Dead Code Doesn't Talk: Authentic Requirements Elicitation in Introductory Software Engineering

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that authentic requirements elicitation in undergraduate software engineering improves soft skills and produces quality requirements by engaging students with real clients and artifacts.

Contribution

It introduces a structured, authentic elicitation activity using student-built games and campus researchers as proxy clients, enhancing learning and requirement quality.

Findings

Students showed significant soft skill improvements, especially in stakeholder empathy and negotiation.

The activity yielded 203 requirements with high-quality SRS documents and engaging prototype demos.

Using student artifacts and campus researchers as clients increases authenticity and reduces cognitive barriers.

Abstract

Requirements elicitation is among the most communication-intensive activities in software engineering, yet it receives limited explicit treatment in undergraduate curricula. This paper presents a case study of an Introduction to Software Engineering course in which 20 student teams applied requirements elicitation practices to a Java-based 2D game they had built in a prior programming course, engaging 18 campus doctoral and postdoctoral researchers as authentic clients. Structured across four phases--preparation, client meeting, requirements elaboration, and a prototype sprint--the activity produced 203 elicited requirements, SRS documents with a mean quality score of $6.79 \pm 1.08$ out of 10, and prototype demonstrations scoring $7.21 \pm 1.15$. A pre/post self-assessment survey revealed statistically significant improvements across all eight measured soft-skill dimensions, with the largest gains in Stakeholder Empathy ($\Delta = +1.33$) and Negotiation ($\Delta = +1.13$). Thematic analysis of reflective reports identified four dominant learning themes, with the tension between client wishes and technical feasibility cited as the most professionally relevant experience. Our findings suggest that anchoring elicitation practice to a student-authored artifact lowers cognitive barriers while increasing authenticity, and that campus researchers serve as an accessible and effective proxy client for programs without established industry partnerships.