Enhancing Agile Software Development Sustainability through the Integration of User Experience and Gamification

TL;DR

This paper introduces GLUX, a framework that integrates Lean UX into Scrum using gamification to enhance sustainability in agile software development across human, economic, and environmental dimensions.

Contribution

The paper presents GLUX, a novel framework that combines Lean UX, Scrum, and gamification to improve sustainability in agile development processes.

Findings

GLUX fosters human sustainability by empowering teams and enhancing collaboration.

It reduces UX debt and promotes value-focused behavior among agile teams.

Encourages building minimum viable products to support environmental sustainability.

Abstract

This article provides a rich discussion on how the sustainability of agile development processes can be enhanced. In particular, we focus on a recently developed framework, named GLUX, that integrates Lean UX into Scrum. GLUX's main goal is to facilitate a seamless integration between agile and user experience (UX) by using gamification to motivate agile teams to adopt a user-centered mindset and carry out UX activities collaboratively throughout the development process. Our role as software researchers is to contribute towards improving software sustainability and provide the software engineering community with the tools and techniques that will improve the human, economic, and environmental sustainability of software development. We found that GLUX addresses human sustainability by empowering self-sufficient, problem-focused teams, building a motivating and engaging environment, and developing team cooperation. Economic sustainability is addressed by minimizing UX debt and using gamification techniques to direct the focus of the behavior and mindset of agile teams towards value creation. Finally, environmental sustainability is promoted by encouraging agile teams to build a minimum viable product (MVP).