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Software Professionals’ Attitudes Towards Video as a Medium in Requirements Engineering

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Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 11271))

Abstract

In requirements engineering (RE), knowledge is mainly communicated via written specifications. This practice is cumbersome due to its low communication richness and effectiveness. In contrast, videos can transfer knowledge more richly and effectively. However, video is still a neglected medium in RE. We investigate if software professionals perceive video as a medium that can contribute to RE. We focus on their attitudes towards video as a medium in RE including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. We conducted a survey to explore these attitudes with a questionnaire. 64 out of 106 software professionals completed the survey. The respondents’ overall attitude towards video is positive. 59 of them stated that video has the potential to improve RE. However, 34 respondents also mentioned threats of videos for RE. We identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of videos for RE from the point of view of software professionals. Video is a medium with a neglected potential. Software professionals do not fundamentally reject videos in RE. Despite the strengths and opportunities of video, the stated weaknesses and threats impede its application. Based on our findings, we conclude that software professionals need guidance on how to produce and use videos for visual communication to take full advantage of the currently neglected potential.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under ViViReq, Grant No.: 289386339, (2017–2019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Software Engineering Group, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30167, Hannover, Germany

    Oliver Karras

Authors
  1. Oliver Karras
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oliver Karras .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität Clausthal, Goslar, Germany

    Marco Kuhrmann

  2. Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Kurt Schneider

  3. University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Dietmar Pfahl

  4. Okayama Prefectural University, Okayama, Japan

    Sousuke Amasaki

  5. QAware GmbH, Munich, Germany

    Marcus Ciolkowski

  6. Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Regina Hebig

  7. IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Paolo Tell

  8. Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Jil Klünder

  9. Clausthal University of Technology, Goslar, Germany

    Steffen Küpper

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Karras, O. (2018). Software Professionals’ Attitudes Towards Video as a Medium in Requirements Engineering. In: Kuhrmann, M., et al. Product-Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11271. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03673-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03673-7_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03672-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03673-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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