OpenReq Issue Link Map: A Tool to Visualize Issue Links in Jira

TL;DR

This paper introduces OpenReq Issue Link Map, a Jira plug-in that visualizes issue dependencies to help manage complex, large-scale software projects more effectively by identifying missing links and inconsistencies.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel Jira plug-in that visualizes issue links, aiding in dependency management and inconsistency detection in large software projects.

Findings

Improves issue dependency overview in Jira

Helps identify missing or unknown links

Detects inconsistencies in issue relationships

Abstract

Managing software projects gets more and more complicated with an increasing project and product size. To cope with this complexity, many organizations use issue tracking systems, where tasks, bugs, and requirements are stored as issues. Unfortunately, managing software projects might remain chaotic even when using issue trackers. Particularly for long lasting projects with a large number of issues and links between them, it is often hard to maintain an overview of the dependencies, especially when dozens of new issues get reported every day. We present a Jira plug-in that supports developers, project managers, and product owners in managing and overviewing issues and their dependencies. Our tool visualizes the issue links, helps to find missing or unknown links between issues, and detects inconsistencies.