Motivational models for validating agile requirements in Software Engineering subjects

TL;DR

This paper explores how motivational models can be used to validate and improve the consistency and completeness of agile requirements in software engineering education, aiding students in creating clearer and more aligned artifacts.

Contribution

It introduces a set of nine consistency principles for motivational models, personas, and user stories, enhancing requirements quality in educational settings.

Findings

Nine consistency principles were developed and adopted by students.

Motivational models help improve understanding and alignment of requirements.

Students created better, more consistent requirements artifacts.

Abstract

This paper describes how motivational models can be used to cross check agile requirements artifacts to improve consistency and completeness of software requirements. Motivational models provide a high level understanding of the purposes of a software system. They complement personas and user stories which focus more on user needs rather than on system features. We present an exploratory case study sought to understand how software engineering students could use motivational models to create better requirements artifacts so they are understandable to non-technical users, easily understood by developers, and are consistent with each other. Nine consistency principles were created as an outcome of our study and are now successfully adopted by software engineering students at the University of Melbourne to ensure consistency between motivational models, personas, and user stories in requirements engineering.