequirements,thePOinLSDprojectsissolelyresponsibleforworking withboththeinternalandexternalstakeholderstocreatethebackloganddefinetherequirements butdoesnothaveadailyexecutionresponsibilityofthebackloglikethesm.anintervieweestated thisbysaying: APOisresponsibleformakingthebacklogitemsfortheproduct forthe development,andtoclarifytherequirementsandallthisstuff.butgenerallythepoisnotreally 28

35 responsibleforthedaytodayexecution. Thisbacklogresponsibilityisdescribedinanotherwayby anintervieweeas: SoIamalsoresponsiblefordefiningthesocalledbacklog;soIamdefiningwhat needstobedone,andneedstobecontrolled,whathappensafteritsdone,ifwhattheteamisdoing fitstoacustomerneed,andbeingoverallresponsiblefortheproduct thatismyrole. Overall,the leadershipofapoonascrumteamcanbedefinedintermsoftheirresponsibilityofdefiningthe requirements,creatingthebacklog,andpassingthisontothemembersofthescrumteam.an intervieweesupportedthisstatementbysaying leadership,fromsaythepo,isintermsofhaving thefunctionalknowledgeandgivingtherequirements. ThePO,overall,hasahighlevelresponsibilitybyhavingownershipoftheproductandcontent,or essentiallythefunctionalknowledgefortheentirelsdproject.itisthepo sresponsibilitytocreate anddefinethebacklogthatwillbethengiventothescrumteamtoexecuteanddeliverinthe sprints.thepoinalsdprojectatsoftwarecowasthesolepersonthatworkedwithinternaland externalstakeholdersincludingcustomerstodefinetheproblemstatementandwhatrequirements areneeded,butthissoleresponsibilityshiftedwiththeintroductionofdt. ThisshiftinresponsiblywiththeintroductionofDTappearedtobeimpactthePOrolethemostby onsoftwaredevelopmentprojects.thepo scoreresponsibilityfortheoverallproductandcontent didnotchangebutduetothepreviouslymentionedshiftinthescrumteams structure,theporole wasimpactedsinceresponsibilitiessuchasgatheringrequirementschangedfrombeingtheirsole responsibilitytoasharedresponsibilitywiththeintroductionofdt.bothposandsmsinterviewed acknowledgedthisshiftbystating: ifsomeone sroleisimpactedthemostiwouldimageitisthe PO and itisafundamentaldifferencebecauseintheearlierprojects(lsd)i,thepo,wasthesingle pointofcontact..butheretheentireteamisequallyresponsibleforgettingtherequirements. AnotherintervieweestatedthatthePOcouldbethebottleneckinLSDsoftwaredevelopmentproject becausetheywerethesinglecontactforthescrumteamtoclarifytherequirements,butthis changedindtsince everybodyisatthesamelevel,thereisn tthisknowledgegap. Moreover,theresponsibilityofworkingwithexternalstakeholderssuchascustomersorendusersto determinetherequirementsforthebackloginlsdprojectsintermsofthescrumteamrestedsolely withpos.withtheintroductionofdtinteractionwithexternalstakeholdersbecameasharedscrum teamresponsibility.anintervieweestatedthat, withdt,allofusdidthecustomerinterviews,allof usunderstoodtheproblem,wewereallatthesamelevelwhenalltheproblemshadbeenidentified. SotherewasnonecessityforthePOtoexplaintheproblemstatementandrequirementsandgetthe buyinfromthedevelopmentteam,itwasalreadythere. Anotherintervieweestated: Butwhathas changedisthattheoneswhoparticipateindtasateam,allthepeoplewhoarepartoftheteam, theymoreorlessunderstandtherequirementsorwhatneedstobebuiltintothesolution.it s becauseeverybodywasinvolvedinthecustomerinterviewsandsoon,sotheyreallyunderstandwhat thecustomerislookingfor.previouslythiswasonlyknowntothepo. Sincethiswasoneofthecore responsibilitiesthatbelongedtothepoinlsdprojectsintermsofthescrumteam,aninterviewee evendescribedtheeffectofthisshiftinresponsibilitytomeanthat everybodyismoreorless,i wouldliketoputit,sayinasmallwayapobecauseweunderstandtherequirementsourselves. SummaryofRolesandResponsibilities Insummary,theroleoftheSMsdidnotchangesignificantlywiththeintroductionofDT,butsome differenceswerenotedasshownintable4.inlsdonly,thesmswereconcernedonlywiththe 29

36 projectexecution,deliveryofbacklogitemsandvalidationofsoftwarereleaseswithcustomers.with theadditionofdt,thesms dutiesexpandedtoalsoincludeinvolvementinproblemdefinition, ideationandrequirementcollection. PriortoDT,POsweretheonlyteammemberswhohadanoverallviewofthesoftwarethatwas beingdeveloped.assuch,poswereresponsiblefordefiningtheproblemstatementandcreatingthe productbacklogbasedonrequirementstheyhadpreviouslygatheredfromcustomers.furthermore, POswereinchargeofbeingthecommunicationlinkbetweentheScrumteamandother stakeholders.theroleofposshiftedsomewhatwiththeintroductionofdt;subsequently,theentire teamwasinvolvedincollectingtherequirementsfromendusersanddefiningtheproblem statement.hence,someofthepos responsibilitiesweredistributedtotheentireteam. AddingDTtoLSDprojectsalteredtheScrumteamsinsuchawaythatthestructurewasless hierarchicalanddecisionswereconsequentlymadeinamoredemocraticfashion.inlsdonly projects,eachteammemberhadclearlyassigneddutiesandtaskstocompletebutindtthishad changedtoaflatterstructurewithoutspecificroles,atleastduringthedurationofthedtphase. Table4:Summaryofrolesandresponsibilities ScrumMaster ProductOwner LSD LSD&DT LSD LSD&DT Problemdefinition Ideation Communicationlink between stakeholdersand Scrumteam Increasein interactionwith entirescrumteam andstakeholders Requirement collection Dailyprojectexecution Soleownershipfor overallproducton Scrumteam Stillownsproduct butmoreinputon decisionsfrom Scrumteam Deliveryofbacklogitems Definingproblem statement Increaseinsharingof responsibility Validationofsoftwarewithcustomers Creatingbacklog Increaseinsharingof responsibility 4.3 PerceptionofDT Inadditiontotheintervieweesprofileinformation,datawasgatheredconcerningthePOs andsms opinionofdtandwhattheyconsideredthemostimportantaspectofdtonsoftwaredevelopment projects DefinitionofDesignThinking IntervieweesdefinedtheirunderstandingofDTbyemphasizingtwocharacteristics:(1)usercentric and(2)problemfinding.theusercentriccharacteristicofdtwasrepeatedlymentionedby intervieweesbystatementssuchas DTisatechniquewhereinyoulookataproblemfromthe perspectiveoftheenduser and DTisaveryusercentricapproachanditalsogivesalotof importanceonbuildingquickprototypesandgettingitvalidated,sothereissufficienttimeto understandtheuser sperspectiveandtryingtobuildsomethingfortheusersandgetitvalidated fromthem,soifihavetoputitinoneworditisaveryusercentricandprototypedrivenapproach. 30

37 ThesecondprominentcharacteristicthatintervieweesmentionedwhenaskedtodefineDTwasits focusonunderstandingorfindingwhatproblemwastobesolvedratherthanexecutionoractually solvingtheproblem.forexample,oneintervieweestatedthat LSDismoreforexecutionandDTis moreforsolutionperspectivewhereyouhavetocomeupwithanideaandcomeupwiththesolution forit. Whileanotherstatedthat, Leanissomethingwhichismoreintoexecution,howyouare doingthings,howtodoit...dtismoreoflearningwhattodo. Yetanotherintervieweeeloquently describeddtas astructuredartwhereinyoucreativelytrytofindoutwhattodevelop. Overall, thesewerethetwomaincharacteristicsusercentricandproblemfindingthatemergedwhenasked todefinedt OpiniononDesignThinking Whenfirstasked,allintervieweesquicklyrespondedwithafavorableopinionofDTbutthiswasnot givenwithoutlatermentioninglimitationsandchallengesassociatedtotheapproach.thegenerally positiveopinionaboutdtrevolvedaroundcommentsthatpointedouthowdt(1)helpstosolvethe rightproblems,(2)increasesinnovativeness,and(3)decreasesstressinparticularforposthrough improvedcommunication,understandingandresponsibilitysharing. IntermsofhavingapositiveopinionbecauseDThelpstosolvetherightproblems,interviewees madecommentssuchas Ilovethistechniquebecauseitensuresyouaresolvingtheproblemthat theenduserswantyoutosolve,andnotsolvingitthewayyouthinkshouldbesolved and DTand Leancomplementeachother.LeanfocusesondoingthethingsrightandDTfocusesondoingthe rightthings. Intervieweesthathadpositiveopinionsduetotheincreaseininnovativenessmade commentslike Ifeelitisverygood.Ithelpsusinnovatebetterandit sawinwinsituation,bothto thedevelopmentandthecustomers. AnotherintervieweestatedtheyhadapositiveopinionofDT becauseithelpedtodecreasetheirstressandrelatedpressuresbysaying Ithinkitmakesmylifea littlebiteasier.firstofallthereislotsofknowledge,lotsoftalking,lotsofcustomercontacts,andlots ofexposuretotherealbusinessworld.andithinkthesearethegainsofdtformeapoandthiswas nottheresomuchbefore. AnotherintervieweehighlightedthisopinionbystatingthatDTnotonly decreasedthestressontheteambutincreasedtheproductivity: DTwiththerightmixofcreativity andworkthiswasalmostlikeastressbuster,weneverthoughtwewereworkingforsomemany hours,andthatithinkleadstoahighproductivityifeelbecausetheteamismotivatedandfullof enthusiasmthere. AfurthercontributionofDTtomakethePO sjobeasierarosefromimproved communicationandunderstanding,andbeingabletosharetheresponsibilityarounddefiningthe problemstatementsandcollectingtherequirements.oneintervieweestatedthat whatbecomes aloteasierisdefinitelythefactthatpeopleareclearoftherequirements.andoncepeopleareclear oftherequirements,thenalotofpressureistakenoffyou(po)andyoucanfocusonthenextsteps andthenext.sothatdefinitelyhelpsbecausethenthepressuredisreducedalotonthepo. Limitations Asmentionedabove,althoughtheoverallopinionofDTwasfavorable,manyintervieweessetfirm limitationsontheuseofdt.thelimitationsincludedthatdtmustbedoneintherightway,should notbeconsideredthesolutionforallproblems,andshouldbeusedforabstractratherthan mundaneproblems.thefirstlimitationmentionedisthatthedtmustbedoneintherightway. Intervieweesmadestatementssuchas Ithinkit sareallygoodapproachanditalwaysworksifitis followedtherightway,irrespectiveofthedomainitisappliedin and Iwouldsayitisveryhelpfulif youuseitintherightwaybutyoureallyneedtofindtherightstructureforthat. Anotherlimitation 31

38 tothegenerallypositiveopinionsaboutdtwasthatdtisgood,butitisnotforeverything. Intervieweesstatedthat DTisveryhelpfulbutitisnottheanswerforallquestionsthatwehavein thesoftwareindustry. Moreover,interviewees opinionofdtisgoodwhenitisusedinacontext wherethereareabstractratherthanmundaneproblems.forexample,oneintervieweesaidthat DT isreallynicewhennobodyknowswhattodo,whattheproblemactuallyis. Whileanother intervieweestatedveryplainlythat, itisveryimportantorveryhelpful,especiallyifyouhave abstractproblems. Therespondents opinionofdtwasbyandlargepositive,butlimitationsofthe suitabilityoftheapproachwerealsopointedout MostImportantAspectofDesignThinking IntervieweeswereaskedtostatewhattheyconsideredtobethemostimportantaspectofDTin relationtotheirrole.theoverwhelmingresponsetothisquestionwasthefocusontheendusers. Intervieweesclearlystatedthisbysaying, IthinkthemostimportantfeatureofDTisthatyouput theenduserinthepictureandthenyoustartlookingatthewholeprocessfromhisperspective. Also, itwasvalidationalsobythecustomerandendusers;thatisthemainimportantthinghere. Becauseusuallywhenwealsovisitcustomersinotherareasorinothermethodologies,wevisitthe customersandnottheendusers.hereitismainlyfocusingontheendusersandvalidatingwith them,and formethisisimportant,the360view. ItisclearthatbothPOsandSMsatSoftwareCo perceivedtheinteractionandcontactwiththeendusertobethecentralaspectofdt. 4.4 DesignThinkingvs.LeanSoftwareDevelopment Beforepresentingthespecificdatathatrelatedirectlytothetheoreticalframeworkgivenin Section2.6,higherleveldatatrendsthatemergedduringtheinterviewsarepresentedbelow. Oneinterestingobservationmadebytheintervieweeswasthemoredirectandhencefasterflowof informationbetweenthecustomeranddevelopersonthescrumteamaftertheintroductionofdt. IntheLSDprojects,communicationwasstatedtopassthroughthreeorfourinstancesbetweenthe developersandcustomers,butsincedtrequiredthedirectinteractionofinvolvedpersons,adirect linkwasestablishedtofacilitateanacceleratedinformationexchange.thisimprovementwasclearly expressedbyoneintervieweeas: theturnaroundtimewasnotverygood(inlsd),whereasindti writean directlytothebusinessuserandgetanansweroradocumentexplainingthebusiness process;soit skindoffaster.itappearsthattheshifttowardsuserempathy,whichnecessitates directcontactbetweenscrumteammembersandendusers,hascreatedtheadditionalbenefitof havingqueriesanswereddirectlyandfasterthaninlsdprojects.overall,thefocusonenduser empathyindtgeneratedabeneficialsideeffectintheformofshorteningtheresponsetimefor queriesbythescrumteam. Relatedtotheabovedataconcerningdirectcontactwithendusers,wasaclearpatternofpositive responseregardingthecommitmentofscrumteammemberstothedtproject.sincetheentire Scrumteamisinvolvedingatheringrequirementsfromtheenduser,allteammembershaveaclear understandingandbuyinveryearlyintheprocess,ratherthanhavingtobeconvincedofthe benefitsoftheirwork.thisviewwasexpressedas: thereisanimmediatebuyinfromthepoandthe developmentteam,theyalreadyknowthatthisisexactlytheproblemwhichthecustomerfacesand wehavetosolvethis.sothebuyinisbetterandimmediateinthecaseofdt.itissomemorework comparedtothetraditionalapproach(lsd)butitismoreeffective. Anotherintervieweedescribedit as: sinceihavebeeninvolvedfromdayonewhenthisparticulartopicevolvedandihaveinteracted, 32

39 Iknowthebackground,Iknowtheentirebacklog,soformeitiseasytounderstandwhatisgoingon anditreallygivesmegoodconfidence. FromtheperspectiveofbothSMsandPOs,thebenefitsof havingacommittedscrumteamatanearlystageoutweighthedrawbackofmoreresourcesand timeneededforgainingempathywiththeenduser. AnotherdifferencebetweentheLSDandDTapproachesthatemergedinthedatawasintermsof thepointintheprojectlifecyclewherecustomerfeedbackisreceived.customerfocuswas consideredimportantbothinlsdanddtbyinterviewees,butthepointoftimetoconsultcustomers differed.inlsd,thisoccurredaftereachsprintwithuseablesoftwarereleasesbutindtfeedback wasreceivedbeforeanyactualsoftwaredevelopmentoccurred: Wealsohavecustomerfocusin LSD,inthewaythatweprioritizethebacklog,inthewaythatwedocontinuousimprovement,inthe waythatwehaveauseablesoftwareaftereverysprint,andthengotothecustomer,comeback,and thingslikethat.sothefocusisthesame,butbuildingalowcostprototypeforearlycustomer validationissomethingwhichisdifferenthere. Itthusbecomesevidentthatthetimingofcustomer involvementandfeedbackhasbeenshiftedforwardwiththeintroductionofdtintolsdprojects. Fromahighlevelview,thedataindicatesthatwiththeintroductionofDTthereisastrongerfocus ontheenduserandtheentirescrumteamisactivelyinvolvedinthisempathizing. Insummary,theperceivedimprovementswiththeadditionofDTtoaLSDprojectareanimproved responsetimeforqueriestoandfromcustomersandusers,earlierandstrongercommitmentfrom allscrumteammembers,andearlierfeedbackfromcustomers.anoverallnegativeaspectofthe additionofdttoalsdprojectthatemergedfromtheinterviewswasthatdtrequiresmoretime andresourcestogaininitialunderstanding;however,thisdisadvantagewasconsideredtolerable whencomparedtothebenefits EndUserEmpathyvs.CustomerSatisfaction ItbecomesclearfromtheprevioussectionthatthefocusonenduserempathyinDThasprofound effects,evenonaspectsthatonthesurfaceseemunrelated.inthissection,theinterviewees responsesthataremorespecifictotheenduserempathyindtarepresentedandcontrastedwith thelsdprincipleofcustomersatisfaction. Terminology Oneparticularfindingthatemergedrelatestotheterminologyofenduserandcustomer.Someof therespondentsreferredtocustomersinitially,butafterfollowupquestionspromptedbythe interviewer,revisedtheirstatementsandconcededthatitwasactuallyenduserstheyreferredto. Somestatementsillustratethedifficultiesinexpressingthedifferences: InLSDyouarekindof,you aretalkingtocustomersinadifferentway.indtit skindofsimilarbutit samoreformalized approachiwouldsay. Anotherintervieweesaid butthemostimportantthingiamseeingoutofdt isthefocusoncostumer andstatedwithinthesameanswer,secondslater: SowithDTnowweare tryingtoputmorefocusontheenduser. Onthecontrary,anumberofotherrespondentswereveryclearonandstressedthedistinction betweenendusersandcustomers,suchasthefollowingresponses: Thereisreallyabigdifference betweencustomerandendusers and, itisveryimportanttoseparatebetweenthecustomer,and bycustomersimeantheprojectleadsandarchitects,andreallytheendusers. 33

40 AnotherrespondentseemedveryclearonthefocusofDT,butsomewhatconfusedaboutthe definitionofcustomerinlsd,aswasexpressedas: IthinkinLSDit scustomerasthecustomer.i thinkwealsohavesomeendusersprobably,andsomemightnotbetheendusers.butherewithdt itisstrictlyendusers. Inessence,theclarityinterminologyandmeaningappearedtobeslightlydifferingfrompersonto personbutafterprobingbytheinterviewertheresultwasquitedefiniteinthatfordt,enduser referstotheactualpeopleusingthefinalproduct.whereasthetermcustomerasusedinthelsd approach,canincludeanypersonthatisrepresentingtheorganizationwhomaypurchaseorusethe finalproduct. ContactPersons Afterclarifyingtheinitialdifficultiesinterminologyregardingenduserandcustomer,thefocus duringtheinterviewswasplacedonthedifferencesbetweentheenduserindtandcustomerin LSD,andwhetheranydifficultiesarosefromthese. IntheDTapproach,thetargetedcontactpersonismuchmorespecifiedinDTasexpressedbyone respondent: Moreorlessthesamepeople.ButwhathappensisthatinLSDyoudon tmindtalkingto theitguysofacustomer.butindtyoutrytoaccessendusers,sotherearesomedifferences. A secondintervieweeprovidedaverysimilarresponsebysaying earlierweusedtobasicallytalkto thebusinessusersortheitheadorthepersonresponsiblefortheproductdevelopmentdepartment andthingslikethat.butnowwe retryingtoreachoutto,sayoneleveldown,whichistheendusers whoareactuallyusingthesoftware. ItisclearfromtheseresponsesthatinDTthecontactpersonis specificallytheenduser. VerylittleoftheidentifiedtheoreticalmisalignmentgiveninSection2.6wasactuallyperceivedby theinterviewedposandsms.rather,beingincontactwithenduserswasanadditiontotalkingto the usualcustomers inlsd: DTbasicallyfocusesmoreontheenduserbutIdon tseearealconflict betweenlsdanddtinthatsense.youbasicallyfocusontheenduser,butattheendofthedayyou alsohavetodiscusswiththeotherstakeholders,liketheitguysatthecompanyandmaybeothers, likemanagementpeopleaswell. Alongtheselines,therewassomeadjustmenttobemadeinterms ofthecontactpersonbutnoconflictaroseoutoftheelementarydifferencesbetweendtandlsd. Asmentioned,communicatingwiththeenduserisseenmoreasanadditionalsteptogainadditional anddifferentinsights. OneintervieweementionedthesurpriseofenduserswhentheywerebeinginterviewedbyScrum teammemberstryingtocollectinformation.becausetheseendusersarenotaccustomedtotalkto developersofsoftwaretheyareusing,theirreactionwasdescribedas: Whyareyouaskingmethese questions?youarefromsoftwarecoyouneedtoknowwhatineed... Again,thisdoesnotrelateto anyadjustmentthepoorsmhastomakebutisoriginatingexternallyfromtheenduserbeing unfamiliarwithdt.althoughthisissuewasonlyexpressedexplicitlybyoneinterviewee,itisclosely relatedtothelargerproblemofgainingaccesstotheenduser,whichispresentedlateron. EndUserContactbeforeDesignThinking Anumberofrespondentsstatedthatitwaspartoftheirpreviouswayofworkingtobeincontact withspecificendusers,ratherthanjustunspecifiedcustomerstaff.inaway,theyclaimed,theywere doingdtbeforeitsformalintroductionatsoftwareco.astwointervieweesindependently 34

41 expressedquitebluntly, formethisismorelikecommonsense,soithoughti vebeendoingdtall thetime,and Ithinkthewholeprocessisnotnewtomebecausesincemanyyearswehavebeen lookingatwhattheendusersaredoing,sodtwasnotnewtome. However,theapproachismuch moreformalizedwiththeintroductionofdttolsdprojectsandseemstosimplifymattersforat leastonepo: IthinkwithDTitbecomesaloteasierbecausenowitisstructured. Eventhoughseveralinterviewees,POsinparticular,statedthattheyhadbeenincontactwithend usersduringdevelopmentprojectsrunaccordingtothelsdapproach,theyappreciatethestructure thedtapproachprovidestotheactivity.regardlessoftheeffortstogetintouchwithendusers weremadeinlsdordtapproaches,themostpronouncedproblemfacedbyallrespondentswasto gainaccesstotheactualenduserswhichispresentedinthenextsection. AccesstoEndUsers Therewascommonagreementofallintervieweesthatgettingaccesstotheenduserswasthemost difficultparttoachieveindt(alsoinlsd,ifenduserswereconsultedpreviously).althoughthe problemofaccesswasnotentirelynewtosomeofthem,itwasstatedtobemorepronouncedindt. Whereaspreviously,gainingaccesstoanycustomerrepresentativewasnoteasy,gettingaccessto veryspecificstaffamplifiedtheissue.thisisreflectedinthefollowingstatements: Gettingaccessto endusersisthechallengingpart,sodtisdefinitelymorechallenging. Also, itisnoteasytogetthe rightpeopleonthetableatthecustomer,thecustomer sitdepartmentusuallyblocksthatbecause theywouldfirstliketounderstandifwhatyouwouldliketodiscusswithendusersissomething relevantforthemornot.soyouusuallyneedonemeetingtoconvincetheit;then,ifyouarestrong enoughyoucanaccesstheenduser.younevergodirectlytotheenduser. Anotherinterviewee statedthat alltheseendusershavedailyworkandtheydonotreallyhavealotoftime.especially thepeopleinthebusinessareaneedtodotheirdailybusiness,andthentodiscusswithaguyfrom SoftwareCohowtodothebestthing itisreallytoughtogetthesekindsofendusers. Thistypeof statementwasencounteredagainandagainthroughouttheinterviewingprocess,andsome respondentsevencontactedfriendsintheirpersonalnetworktogainaccess: Whatevercustomers wehavemetisthroughourpersonalcontacts,soafriendofmineisworkinginacompanysowehad toapproachhim,thatperson,togetaninterviewwiththeirendusers. WhilethisproblemofaccessisnotdirectlyrelatedtothetheoreticalmisalignmentofDTandLSD,it isapracticalchallengethatoriginatesfromthemisalignment.ithighlightsaverycommon,practical issuethatisbeingfacedbybothposandsmsonscrumteamsatsoftwareco. BenefitofEndUserContactoverCustomerContact Thewidespreaddifficultyofgettingenduseraccesscouldlogicallypromptthequestionofwhatthe actualbenefitisoftalkingwithenduserscomparedtotheusualcustomerrepresentatives. Interviewees,ingeneral,consideredtheendusercontactmorebeneficialbecausetheoutcomeis productsthataremoredesirableandultimatelyprovidemorevaluetoboththecustomerandend usersbyaddressingactualuserpainpoints.mostintervieweescouldnotyetjudgethesuccessof theirdteffortsintermsofmonetarymeasures;however,theirgeneralpositiveperceptionwas basedontheearlyandcontinuousfeedbackreceivedfrombothendusersandothercustomer representatives. Thisviewwasexpressedinanumberofstatementssuchas: Theotherpositivethatisquiteobvious isthatbecauseyouaretalkingtoendusers,youarerevalidatingwiththeendusers,thisensures 35

42 thatwhatyouaredevelopingisattheendwhatthecustomerswants,sothatbenefitisdefinitely there,or theygivemefeedbackonwhatihavedoneandwhatineedtodo,thenithinki monthe righttrack. Regardingtheactualcustomerproblemsasopposedtothecustomers perceived problems,theenduserpainpointsneedtobeunderstood: Itisveryimportanttohavethisenduser empathyalsoingrainedintotheprocesssomehow,sowedon tlosetheactualrequirement,orthe actualpainpoint,and understandingthecustomer spainpointismostimportant.becausethatis howyouprovetoyourselfthatyouarealwaysontherighttrack.andthatisthenextveryimportant thing,alwaysvalidating,buildingearlyprototypes,showingandvisualizing,toendusers. Also, gettingtothepainpointrequiresanalteredapproach: notaskinghimwhatdoeshewant,but ratheraskinghimwhatdoeshedowiththebusinessprocessandtryingtoevolvefromthereinto whatisitthatwouldaddresshispainpoint.sothemajordifferenceisnotaskingtheenduserwhat doeshewant,becausethenyougetawishlist,butrathertryingtoobserveandgaintheinsights. Anadditionalperceivedbenefitofbeingincontactwithendusersistheimprovedcommunication andassociatedreducedinformationloss,becausepreviously attheendofthedaywhatwewould deliverwasmaybejustsome70%ofwhatthecustomerrequired,becausetherewasvarious informationfilteringatvariouslevels. Whilethefilteringoccurredatbothsidesofthetable,theend usercontactcertainlyreducedsuchproblemsasexpressedin don talwaystrustwhattheitpeople tellyou,gototheenduser,andobservewhattheyaredoing.don talwaystrustthattheitpeople tellyouwhattheendusersaredoing. TeamEmpathizingRemotelyorinPerson AnotherdifferencenotedinDTcomparedtothepreviousLSDapproachwasthattheenduser empathyandunderstandingshouldbegainedinpersonbytheactualscrumdevelopmentteam. Previously,itcouldbeaSoftwareCorepresentativecollectinginformationandpassingittothe developmentteam;alternatively,someintervieweescollectedinformationfromendusers,but remotelyandinanonstructuredmanner.bothstrategieshaveshortcomingswhichwere,atleastto someextent,statedbyintervieweestobeeliminatedbydt. ThefirstissueofanSoftwareCorepresentativeexternaltotheScrumteamcollectinginformationis informationlossonthesoftwarecosideratherthanthecustomerside.anintervieweedescribed thislossinlsdas intheearlierdevelopmentmodel(lsd),thereisasolutionmanagementteamor somebodysomewherewhowouldgoandinteractwiththeenduser,dosomemarketresearchandlet thepoorsomebodyknowthatthisisarequirementandthisiswhatneedstobedone,andthenthe POwouldstartdrillingdownonthosetopics...ButwithDTtheteamgoesandtalkstopeopledirectly andtriestounderstandtheirconcerns,triestoobservehowtheyaredoingthings,whatisittheyare lackingormissing.thisdirectinteractionandobservationhelpseveryoneunderstandtheprocess, andeveryoneisonthesamepagewhenwecomeback,andwedon thavetostartalloveragain whenwetrytocreatebacklogsandrealizethesebacklogsintosolutions. Theoutcomeoftheco locatedempathizingbythedtteamappearstwofold;asmentionedpreviously,noinformationislost inthetransmissionandtheteambuyinispositivelyaffected,asisalsoreflectedbythisstatement: Butnoweverysinglepersonknowswhatthebenefitsthecustomerisgoingtogetoutofwhatheor sheisdeveloping.sothatisaverybig,veryniceadvantageofgoingoutandobservingtheend users. 36

43 Oneinterviewee,whowasincontactwithendusersbeforetheformalDTintroduction,mentioned that thebiggestdifferenceistheemphasisofdoingthisinperson.soeitherfacetoface,oratleast haveavideoconnectandhavethisdiscussion,whichbringsalotofhumanangletoit,thereforewe canseetheendusersandknow:ishehappy,ishenothappy. Inafewcasesintervieweesreported tohavehadnootheroptionthantogainenduserinsightsremotely,despitetryingtofollowaformal DTapproach.Thiswasanoutcomeofspatialseparationfromtheendusersandtravelbudget restrictions.inthesecases,dtwasseenasbeingfarlesseffective: welosttheempathywhenwedid itremotely.wehavetoactuallyseethem,talktothem.theyweredifferentwhenwemetthemin personthanonthephone.theyhadalotofthingstodiscussandtoshowwhenwewereinperson,it wasgood.wewereabletoobservethemwhichweweren tbefore. Ontheotherhand,anotherPO statedthenecessityofthisapproachas youdon thavethetravelbudget,youneedtomakeafew websessionsorcalls,andsoyouneedtohaveakindofpragmaticapproach. Ideallyallenduser researchisdoneinperson,butinrealityitmaynotbefeasible. Theseaccountshighlighttheimportanceofdoingtheenduserresearchinpersonandthatitisbeing donebythescrumteam,thepersonswhowillcreatetheproductfortheusers.ontheotherhand, somedownsidesanddesiredprerequisiteswerestatedforthescrumteamtravellingtothe customersuchas: Theentireteamcangoandtalktocustomersbutmyonlyconcernwouldbe,the peoplewhoaregoingtocustomerinterviewsshouldbeknowledgeable.atleasttheyshouldgowith somebasicknowledgeoftheindustryorlineofbusinessofthecustomertheyaretalkingto. The needforhavingadeepknowledgeofthecustomerwaspragmaticallydealtwithas: Itisvery importantthatwehaveastableteamgoingtothecustomer,itmakesnosensetoalwaysmixthe teamthatgoestothecustomer,because wetriedthisoutindifferentwaysbutwesteppedback becauseitwastooconfusingthatalwaysdifferentpeoplegotodifferentcustomers. Fromthese statementsitisevidentthatthisparticularrespondenthadestablishedanempathysubteamwithin thedtteam. WhichEndUsersandHowMany? Anotherthemethatemergedduringtheinterviewswithinthetopicofenduserempathyrevolved aroundquestionsofwhicharetherightenduserstotalkto,howmanyareneededandhowmuch timeshouldbespentonit.theseissuesareratherpracticallyorientedasopposedtohaving theoreticalrelevanceinperspectiveoftheframeworkforthisthesis;nonetheless,theywere consideredimportantbytherespondents. Theimpactofwhethertheresearchedendusersareactuallytherightoneswasmostprofoundly expressedbythisstatement: ahugequestionwhereyoucanyoucanfailwithdtis:doyoureally talkwiththerightendusers?andthisisreallytricky,sothisisonethingwheredtisaproblem. This showsthattheriskhereis,ofcourse,thatagreatproductisbeingbuiltbutforuserswhomaynotbe associatedtocustomerswhobuyit,henceitcarriescommercialrepercussions. Relatedtothequalityofendusersresearchedisthequantity,i.e.howmanyshouldberesearchedin ordertogetgoodenoughinsightstobuildagoodproduct.oneintervieweesuggestedthat establishingcertainguidelinessuchas: youshouldhavesomecriteriainplacefordt,minimumof thismanyinterviews,thismanycustomersandsoon thereshouldbeaminimumcriterion.oncewe dothatandwehavegoodenoughinterviewsandgoodenoughinsights,thenitgetseasier.butifyou couldn tgetthatmanyappointmentswithendusers,thenmypersonalfeelingisthatyoushouldn t 37

44 goforward. Thiscanbeverymuchregardedasastatementconcerningtheconfidenceinthe gathereddatafromaquantitativeviewpointwhichparallelsthepreviousparagraphintermsof confidenceinthequalityofenduserdata. Theconsiderationofhowmanyinterviewsorobservationsaresufficienthastobepractically balancedwithbudgetandtimerestrictions,apointtoucheduponbefore.ofcoursetherespondents wereawareoftheincreasedtimerequiredtocommunicateexternally: perhapsyouhavemore contactwithcustomersandendusers.sotomanagethatisperhapsnotnew,butyouspendmore timeonit. Realizingthisrequiresadjustmentsinplanningprojects,suchas youneedtomanageit, youcannotalwaysmakeadepartmenttripwiththefullteamtoacustomer.ifyouinterviewtwo people,youcannotgotherewithfivepeople.youhavetobalanceit.andyoucanalsonotgoto twentyorfiftycustomers;youdon thavethetravelbudget. Itappearsthattheneedtofindtheright compromisebetweenquantityandqualityofendusersresearched,andthewaytodoit,isthereand hasbeenrecognized.however,afinalsolutiondoesnotseemtobeinplaceasyet Visualizingvs.WritingBacklog ThissectionpresentsthefindingsthatrelatetothetopicofvisualizinginDTincomparisontotheLSD practiceofwritingoutrequirementsinproductbacklogs. ThecommonpatternthatemergedfromtheinterviewswasthattheDTpracticeelementof visualizingisnotinconflictwithwritingrequirementsandproductbacklogsinlsd.differencesare perceivednonetheless,butinapositivewaythatfacilitatesthecreationofbetterproducts: thisisa bigdifferencetotheoldworldwherewewerealwayswritingthishugespecification,word documentswithhundredsofpages.withthisnewprocessyouareworkingmorewithprototypes, powerpoints,morewithpapermockups,sothismockupstyleismuch,muchmoreimportantthan thespecification. Thisviewwassharedbymanyrespondents: Ithinkactuallyvisualizingthe problemandthentryingtoseewhatwewanttodo,wherewewanttoreachbytheprocessof visualizationismoreimportantthanjustlistingbacklogitems. Anadditionalbenefitwasseeninthat visualizingfacilitatescommunication: Buildingstoryboardsandprototypescanhelpthemessageto comeacrossanddrivetheideaswithexecutives. Muchratherthanbeingmisaligned,thevisualizinginDTwasseenasaprecursortobacklogs,justas DTisusuallyprecedingactualsoftwaredevelopmentatSoftwareCo,whichisstillexecutedinthe usuallsdmode,asthefollowingstatementillustrates: wehavemadebetterexperiencewhenyou areinaresearchphasewithdtthaninadevelopmentphase.sothisisbecauseyouchangemany thingsthen,newthingscomein,thiscreativephasefitsmuchbetterifit sonlyfortheresearchphase. DTisveryquestionablewhenthedevelopmentphasehasstarted;Iamagainstthat thatisnot working.thevisualizedfindingsarethentranslatedintowrittenrequirements,whicharestill necessaryforthedevelopmentinlsdmode: thepohastheresponsibilitytomapallthis unstructuredinformationwehaveintheformofdiagrams,maps,anddesignsintostructured requirements.ithasmademyworkeasier,becauseasyougothroughthejourneytheprocessismore orlessclearinyourmindofwhatisexpectedandwasitnot,sojustputtingthisdowninformofa documentisnotextremelydifficult. Realizingthatthevisualizingcaneffectivelyprecedewritingofrequirementsinbacklogscreatesa sharedviewofitsbenefits.moreover,thebacklogswerestatedtohaveinsomecasesevolvedfrom thevisualartifacts: wemadeaveryroughprototypeofwhattheproblemisandwherewewantto 38

45 goto.itwasstillnotasolution.butfromallthisthen,wedesignedthebacklogsandthereareno moremissingbuildingblocks. Thecomplementaritieswereevenexpresseddirectly: they complementeachother. ThepotentialdisaccordbetweenDTandLSDthatoriginatedfromtheDTpracticeelementsof visualizingandwritingproductbacklogswasnotperceivedbytheintervieweesasasignificant misalignment.muchmore,theadditionofvisualizationtotheirworkwasseenasabenefitthathelps problemidentification,facilitatescommunication,andmakesthecreatingofbacklogseasier Synthesisvs.WasteElimination ThethirdtheoreticalmisalignmentbetweenDTandLSDconcernedtheDTpracticeelementof synthesizing.thisdtelementisintheoreticalconflictwiththeunderlyinglsdprincipleofwaste elimination.owingtothecentralityofwasteeliminationinlsd,thisidentifieddiscrepancywas confirmedbymostintervieweesingeneral.however,wastefulnesswasperceivednotonlyinthe synthesisdtelement,butalsoinotheraspects.afewinterestingstatementsthatdonotrelatetoa specificaspectofdtare: DTisagoodapproach,butitinvolvesalotofwaste.InLSDyouaretoldto eliminatewaste.soyoutrytobeasefficientaspossible. OurexperienceisthatDTislessefficient andlesseffective. However,theseviewswerenotsharedbyallrespondents,someofwhichhadcometothe conclusionthatsomewasteisrequiredtoachievethegoalsofdt,aswasreflectedbythefollowing statements: LSDbroughtinsomeefficiencyandsomespeedtoproductdevelopmentbutstillthe productswherenotinnovative.sothedesirabilitywasstillnottakencareofandprobablythatisthe elementthatdtwillbringintothewholeprocess. Thingsareverydifferent;LSDisforefficiencyas comparedtodtstandsforinnovation.ifyoutrytoenforceefficiencyinaprocessmanytimesyou mightnotgetinnovativeoutputs. TherewillbesomeproductwastewhichwillbegeneratedbyDT, butthisisnotactuallyawaste;thisisawastethatisrequired. Themajorityofrespondents acknowledgedsomeinherentwasteindt,butatthesametimeconcededthatitwasnecessaryin ordertogetahigherqualityoutput. Furthermore,somestatementsexpressedaviewthatwasteproductioninDTwastoostronga terminologyandpreferredtorephraseitabitmoremoderatelysuchas: atsomepointyoudofeel thatwhetheraparticularstepisnecessaryornotnecessary,butidon tknowifweshouldcallit waste,and Iwouldn tcallitwaste.butyes,itdefinitelytakessomeefforts. Presentedbelowaresomeindividualthemeswithinthetopicofwasteeliminationthatemerged duringtheinterviews. NecessaryWaste Asbrieflytoucheduponabove,anumberofrespondentshadtheperceptionthatDTdoesgenerate somewaste,butconsideredthiswastenecessarytocreatebetteroffersfortheircustomersorend users.forexample,oneintervieweestated: Wehavemoreideas;wetrytodiscussandbrainstorm, andmeetagainwithcustomers.yes,thisreallytakesalongtime,butithinkintheendwebuilda betterproduct. Youhavetobeverypatient,that swhatifoundout,butifyouarepatientandyou doitinaproperwaythereturnsarealsogood. Also, attheenddtdoesensurethatwhatyouare developingissomethingthatwillsolveauserproblem. 39

46 Notonlywasthepointmentionedofincreasingthequalityoftheoutput,butanotheraspect discussedwasthatsomewasteearlierintheprocessmightreducethewasteatlaterstages.because ifitisensuredthattherightthingisbeingdeveloped,therewillbelessadjustmentsorreworklater on. Definitely,ittakesmoretimeandIthinkthatistheradicalnessoftheDTapproachandweneed tofactorinthatmoretimeisbeingspentonthat.butithinkthatinturnitmightendupgivingyou betterideasthatcouldbebeneficialinlaterphasesofdevelopment.wemightactuallycomeupwith ideasthattakelesstimeandwecancompleteinlesstime. Anotherstatementreturnedtothepreviouspointofteamcommitmentandsatisfaction;since everybodyisinvolvedfromthestart,theincreasedmotivationactuallyincreasestheexecution efficiency: Itrequiresalittlemoreoftime,butthenIfeelitismoreeffective.Itisnotjustone person sbrainchildbuteverybodywouldhaveputtheirmindintotryingtorealizethisparticular requirement.sointhatway,timewise,itismoretimeconsumingbutattheendofthedayeverybody issatisfiedwiththatwehavecomeupwithaverygoodproposal. Intheenditappearstocomedowntotherequirementoffindingtherightbalance,i.e.howmuch wasteistolerableforthegreatergoal.asonerespondentsummarized, Ithinkthatyouneedto balanceit.iamopentospendsomewasteandspendsometimeforgeneratingsomeideas,butfrom myexperienceitisnotalwaysthebestifyouexpectitfromthegroupsittinginaroomtogetherand doingpostits. Thesecondpartofthislaststatementleadsseamlesslyontothenexttwothemes, whichrevolvearoundtimebeingwastedindiscussionsamongteamswithtoomany,andunsuitable participants. TeamDiscussions IdeationinDTinvolvesconverginganddivergingasrepeatedlymentionedpreviously,whichis typicallyperformedinagroupsettingandmembersholdingactivediscussions.thesediscussions wereperceivedtonotalwaysbeasfruitfulandefficientasdesired,asisreflectedbythefollowing statements: Alotofdiscussionsarehappeningwhichisgoodinsomewaybutyouspendalotof timeindoingthat. Theentireteamneedstobethereanddiscussforlongandallthosethings.So sometimesitfeelslike(laughs)thereisalotofwasteoftime. Notallintervieweestookitwithas muchhumorthough,butratherhadalreadythoughtofwaystoimprovetheperceivedflaw: Thisis abigdisadvantagefrommyperspective.thiswasoneofmymainproposalstomakedtmore efficient:topreparesuchdtsessions,notputtingthepeopleonefulldaytogetherinoneroomand thinksomethingisworkingout.itisevenbettertohavetwoorthreehoursofdtsessionandall peoplecomepreparedbyhavingsomeowntimefortheirideasandbringitonthetableandthen workingtogether.thatishowmeetingsareefficient,youshouldworktogether,youshouldexchange, youshoulddiscussthatisoutofthequestion.butformethisissomehowmissingfromourcurrent DT.Weonlywritethingsonpostitandthisisalwaysaninefficientway. Thediscussionsareconsiderednecessarybutaspracticedsofar,wereconsideredtoounstructured toyieldgoodresultsinreasonabletime.relatedtothetimetakenondiscussionsisthenexttheme ofteamcompositionandsize,i.e.whichpeopleshouldbeinvolvedandhowmanyofthem. TeamSizeandComposition ThethemepresentedhereisconcernedwithhowmanypeopleandwhatrolesshouldbeonaDT Scrumteam.Havinglargeteamsaroundtenmemberswasconsideredtoomanyforreaching 40

47 agreement.moreover,havingpeoplewithinsufficientexperienceorunsuitablepersonalitieswas seenasbeingdetrimentaltotheoutcomeandefficiency. ThemainpointsaboutScrumteamsizesintermsofDTwereexpressedas: Itwasverydifficultto cometoapointbecauseofsomanydifferentpeoplesittinginaroom.itwouldbeeasierandmuch fasterinaclassicalapproachwhereyouhavetwoorthreemaincontributorswhodoresearchand thendostorytellingtotheothers.inabiggerteamyouneedmoreinvestmentandididn tmakethe experiencethatthiswasbetter. Thebiggestdifferenceorchallengeistointegratethefullteamand workinginprototypesandsoonbutveryoftenihadthefeelingitwasnotefficientoreffectivein relationtowhatwefindout. Concerningtherolesandpersonalities,thefollowingemerged: PO,UIdesignerandArchitectarethe keypeople.inevereverattendanymeetingwherethequalitypeople,theknowledgemanagementor thetranslatorsorwhoevermadeanysignificantcontributiontotheproject.ithinkthisisthemain misunderstandingthatyoushouldinvolvealloftheserolesinadtproject.formethisisamajor misunderstanding,thesepeoplearenotthatcreativetogenerateorcreateanewproject.imadethe experiencethatonthreeteamsthattherewaszero,nocontributionandforthemitwasmoreorless boringandawasteoftimeandattheendtheysteppedout. Also, toputafullteamoftenorso togetheristoomuchwastebecausenotallofthemcontributeinthesamemanner.noteveryoneis feelingthatcreativetocontributeandthatleadstofrustrationandthatisblockingtheteam. These statementsindicatesomeformoffrustrationwiththecompositionoftheteam,andthathaving unsuitableparticipantsactuallyinhibitstheproductivityandcreativityofotherteammembers. IdeasnotTechnicallyFeasible OneoftheaspectsofDTistogenerateideasthatpushexistingboundarieswiththeaimtofindmore radicalsolutions.owingtothisencouragedcreativity,severalintervieweesmentionedthatideashad tobeabandonedbecausetheyweretechnicallynot(yet)feasible,andhencehadtobedeemed wastegeneratedintheprocess. Thechallengeisthatyoumightcomeupwithdifferentideas,and whenyougoandimplementthemyoumightfacealotofissuesandthenyoubasicallyhavespenta lotoftimecomingupwithyourideasbutyoucan texecutethem. Thepreviousstatementreferred tothechallengeofrealizingearlywhenanideamaynotbepursuableatthetimeandnottospend moretimeonitthannecessary.thenextstatementequatesstraighttotheaspectofwaste elimination,ratherthandescribingachallenge: wasteeliminationcameintopictureduringthe ideationwherewehadsomewildideas.weimaginedmanythingsoutoftheboxandwhenwe wantedtoprototypethem,wecouldnotdoeverythingbecauseofourownconstraintsinknowledge, time,landscape,licensing,systemissues,etc.therewethoughtmaybeweshouldn thaveinvested toomuchonthinkingonthingslikecloud,mobile,andallthosethings. DesignThinkingEliminatesWaste ThelastandsomewhatunexpectedthemethatemergedwasthatDTactuallyeliminateswastein someaspects,ratherthancreateit,aswasdeducedfromtheliteratureanalysis.apatternbecame apparentwhereintervieweesdeemeddtandlsdtobeaperfectfitbecausetheearlyuseofdt eliminatestheneedforreworkinlaterstagesandavoidsunnecessaryworkbydoingtherightthing fromthestart. Oneintervieweestatedthefollowing: Iwouldsayitisaperfectfit.Byshowingprototypestotheend userinveryshortiterationsyoudon thavetowritethishugespecificationsoiwouldsayitfitsreally 41

48 wellbutyouneedtobringitintherightorder. Anotherstatementreiteratedthecorrectorderof activitiesintertwinedwiththetopicofhavingtherightpersonnelondtteams: Itisgoodifyoucan startwiththedtbeforeyoubringthedeveloperinplacebecausethisisalsohowyoustartto structureyourproduct. Thebenefitsofbeingabletoansweranyquestionearlyandexcludeundesiredproductfeatures basedontheoutcomesofdtwerealsomentioned: Itisalsogoodtoknowearlythatthisfeature doesn taddanyvalue,leadingtothefollowingbenefit: Almostallthequestionswereansweredby customersorwewereabletovalidateourproposalsandweknewwewereontherighttrackwhen westarteddevelopingafterthefirsttwoorthreemonthsdelay.andhopefullyweareabletomake upforthedelayinthefollowingmonthswhereeverybodywasclearoftherequirementsand everybodyisjustreadytogo.soithinkitkindofbalancesoutintheentiredevelopmentcycle. Specificmentionoftheeliminationofreworkoccurredasfollows: Thisisaveryimportantpointto note,thatthereworkwaslessandsometimesinlsdthereworkisthere.thisiswhatwehave experiencedthatwegettherequirementsthroughachannelandsometimeswhentheproductfinally reachesthecustomerandthecustomerseesit,thereisofcoursesomekindofreworkthatis requiredintheearliermodelwhichwedidn texperiencehere. TheviewthatdevelopersdonotaddvaluetotheDTactivitieswascertainlynotsharedbyall interviewees;infact,thisaspectwasappreciatedbyanumberofintervieweesasexemplifiedbythis statement: Eachofusbecameanexpertonthetopicbutpreviouslythiswasnotthere,therewould beinformationlostateachlevel,untilitcomesdownfinallytothedevelopersothedeveloperhasthe taskoftrackingbackagainwhenthereisagapthathehasidentified,whichwasawasteoftime. 4.5 ChallengestoDesignThinking Finally,datawascollectedonthechallengesassociatedwiththeintroductionofDT.Interviewees listedfourmainchallengestodtatsoftwarecoforsoftwaredevelopmentprojects.thesefour challengesincluded:(1)enduserinvolvement(2)convergence(3)successmeasures(4)adaptation ofpostodt. Overall,theenduserinvolvementgeneratedbyfarthemostcommentsintermsofchallengesfor theintervieweesintermsofintegratingdtintosoftwaredevelopmentprojects.thechallenges relatedtoendusersrevolvedaroundaccesstoendusersandobservationtechniques.convergence andsynthesisofdatacollectedfromtheendusersandcustomerswasalsomentionedbythe intervieweesasamajorchallenge.thelattertwochallengeswerenotasprevalentbutstill mentionedassignificantobstaclestodtinsoftwaredevelopmentprojectsatsoftwareco. Accesstoendusersorcustomers,aswellasgettingusefulinformation,wasseenasamajorproblem forscrumteamsusingdt.inageneralsense,justgettingtheaccesstotheseenduserswasseenasa majorissue.anintervieweestatedthat gettingaccesstoendusersisthechallengingpart,andthen gettingsomemeaningfulinsightsoutofthemiscertainlychallenging,sodtisdefinitelymore challenging.butasisaid,ifyoudoitinaproperway,thereturnsarealsogood and tohaveaccess toexpertsoreventhennormalusers,whoareusingsomethinginadaytodayenvironmentwasabit ofachallenge. Todeepenthisproblemofgettingaccesstoendusers,anotherinterviewee mentionedthattheglobalnatureofsoftwarecoandthecommonissueofbeinglocatedindifferent partsoftheworld,awayfromtheendusers,isamajorissuewhenusingdt: fordttoreallywork, youarealwaysexpectedtomeettherealenduserwhowilluseoursoftware.andthis,notonlyin 42

49 SoftwareCobutinanycompany,isreallyverydifficult,becauseSoftwareCoisproducingsoftwarefor differentvarietiesofindustriesandalotofusers.forexample,oursoftwareisusedinnorthamerica orevenineurope.andformeitisimpossibletomeetoneofthoseguyssothat stheother,not drawback,butiwouldsaychallenge,becausedtexpectsyoutodothis itisnotalwayspossible. Theintervieweementionedthatusingphoneorvideotosolvethisproblemismoreofabandaid solutiontothisproblembecause whenyoudoitovervideosometimesthepersonisnot100% engagedinthediscussion and welosttheempathyifwedoitremote. Thisissuewasbroughtup byanotherintervieweestating wehavebudgetrestrictionandtravelisnotpossiblesoweendup interviewingcustomersoverthephonefordtwhichistotallynotacceptablebecauseyouhavetosee whattheyaredoingandtrytounderstandtheirprocess.suchbudgetrestrictions,ifitistheretheni don tthinkdtisgoingtobeeffective. Anotherintervieweementionedtheaddedstressthis challengebringsbystating sincewehavedirectcustomercontactandwehavetotalktothem, sometimeswehavetowaitandsinceweareindiaandmostourcustomersareineuropeandtheus, wedidnothavetravelbudgetstomeetthemdirectlysometimes,sowehadremotecallsatalltimes beinginindiaandsotheseareallformealittlebitstressful. Obviously,giventhecommonissueof havingtheproducerofsoftwareworkinoffshorecountriesfromtheenduserspresentsalarge obstaclefordtsinceatitscoreitinvolvesobservationoftheendusertobuildempathy. AfurthertwoissuesassociatedtotheenduserandDTwere,first,ensuringthattheteamwas interactingwiththerightenduserand,second,beingabletoscaletheseobservationsintoasolution thatisapplicabletoseveralsoftwarecocustomersandthatdoesnotjustsolveproblemsspecificto asinglecustomer.asoneintervieweestated, ahugequestionwhereyoucanyoucanfailwithdtis doyoureallytalkwiththerightendusersandthisisreallytrickysothisisonethingwheredtisa problem. Thisthoughtwasthenextendedtoincludetheimportanceoftalkingtomultipleendusers. GiventheneedforSoftwareCotomarkettheirproductsonalargescale, itisveryimportantthat yougetalotofendusers,andendusersfromdifferentcompaniesbecauseyouneedtoextractfrom alltheinputsthatyouget,youneedtoextractalltheaspectsandcometoakindofproductandif youdon treallyhavetherightendusers,orthewrongtypeofendusers,thenyoudoitrightforthis enduserbutyouarenotsuccessfulinthemarketbecausethisisaveryspecificenduserthathasa veryspecificprocessthatdoesnotfittoothercustomersforyourtargetmarket. Whileanother intervieweestatedthesamethoughtbysaying soonedrawbackthatisthereisthatwhenyoutalk todifferentendusers,eachonehasadifferentidea.andatsomepointoftime,becausewearea globalcompanyandwehavetodothingswhichareverygeneric,youwillhavetobringthisonelevel highertogeneralizethisprocess.andwhenyoustartgeneralizingit,thisisthetimewhenyouwould needtodiscusswithmoreendusers,toseeifwhatyouaregeneralizingissomethingthatotherswill likeaswell,notjustthe10,15,20,25endusersyouhavediscussedthiswith.soifwecanovercome thatchallenge,ithinkthenyes,ofcoursewewillbuildalotbetterproduct. Onceaccesstotherightendusersaregainedandusefulinsightsaregathered,thenextmajor challengeseentodtwasboththeabilityandtimerequiredtoconvergethisdataintoauseful problemstatement.forexample,intervieweeshighlightthechallengeinconvergingthedataby stating yougetalotofdataandthentocomeupwithanexecutionplanbasedonthatdatarequires alotofsynthesiswhichisachallenge,likethatissomethingthatweencountered and Ithinkthe challengewouldbethatifiamtalkingtotenorsocustomers,ifihavetendifferentviewsofthe problemstatement,thenhowwouldidecide and itwasdefinitelydifficulttogetaveryclear convergenceofalltheobservations and IthinkitisthesynthesisphaseintheDTwhichisvery 43

50 grueling. EvenbeyondthechallengeofconverginglargequantitiesofdatageneratedfromDT, intervieweesfounditachallengetomeetthetimerequirementsduetotheprolongedsynthesis phase.asoneintervieweestated, tocomebackdothedevelopmentandfinishitwithinthetime linesthatwasthemajorchallenge and thechallengeisthatyoumightcomeupwithdifferent ideas,andwhenyougoandimplementthat,youmightfacealotofissuesandthenbasicallyyou havespentalotoftimecomingupwithyourideasbutyoucan texecutethem. AthirdchallengeforDTfromtheperspectiveofPOsandSMswasseentobehowtodefineifthe resourcesspentondtresultinanyadditionalvalue.asanintervieweesaid, somoreorlessthat everybodycansaythatwegotsomenewinsights...andlater,whenyoubuildthesoftwareandit goesout,thereisnotraceability. SincethereisabigpushconcerningDTatSoftwareCotherewasa feelingthateveryoneclaimssuccessbutthereisnowaytotracethissuccess.thislackoftraceability istiedtothenextchallengethatdtisgoodbutitisnotafixallsolution.anintervieweetiedthis challengetothefactthatthereisaheavypushbehinddtatsoftwareco: sincedtissomuchinthe limelight,everybodywantstobeapartofit.soevenwithoutconsideringwhethermyprojector processisfitforadtproject,peopleembarkonthejourneyandthenlaterrunintoissues. Thesame issueisstatedagainbyanintervieweeas DTisgood,itcanfixalotofproblems,butitisnota solutionforeverything,whichsomehowseemstobetheinterpretation,ormisinterpretation,atleast forthetimebeing. AnotherintervieweeproposedthatcriteriashouldbeinplaceforusingDTto preventprojectsfrommovingforwardthatarenotreallysuitablefordtbystating: youshouldhave somecriteriainplacefordt,minimumofthismanyinterviews,thismanycustomersandsoon.once wedothatandwehavegoodenoughinterviewsandgoodenoughinsights,thenitgetseasier.that s whatimeantosay.butimeanforsomebodythatcouldn tgetthatmanyappointmentswithend usersandallthosethings,thenmypersonalfeelingisthatyoushouldn tgoforward. Finally,achallengespecificallyconcerningtheadaptationofPOstoDTwasmentionedby interviewees.theporole,asstatedabove,encountersthemostchangewhendtisusedona softwaredevelopmentproject.asoneintervieweestated, IknowthatthePOsfeelthattheDT peopleareinvadingtheirterritory.theyhavebeenfunctionalexperts,whokneweverythingabout theproductandwhoseopinioncountedthemost,butnoweverybodyseemstobeanexpertand everyoneisclaimingthatimeetwiththiscustomerandthatcustomerandthisishowweshoulddoit andsoon.soidon tthinkitissosimpleforthepo.ithinkifadaptedpromptly,itcanmaketheirlife mucheasier.otherwiseitcanmessitup,theymightbecompletelydemotivatedafteritandthey mightquestionis whydotheystillexistintheteambecauseeveryoneissortofapo. Itisclearthat thischallengeisverymuchdependentoneachpoandhowtheyadapttodt.butitwas, nevertheless,mentionedthroughtheinterviews.anotherintervieweestatedasmuchbysaying a lotofdifferentpeoplewhoalwaysquestionifyouaredoingthis,whatistheroleofthepo?and sometimespeopleaskingsuchaquestionareposthemselvesandsometimesotherroles,soin generalitisnotjustaperspective,atleasttostartwith.everybodygetsthisfeeling.later,thismight getstrongeroritmightgoaway,dependingonhowtheprojectrunsandishandled,buttostartwith everybodyhasthatquestion.evenihadthesamequestion. Thedataclearlyshowsthatthe challengeinadaptingtodtismostprevalentforpos,butthisisachallengeforsomeandnotall. OfthefourperceivedchallengesrelatedtotheintroductionofDTtodevelopmentprojectsat SoftwareCo,twoaredirectlyrelatedtothetheoreticalmisalignmentsbetweenDT,LSD,andScrum. ThesechallengesareassociatedwiththeDTpracticeelementsenduserempathyandsynthesis.The 44

51 remainingtwochallengesdonotappeartobelinkedtotheidentifiedmisalignments,butdocarry practicalimplicationsforsoftwareco. 5 Analysis Thefollowinganalysiscomparestheempiricaldatawiththetheoreticalframeworktoanswerthe researchquestion,howdothedtpracticeelementsofenduserempathy,visualization,andsynthesis integratewithlsdandtheagilemethodofscrumfromtheperspectiveofproductownersandscrum Masters? 5.1 LeanSoftwareDevelopment,Scrum,andDesignThinking Inthefollowingsection,theempiricalresultsconcerningtheintegrationofLSD,Scrum,andDT presentedinsection4.4areanalyzedusingthetheoreticalframeworkpresentedinfigure3. ThemaintopicsthatwillbefurtheranalyzedbelowincludethethreeDTpracticeelementsgivenin theliteraturesectionthatinclude(1)enduserempathy,(2)visualization,and(3)synthesis.thesedt practiceelementswillbecomparedtolsdandtheagileofmethodofscrumtobetterunderstand theirintegrationfromtheperspectiveofposandsms EndUserEmpathy Comparingthetheoreticalframeworktotheempiricaldataconcerningenduserempathy,several themesemerged.thesewillbeanalyzedindetailinthefollowingsections:(1)terminologyofend UserandCustomer(2)PurposeofContactEmpathyversusSatisfaction(3)Access. Terminology OnepatternthatemergedfromtheempiricaldataconcerningLSDwastheimportanceofcustomer satisfaction.however,theempiricaldatashowedthatwhenspeakingaboutlsdthereisnotafirm definitionforthetermcustomer.lsdliteraturedoesemphasizethewordcustomerbasedonthe firstprincipleoflsd: foundedonadeepunderstandingofajobthatcustomerswouldlikedone (Poppendieck&Cusumano,2012,p.28).However,thequestionremainsastowhomtodevelopa deepunderstandingforasaresultofthevaguenessbehindtheterminologyusedinlsdliterature. Thisvaguenessorlackofspecificdefinitionconcerningthetermcustomerinliterature(Hildenbrand &Meyer,2012)wasreflectedintheempiricaldatainthattheintervieweesconcededthatinterms oflsdthecustomercouldbeanycontactpersonatthepurchasingorganization,whetheritbefor exampleanenduseroritmanager. Onthecontrary,theempiricaldatashowedasolidtrendconcerningtheterminologyofenduserin DT,withallrespondentsstatingthefocusofDTwasexclusivelytheenduser,i.e.thepersonusing theactualproduct.hence,fordttheprominenceandspecificitygiventotheenduserindttheory (Hassi&Laakso,2011)wasconfirmedbytheempiricaldatainthecasestudied.Overall,itwasseen thattheterminologyconcerningenduserandcustomerwasambiguousconcerninglsdprojectsbut specificindt. Empathyvs.Satisfaction Asmentionedabove,theterminologysurroundingenduserisexplicitbothintheempiricaland theoreticaldataconcerningdt.onthecontrary,theterminologysurroundingcustomersinlsdis vaguebothintheempiricalandtheoreticaldata. 45

52 SincethetermcustomergiveninbothinLSDliteratureandtheresultsisunspecific,itcouldinclude endusers.theagilemethodofscrum,ontheotherhand,doessuggesttheinvolvementofendusers specificallyinsoftwaredevelopmentfortestingofsoftwarereleaseswhichinturnresultsin customerfeedback(maylor,2010;rising&janoff,2000;schwaber&sutherland,2011).however, thisimpliesthatdevelopmentactivitieshavetakenplaceandproducedworkingsoftwarebeforeend usersareconsulted.thisshowsthatthefocusinlsdandscrumismoreonsatisfactionthanon initiallyemphasizingtounderstandthelatentneedasshownindt. TheresultsshowthatakeydifferenceinDTprojectsatSoftwareCoisthetimingandpurposeof involvingtheenduserorcustomer.thisbecameevidentbytheaccountgivenwhereinonedt projecttheendusersweresurprisedtobeaskedquestionsandvisitedbysoftwarecodevelopers priortobeingshownanysoftwarewhichtheycouldtest.thedeveloperswerenotinterestedinjust validatingworkingsoftwarebutgainingempathy.asaresultitisclearthatthereisadifferenceboth intheliteratureandpracticeconcerningthedtpracticeelementsofempathyandtheemphasison validationofworkingsoftwareorcustomersatisfactiongiveninbothlsdandscrum. However,thisdistinctionbetweenDTandLSD/Scrumwasnotentirelyclearintheresults.Atleast halfoftheposstatedtheyactivelysoughtcontactwithenduserstounderstandtheirlatentneeds beforedtwasformallypracticedinthedevelopmentorganizationofsoftwareco.inawaythey conclude,quitecorrectly,thattheyalreadypracticedthiselementofdt,evenbeforetheywere trainedinit.inasense,theseposhadmodifiedandexpandeduponthepracticesoflsdandscrum ontheirownbehalf.ratherthangainingcustomersatisfactionorvalidationbygatheringcustomeror enduserinputafterworkingsoftwarehadbeendevelopedasrecommendedbye.g.thescrumguide (Schwaber&Sutherland,2011),theyhadalteredboththetimingandpurposeofenduser involvementtothepredevelopmentphasetobetterunderstandtheenduserslatentneeds in essence,theywereempathizingassummarizedbyhassiandlaakso(2011).fortheseparticular individuals,theearlyendusercontactwasnotnewandhencefromtheirperspectivelittle adjustmentwasnecessarywiththeadditionofdt.however,theformalintroductionofdtandbeing trainedinitprovidedconfirmationontheirpracticeofinvolvingendusersearlyontodiscovertheir latentneedsratherthanjustattheendofsprintstovalidateworkingsoftware.furthermore,they wereappreciativeofthestructureandlegitimacydtaddedtotheirapproachofmanagingsoftware developmentprojects. Acrosstheentiresampleaunifiedviewwascommunicatedthatbeingincontactwithendusersto gainempathyprovidedbenefitscomparedtothepreviousapproach.inthepreviousapproach, customerswouldprovidealistofrequirements,i.e.requestfeaturestobeincludedinsoftware releasesinlinewiththeagilesoftwaredevelopmentprinciples(becketal.,2001),whichunderliethe Scrummethodology.Byseekingearlyandcontinuousenduserfeedback,theDTapproachwas consideredtoprovideandbuildconfidenceinthatwhatthescrumteamsdidwasindeedtheright thingfortheendusers.highlightedinthedataandliteraturewastheimportancethatempathizing hastobedoneintherightwaytohavetheoptimumeffect:ratherthanaskingforcustomerwishes, theiractualworkandgoalshavetobeunderstood,whichhasacentralpositionindttheoryand practice,aswasidentifiedinthecomprehensiveliteraturereviewby(hassi&laakso,2011). DT spracticeelementofempathizingwiththeendusers,asopposedtosatisfyingcustomers,was perceivedtoresultinbetterandmoredesirableendproducts,therebyultimatelyincreasingthe 46

53 valueforthecustomer boththeorganizationandindividualusers.therefore,thisaspectofuser empathyindtseemscomplementarytothelsdapproach,ratherthanbeingindisaccord.sincelsd andscrumarebuiltaroundcustomersatisfactionandonlypracticingactivitiesthataddcustomer value(poppendieck&cusumano,2012),empathizingwithenduserswasseentobeabeneficial extensionbutnotreplacementforcustomersatisfaction. Access Although,asanalyzedabove,theempiricaldatashowsthatDT spracticeelementofenduser empathyintegratesfairlywellwiththecustomersatisfactioninlsd,theissueconcerningaccesswas seenasahindrancetothealignmentofenduserempathyandcustomersatisfaction. Asmentionedabove,oneofthebiggestperceivedchallengesintheintroductionofDTtosoftware developmentprojectsatsoftwarecowasgainingaccesstoendusers.thisissueispracticalinnature butcouldbeconsideredanoutcomeofthedifferencebetweenenduserandcustomerterminology previouslymentioned.priortotheintroductionofdt,gainingcustomeraccesswasnotseenasthat greatofdifficultybecauseitwasnotspecificonwhomthecontactshouldbe.rather,itcouldinclude variousrolesoutsideoftheenduserwhichwerepartofwellestablishedcontactnetworks. Thefirstissueingainingaccesstoendusersisthattheyarebusywiththeirusualworkwithintheir owncompanyandnoallowanceismadefortalkingtosoftwaredevelopersfromanoutside organization.enduserstypicallyhaveinternalcontactpersons,typicallysomeonefromtheinternal ITdepartment,whosedutiesincludecommunicationswithsoftwarevendors.Also,anexisting networkmayprovideforcontactwithe.g.theitdepartmentatthecustomerorganization,butend usersarenottypicallypartoftheexistingnetworksandhencegettingaccesstotheserequiresan extrastepbycontactingtheusualcontactpersonfirst,whomaythen,ifconvincedofthebenefit, establishtheconnectiontotheendusers.thestatementgivenbyoneinterviewee, younevergo directlytotheenduser summarizesthedifficultiesencounteredsuccinctly. Thechallengeofgainingaccesstoendusersisseenasanintegrationissueandsupportsthe theoreticalframeworkinshowingthatthereisamisalignmentbetweencustomersatisfactionand enduserempathybecauseoftheinherentdifferenceinendusersandcustomers.becausetheend userisclearlyspecifiedindt,thereisnoalternativepersonforgatheringdatafrom.management staff,whosuperviseendusers,weresufficientforservingascustomersinlsd,butarenot appropriateindt.becausethewrongpersonwouldbeempathizedwith,theresultcouldpotentially bealessdesirableendproduct.thisproblemmayhoweverreduceovertime;withthedtapproach maturing,posandsmsshouldbeabletobuildupnetworksamongendusers,andenduserswill becomeaccustomedtobeinginvolvedinpredevelopmentactivitiesforenterprisesoftware development.asaresult,theperceivedandactualdifficultiesingettingaccesstotheendusers couldreduceinseverity. Insummary,theintroductionofDTandthespecificationthatPOsandSMsshouldgainenduser empathy(hassi&laakso,2011),hasmadetheirworksomewhatmorecomplexcomparedtobefore. TheloosertermcustomerinthepreviousLSDandScrumapproach(Poppendieck&Cusumano,2012; Schwaber&Sutherland,2011)allowedmoreflexibilityinwhomtotalkto.Logically,ifalargerpoolof subjectsisavailable,theprobabilityforsuccessishigher.moreover,easieraccessisgrantedfrom personsatthecustomerorganizationwhosejobitistointeractwithsoftwarevendors. 47

54 5.1.2 Visualizing ThecentralityofwritingrequirementsinproductbacklogsgivenbytheScrumprocessframework (Schwaber&Sutherland,2011)wasidentifiedasamisalignmenttotheDTpracticeelementof visualizing,whichpromotesusinganythingexceptforwrittenwordsandsymbols(hassi&laakso, 2011).Atfirst,thistheoreticalmisalignmentdoesappeartoexistinpracticeatSoftwareCo. However,thismisalignmentwasperceivedasapositiveratherthannegativeinfluenceinthewaythe POsandSMscarryouttheirwork.Infact,visualizingwasingeneralconsideredmoreimportant becauseitfacilitatescommunicationandproblemdefinition,whicharethemainbenefitsof visualizingthathassiandlaakso(2011)identified. ByspecificallyintegratingDTintoexistingLSDandScrumpractices,visualizingwasperceivedasa complementratherthanareplacementtowritingproductbacklogsinscrum.theinterviewees reflectedthatvisualizinghelpsthemtoknowwhatexactlyneedstogointothewrittenbacklog,and therebyiteliminateswrongthingsbeingwrittenintothebacklogs.furthermore,aproblemis definedinamorecomprehendiblemannerfromvisualizingthatwassaidtobeeasiertranslatedinto writtenitemsinthebacklogs.aunanimousopinionexistedabouttheorderofthetwopractices;in ordertobebeneficialvisualizinghastoprecedenotreplacementbacklogwriting,which subsequentlyisfollowedbydevelopmentexecution. Visualization,asopposedtothewrittenbacklog,involvedtheentireScrumteam.InLSDprojects,the writtenbacklogwascreatedandownedbyasingularpersonasprescribedbythescrumguide (Schwaber&Sutherland,2011),whereasinDTvisualizingisconductedbytheentireScrumteam. POsinLSDprojectshad,inmostcases,thesoleownershipofthebacklogandwoulddispensethe knowledgetotheteamasneeded.however,intervieweesnotedthatwhenusingvisualization practices,therewasashiftduetotheentirescrumteam sinvolvement.theentirescrumteamwas saidtobeonthesamepageasaresultofvisualizingandhadthefullscopeintermsoftheproblem tobesolved. ThetheoreticallyidentifiedpotentialmisalignmentbetweentheDTpracticeelementofvisualizing andthescrumpracticeofwritingproductbacklogswasclearlyrejectedbytheinterviewees.rather thanbeinginconflict,thesetwocomplementeachotherwellifperformedintheorderofvisualizing followedbybacklogwriting Synthesis Inthissection,thefindingsrelatingtotheDTpracticeelementofsynthesisandtheLSDprincipleof wasteeliminationareanalyzedwithinindividualsthemesthatemergedduringtheinterviews.the individualthemesinclude:necessarywaste,scrumteamdiscussions,scrumteamsizeand composition,ideasnottechnicallyfeasible,anddteliminateswaste. Overall,therewasnounifiedviewamongthePOsandSMs,i.e.responsesincludedboth confirmationthatdtiswastefulandrejectionoftheproposition.whereintervieweesconsidereddt beingwasteful,itwasnotonlyduetothepracticeofsynthesis,butavarietyofaspectswhichare analyzedindetailbelow.eventhoughanumberofrespondentsdidnotthinkdtcreateswaste overall,theyconcededthatsomewastewasproducedbutwasinherentintheapproachand necessarywhenviewingthebiggerpictureofgainingtherightsolution. 48

55 NecessaryWaste Ingeneral,POsandSMagreedthatDTgenerateswaste,butoverallthiswasconsideredtolerable andinfactrequiredtoachievethegreatergoalofbuildingproductsthatareinnovativeandofhigher quality,essentiallyprovidingmorevaluetothecustomer.whenlookingatthisaspectfromapure LSDperspective,itbecomesamatterofatradeoffbetweenwasteandvalueandfindingtheright balancebetweenthose.wasteasalsdprincipleisdefinedas anythingthatdoesn teitheradd customervalueoraddknowledgeabouthowtodeliverthatvaluemoreeffectively (Poppendieck& Cusumano,2012,p.28).Theresultsofthiscasestudyshowthattheintervieweeswerehappyto generatewasteindtaslongasthecustomervalueincreased.thetimingofwastewasalso commentedon;sincedtatsoftwarecoistypicallydoneintheearlyphaseofadevelopmentproject, andthereforeanywasteassociatedwithdtiscreatedearlyaswell.thatbeingthecase,itwas perceivedaseasiertorectifyissuesearlierratherthanlater,andthuswastewasconsideredtobe betterearlyindtthanlaterintheexecution.yet,thisgoescontrarytoliteraturethatstatesindt divergingshouldbeutilizednotonlyatthebeginning,butthroughout(hassi&laakso,2011).a softeraspectthatwasperceivedtoalimitedextentwasthatdtactivitiesrequiremoretimebutpay offpositivelylaterbecausetheteamismoremotivatedwhichinturnincreasesexecutionefficiency. However,itisimportanttonotetheempiricaldatashowsthattrackingtheconnectionbetween wastegeneratedbydtandcustomervalueisadifficultprocessandfrequentlyoverstatedduetothe importancegiventodtatsoftwareco. ScrumTeamDiscussions TheprimarysourceofwasteinDTwasconsideredtobewastedtimeduetoextendeddiscussions amongthedevelopmentteamduringthesynthesisphase.thispointwasstronglyfeltbythe respondentsandisstronglytiedtothedtpracticeelementofsynthesizing.becausetheentirescrum teamisusuallyinvolvedtoselectandsynthesizefindings(hassi&laakso,2011),ittakessignificant timewhichwasconsideredwastefulbytherespondents.becausethisthemewasperceivedas problematic,anumberofintervieweeshadcomeupwithsuggestionstoimprovethisaspect,suchas providingmorestructureratherthanveryopendiscussions. Interestingly,thetheoreticallyidentifiedmainsourceofpotentialwasteinDT ssynthesispractice wasideasthatweregeneratedbutlaterondiscarded.theempiricalresultssuggest,however,that theexcessiveamountoftimerequiredtoachieveconvergenceamongtheteamwasseenasthe primarysourceofwaste. IdeasnotTechnicallyFeasible Asmentioned,theideasthataregeneratedduringthesynthesisphaseandlaterdiscardedare, accordingtothetheoreticalframework,themainoriginofwasteindt.althoughthiswasnot perceivedastheprimarysourceofwasteindt,itwasmentionedduringtheinterviews.some respondentsstatedthattheideasthatweregeneratedwereverybroadinscope,asisencouragedin DT(Hassi&Laakso,2011).However,afterspendingsometimewithdevelopingtheideasitbecame evidentthat,forexample,considerationtowardthereadinessofthetechnologywasnotgivenand hencetheideashadtobeabandoned.sincedtallowsfor,andindeedencourageswildideation, thereisariskthatatrackispursuedthatdoesnotleadanywhereduetothemscrumteamnotbeing abletoimplementtheidea.thisisaviolationoftheunderlyinglsdprincipleofwasteeliminationas definedbypoppendieckandcusumano(2012). 49

56 ThedifficultyforPOsandSMsworkingwithDTisthentorealizeasearlyaspossiblethatanideais notfeasible,beitfortechnicalorotherreasons.perhapssometechnicalvalidationcouldtakeplace concurrentwithprototypevalidationwithuserstoavoidspendingtoomucheffortonideasthat havelowsuccesschances. ScrumTeamSizeandComposition Thisthemeemergedonlypartiallyinthedatabut,nonetheless,apatternwasobservable.Noneof theliteraturereviewedgivesrecommendationsaboutthesizeofteamsfordt,butthepointis discussedregardlesssincetherewasanobservablepatterninthedata.thescrumguide(schwaber &Sutherland,2011)suggeststeamsizesbetweenthreeandninemembers;atSoftwareCo,theteam sizesseemtobetowardstheupperendofthissuggestionandbeyond.thelargeteamsizewasseen tocontributetothelargeamountoftimetakentocometoanagreement,contributingtothetheme discussedabove.fromthisperspective,teamsizesatthelowerendoftherangeforrecommended Scrumteamsizes,wereperceivedtoperhapsalignbetterwithDT spracticeelementofsynthesis. AnotheraspectmentionedwastheappropriaterolesonaDTteam,bothintermsofexperienceand personalities.issuesweredescribedthatrelatedtotheseaspectsinthatsomepeopledidnot contributemeaningfullytothedtactivitiesandintheworstcaseswereevenperceivedtoblockthe creativityofotherteammembers.however,thisthemeisoutsideofthescopeofthestudysinceitis morerelatedtothedtcategoriesofcognitiveapproachandmindsetasperhassiandlaakso(2011). DesignThinkingEliminatesWaste PerhapsthemoststrikingpatterninthedatawasDTassociationwitheliminatingwaste,ratherthan creatingit.whilethewastediscussedaboveiscreatedonasmallerscaleinindividualstepsofdt,a viewofanentiresoftwaredevelopmentmayactuallyrevealthatdt,ifdoneproperly,mightreduce wasteinalargersense.infact,dtwasstatedtobeaperfectfitwithlsdinthiscontext.bycreatinga littlewasteearlyintheprocess,pursuingthewrongtrackforlongerisavoidedandhenceany correctionislesscostlyifdetectearlier.thisobservationalsoreiteratestheimportanceoftakinga sequentialapproach,i.e.dtfollowedbylsdandscrumapproaches. Inadditiontotheopportunitytodetectwrongpathsearlyon,DTwasstatedtoeliminate unnecessaryproductfeaturesbeingdeveloped.previouslyitoccurredoccasionallythatcertain softwarefeatureswereincludedinaproductbutturnedouttobeunnecessaryornotdesiredby customers,thusessentiallybeingwaste.moreover,theearlyuseofdtwasmentionedtominimize theneedforreworkofsoftwarereleasesbyseekingearlyuserfeedbackbeforeactualdevelopment. Unnecessaryfeatureswerefoundtobeoneofthemaincausesofwasteinsoftwaredevelopment (Poppendieck&Cusumano,2012),anditappearsthatDThasthepotentialtoatleastreducethis typeofwasteinthesoftwaredevelopmentindustry,ifdoneattherightpointintime. 6 DiscussionofResults TheforegoinganalysisshowedthatthethreetheoreticalmisalignmentsbetweenDTpractice elements,lsdprinciples,andscrumpracticeswereperceivedbypoandsmtobeonlypartially misaligned.thesepartialmisalignmentsdidcreatechallengesforpoandsm.thesefindingsare discussedinthefollowingsection. 50

57 6.1 EndUsers ThespecificterminologyofendusersinDTleaveslittleroomfordeviationandassuchwas welcomedbecauseitprovidesclearguidanceonwhototalktoatthecustomerorganization.but ratherthanbeareplacementforthelooselydefinedtermofcustomersinlsdandscrum,endusers areseenasadditionalpeoplethatcontactmustbesoughtwithbecausethedecisionsatthe customerorganizationarestilltobemadebythepreviouscontacts(e.g.managementorithead). DespitethismisalignmentintermsofterminologybetweenDT,LSD,andScrum,norealpractical conflictwasperceivedtoemanatefromit.fromthispointofview,thetheoreticalmisalignmentdoes notimpedethepracticalintegrationofthethreeapproaches. ThefocusonempathizingwiththeendusersinDTwasseenashelpingthedevelopmentteamsto createmoredesirableandinnovativeproducts,whichultimatelywouldleadtocustomersatisfaction asfocusedoninlsdandscrum.byimprovingtheendusers workexperiencethroughwelldesigned andfunctioningsoftware,thoseusersshouldbysimplelogicbemoreproductive.higherproductivity inturnsatisfiessupervisorsandmanagersinthecustomerorganization;followingthischainof reasoning,dtincreasescustomersatisfactionwhichoriginatesfromempathizingwithendusers. SpecificpracticalchallengeswereevidentwhichoriginatefromDT semphasisoncustomerempathy. Theseincludedevelopmentteamsbeingrequiredtoempathizewithendusersremotelydueto spatialseparationandbudgetrestrictions,considerationsofwhichandhowmanyendusersto empathizewithinordertobeabletodevelopscalableoffersandgettingaccesstoendusersinthe firstplace.thereviewedliteraturedoesnotoffermuchguidanceonhowtoovercomethese challengesandthustheywillneedtobedealtwithpragmaticallyovertime.timehowever,giventhe competitivenatureofthesoftwareindustry,isscarceandaresolutionoftheseissuesistobesought soonerratherthanlater.ontheotherhand,thesechallenges(andbenefits)ofenduserempathy wouldalsoapplytoothersettingsandindustries,i.e.whenitisintegratedwithproductorservice developmentapproachesotherthanlsdandscrum.perhapsalooktowardsorganizationswhohave adopteddtinotherindustriescouldprovidesomevaluableadvice. 6.2 Visualization TheDTpracticeelementofvisualizingwasperceivedaswellalignedwithLSDandScrum,contingent ondtbeingdonebeforeanybacklogsarebeingwritten.visualizinghelpspostogetaclearpicture ofwhattheactualproblemisandhowtosolveit,anditisonlylogicalthatwritingoutthetechnical solutionismucheasierwhenthatclearvisionisthere.owingtotheentireteam sinvolvementinthe visualizingpractice,communicationisimprovedwithinthedevelopmentteams.nochallengeswere identifiedthatarethedirectoutcomeofthedtpracticeelementofvisualizingandthereforeit appearsaperfectcomplementtowritingbacklogs,withoutanyhurdlestotheirintegration. 6.3 Synthesis TheDTpracticeelementofsynthesizingwasperceivedtohavethepotentialtocontributetooverall wasteeliminationinasoftwaredevelopmentproject.theextentofimprovementis(atthisstage) unknownanditsassessmentiscloselylinkedtoestablishingsomesuccessmeasuresandkpiswhich shouldbeinplace,butarecurrentlylackingatsoftwareco. Nevertheless,intervieweesperceivedthatDTdoescreatesomewasteincertainpartsandtheentire picturemaynotbeveryobviousinthedailybusinessandhenceanywastefulnessmaybefeltquite 51

58 strongly.also,thebiggerpictureandoverallwastereductioncanonlybejudgedwhentheproject hasbeencompleted,whichwasnotthecaseforalldtprojectstheintervieweeshadbeeninvolved in.perhaps,certainaspectsofdtcanbefinetunedinthefutureinordertofurtherreducethe perceivedwastecreationassociatedtodt,suchassmallerdtteamsizes. ApracticalchallengethatisthedirectoutcomeoftheDTpracticeelementofsynthesizingisthe convergenceofgathereddata.posstatedthatgiventhenatureofdttheamountofdatacollected increaseddramaticallyanditwasdifficulttodecidethecorrectpathtofollow.inotherwords,how shouldthepodecidewhichenduserobservationswerevalidandscalable.giventheincreasein teamsize,poandsmfeltperceivedthistobeachallengesinceitisdifficulttoinvolveallteam membersequallywhenconvergingdata. AsmentionedintheDataCollection,POandSMperceivedfourchallenges:(1)Enduserinvolvement (2)Convergence(3)SuccessMeasures(4)AdaptationofPOstoDT.Thefirsttwoperceived challenges,asdescribedabove,areshowedtobedirectresultsofthetheoreticalmisalignment betweendtpracticeelements,lsdprinciples,andscrumpractices.theperceivedchallengeofend userinvolvementisdirectlyrelatedtothetheoreticalmisalignmentbetweenenduserempathyvs. customersatisfaction.theperceivedchallengeofconvergenceisdirectlyrelatedtomisalignmentof synthesisvs.wasteelimination.however,theperceivechallengesofsuccessmeasuresadaptationof POstoDTareindirectlyrelatedtothetheoreticalmisalignmentsinthattheyareinfluencedbybut notadirectresultofthetheoreticalmisalignments. 7 Conclusion Inordertoanswertheresearchquestion,HowdotheDTpracticeelementsofenduserempathy, visualization,andsynthesisintegratewithlsdandtheagilemethodofscrumfromtheperspectiveof ProductOwnersandScrumMasters?,thetheoreticalframeworkpresentedinSection2.6wasused toanalyzethecollectedempiricaldata. TheDTpracticeelementsofenduserempathy,visualizing,andsynthesisstatedintheliterature reviewbyhassiandlaakso(2011)wereidentifiedtobeintheoreticalmisalignmentwiththelsd principlesandscrumpracticesofcustomerfocus,writingbacklogsandwasteelimination, respectively.thisthesisinvestigatedthesetheoreticalmisalignmentsinpracticebystudyingthe integrationofdtwithlsdandscrumatsoftwareco.theconclusionsconcerningtheintegrationof thesedtpracticeelementsonlsdandscrumprojectsfromtheperspectiveofposandsmscanbe statedas: 1. Thenotionsofenduserempathyandcustomersatisfactionwereperceivedtobeneither clearlyalignednorcontradicting.thedtpracticeelementofempathizingwasseenas contributingtothedevelopmentofbetterproducts,whichinturnincreasescustomer satisfaction;therefore,enduserempathypositivelyeffectscustomersatisfaction.the specificdtterminologyregardingendusersnegatestheambiguityofthetermcustomerin LSDandScrum,andthusincreasesclarity.Ontheotherhand,endusercontactisanaddition totheusualcustomercontactandcreatespracticalchallengesintermsofaccess,logistics, budgets,andqualityandquantityofenduserdata. 52

59 2. ThetheoreticaldiscrepancybetweenvisualizinginDTandtheScrumpracticeofwriting backlogswasclearlyrejected.thesepracticeswereperceivedtoalignwell,providedthat visualizingfromdtprecedesscrumpracticeofwritingbacklogsinlsdprojects.visualizing wasseenasmoreimportantbecauseitimprovescommunicationandfacilitatesboth problemdefinitionandbacklogwriting.ratherthanbeinginconflict,visualizingandbacklog writingcomplementeachother. 3. NeithermisalignmentnoralignmentcouldbeclearlyconcludedconcerningDTmanager s focusonsynthesisandlsdmanager sfocusonwasteelimination.noteworthyisthatdt aspectsotherthansynthesiswereperceivedaswasteful.sourcesofwasteindtwere consideredtobelongdiscussionsasaneffectoflargeteamsize,suboptimalcompositionof teams,andgenerationoftechnicallyunfeasibleideas.whenviewedoverall,dtwas accreditedwiththepotentialtoreduceoverallwasteonsoftwaredevelopmentprojectsby reducingtheamountornecessaryreworkandeliminatingunnecessarysoftwarefeatures. TheaboveconclusionsrelatingtothetheoreticalmisalignmentsbetweenDTpracticeelementsand LSD,andScrumprinciplesandpracticesprovideinitialinsightsintohowPOsandSMsperceivethe integrationofdtwithlsdandscrum.theseinitialinsightscontributetothedevelopmentofnew theoryregardingthesuccessfulintegrationofdt,lsd,andscrumbyclearlyshowingthatthe theoreticalmisalignmentsarenotperceivedverystronglyinpracticebyposandsms.bycritically studyingtheintegrationfromtheperspectiveofindividualsthatarecentraltoitssuccess,thisstudy complementspreviousresearchonthetopicconductedbyhildenbrandandmeyer(2012)who exploredtheintegrationfromaprocessperspective.asidefromthespecificfindingslistedabove,a numberofareasforfutureresearchhaveemergedfromconductingthisexploratorycasestudy. Thesearebrieflydescribedinthefollowingsection. 8 AreasforFurtherResearch DTisarelativelynewapproachtoareasoutsideofdesign,andhasyettobeextensivelystudied withinthemanagementrealm,particularwithinsoftwaredevelopmentsettings.therelative newnessofdtcombinedwiththeinvestigativenatureofthisexploratorycasestudyleaves significantroomfordiscussionandexpansionandsometopicsaresuggestedbelow. AreasforFurtherResearch ProductOwner ShiftinaPO sroleandresponsibilitieswiththeintroductionofdt ShiftisviewedfavorablyorcriticallydependingontheindividualPO ExperienceofthePO,individualpersonality,and/orculturalbackground mightaffecthowthepoviewsthisshift Success CorrelationofDTactivitiestomarketsuccess Measures POandSMroleincommunicatingthecorrelationofDTtomarketsuccess tomotivatethescrumteam Rightway DTisgoodifdonethe Rightway Whatismeantbythe Rightway fordt Synergies Studythepracticeelements,ActionBasedandCollaboration,thatshowed atheoreticalalignment DTCategories StudyotherthetwoothercategoriesinHassiandLaakso(2011)DT literaturereview:mindsetandcognitiveapproach. 53

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63 10 Appendix:Interviewguide ThisinterviewguideisrepresentativefortheinterviewswithPOsandSMs.Itshouldbenotedthough thattheexactphrasingofquestionsaswellastheirorderdifferedbetweeninterviews.also, additionalfollowupquestionsweretypicallyaskedduringthecourseofaninterview. Introduction Isitokaytorecordtheinterview? Introductionoftheresearchers. Ensuredanonymityandconfidentiality. Experience&Background WhatisyourtitleandroleatSoftwareCo? Howlonghaveyouworkedinthisrole? Howmanydevelopmentprojectshaveyouworkedon? HowmanyinvolvedinDT? DesignThinking Whatisyourdefinition/understandingofDT? WhatisyouropinionaboutDT? HowdidyoureacttotheideaofpotentiallydoingDTprojects? LSDandScrumcombinedwithDT WiththeintroductionofDTindevelopmentprojects,haveprojectschangedcomparedtohaving onlyalsdapproach?how? Isitcorrectthatonemaindifferenceishavingrequirementsvsgettingrequirements? WhatisthemostimportantaspectwhencarryingouttheSM/POroleinaLSDproject? IsitdifferentinDT?Ifso,how? ArethereanyparticularchallengeswhencarryingouttheSM/POroleinaLSDproject? IsitdifferentinDT?Ifso,how? 57

64 OfthefollowingLSDandScrumelements,whichisthemostimportantforyou? Customerfocus Listingrequirementsinproductbacklogs Wasteelimination Havingdefinedsuccessmeasures DotheyconflictwiththefollowingDTelements? Enduserempathy(vscustomerfocus) Visualizing(vslistingrequirementsinbacklogs) Synthesis:converging/diverging(vswasteelimination) Noclearsuccessmeasure(vsdefinedsuccessmeasures) HasyourroleandresponsibilitieschangedwhenusingDTondevelopmentprojects? Ifso,how? DidyouhavetoadjustyourwayofworkingwhenusingDTondevelopmentprojects? Ifso,how? Conclusion GivenyourroleasPO/SM,isthereanythingelseyouwouldliketoaddaboutworkingwithDT,LSD andscrumapproaches? DoyouhaveanycriticismonDTorwhatcouldbedonebetter? 58