Erfolg macht attraktiv – das gilt auch für die Prinzipien und Methoden der agilen Softwareentwicklung. Diese finden momentan eine weite Verbreitung, denn sie geben offenbar gute oder zumindest bessere Antworten auf die Probleme, mit denen die herkömmlichen Projektmethoden nicht zurande kommen (Royce 1970). Agile, manchmal auch »leichtgewichtig« genannte Methoden vermeiden übermäßige Planung und Spezifikation, sie ersetzen sie durch eine schnelle Abfolge von Zyklen aus Aktion-Reflexion und Neuausrichtung. Sie bevorzugen die Kollaboration unter gleichberechtigten Experten, die Kommunikation statt Weisung. Und sie beziehen den Kunden und späteren Nutzer bereits in die Entwicklungsarbeit mit ein, denn der Kunde ist die wichtigste Informationsquelle, er bestimmt, inwiefern das Produkt für ihn nützlich ist. Durch solche Prinzipien ist es möglich, Zeit- und Budgetüberschreitungen besser zu vermeiden, einen produktiven Umgang mit Ungewissheit und wechselnden Situationen zu entwickeln und schonender mit der menschlichen Arbeitskraft umzugehen (Abrahamsson et al. 2003). So hat sich das Konzept der »Agilität« auch auf andere Bereiche übertragen, z.B. auf die Gründung von Unternehmen (»Lean Start Up«, Ries 2011) oder die Gestaltung von Organisationsstrukturen (»Agile Organisation«, Richardson 2005). [... aus dem Text]

Due to fast-paced technological disruptions and diversifying users, user experience (UX) professionals are experiencing a flood of new UX methods and a need for continuous learning. Literature has shown that with a lack of understanding, UX practice research has designed too abstract UX methods making them hard to understand and to apply. With a thematic analysis of an interview with 13 UX professionals, this study presents results on how UX professionals choose UX methods and insights into their lifelong learning. The results from the thematic analysis agree that UX methods are hard to integrate into Agile, too complicated, take too much time to learn, and colleagues have shown to be an essential component for learning. These findings indicate that UX methods might work better if they are designed less complicated and deliver results quicker following the design of Scrum. Also, companies could use novel ideas to ease the access to users and to learn, e.g., lunch lectures.

Many organizations aspire to adopt agile processes to take advantage of the numerous benefits that it offers to an organization. Those benefits include, but are not limited to, quicker return on investment, better software quality, and higher customer satisfaction. To date however, there is no structured process (at least that is published in the public domain) that guides organizations in adopting agile practices. To address this situation, we present the Agile Adoption Framework and the innovative approach we have used to implement it. The framework consists of two components: an agile measurement index, and a 4-Stage process, that together guide and assist the agile adoption efforts of organizations. More specifically, the Sidky Agile Measurement Index (SAMI) encompasses five agile levels that are used to identify the agile potential of projects and organizations. The 4-Stage process, on the other hand, helps determine (a) whether or not organizations are ready for agile adoption, and (b) guided by their potential, what set of agile practices can and should be introduced. To help substantiate the "goodness" of the Agile Adoption Framework, we presented it to various members of the agile community, and elicited responses through questionnaires. The results of that substantiation effort are encouraging, and also suggest further avenues for improvement. / Ph. D.

Purpose – This thesis is to identifying key success factors for autonomous agile teams at the small-scale. Furthermore the purpose leads to an improvement of their working process. Method – This study is based on a comparative case study of a company with offices located in Jönköping and Ängelholm. The data is gathered by semi-structured qualitative interviews and by a survey with qualitative and quantitative answers. Findings – The results from RQ1 shows that there exists a difference between established and non-established autonomous agile teams in order to achieve success for projects. ​The findings from RQ2 present six themes that each represent key success factors in an autonomous agile team-based IT project at the small scale. The themes are ​Customer Oriented, Architecture, Individual Development, Team Setup, Entirety and Privilege. The findings from RQ3 resulted in six different elements (​Freedom and Flexibility, Trust and Responsibility, Clear directions, Environment, The work gives value ​ and ​Shared knowledge) ​ that make an individual team member satisfied in an autonomous agile team. Limitations – A fair limitation of this study is too few people to answered the survey. More respondents would have increased the trustworthiness of the results. Keywords – Autonomy, Self-organizing, Success factor, Agile development, Small-scale, Job satisfaction

Web analytics are used to track and examine user behavior on websites and web applications. In order to take data driven decisions companies and organizations working with the web look to web analytics to understand their users. A piece of Javascript code that collect user behavior and information is often referred to as a tag, which can be managed through a tag management system. Tag management systems can provide structure to how a website’s users’ behaviors are being measured. This study examines how a tag management system can enable web analytics of user data to be incorporated in an agile web development process at the Swedish company Dailybitsof. With a literature study, case study and interviews with professionals on the subject, a set of recommendations to enable web analytics is presented. This study suggests that a tag management system can enable web analytics to be incorporated into an agile web development process if it is implemented in combination with changes to the agile process. / Webbanalys används för att spåra och undersöka användarbeteende på hemsidor och webbapplikationer. För att ta datadrivna beslut, använder sig företag och organisationer av webbanalys för att förstå sina användare. Några rader Javascript-kod kan användas för att samla upp användarbeteende och kallas ibland för ett tag. Dessa tags kan behandlas i ett så kallad tag management-system. Tag management-system kan ge struktur över hur användarbeteendet på en hemsida spåras och analyseras. Den har uppsatsen undersöker hur ett tag management-system kan möjliggöra att data från webbanalys blir använt i en agil webbutvecklingsprocess hos det svenska företaget Dailybitsof. Med en litteraturstudie, fallstudie och intervjuer med professionella inom ämnet presenteras rekommendationer för att att möjliggöra webbanalys. Uppsatsen föreslår att ett tag management-system kan möjliggöra användandet av webbanalys i en agil webbutvecklingsprocess om det implementeras i kombination med ändringar av den agila processen.

In today’s globally competitive business environment, efficient product development processes are critical for companies to meet rapidly changing customer demands and preferences. Therefore, companies have looked beyond traditional linear product development processes leading to the development of new iterative processes. The new iterative and agile supporting processes have had strong success for software companies. However, how to leverage these new processes in modular hardware solutions remains unclear. This thesis analyzes the challenges of utilizing and leveraging Agile Development (AD) while maintaining a modular product strategy. This study aims to increase the understanding of how to achieve a successful coexistence between AD and modularization and thereby allowing to work increasingly agile in modular settings to decrease costs and lead times. To study this, a case study on a has been performed on a large Swedish manufacturer of modular vehicle systems. To accompany this, an abductive research approach with qualitative methods has been used, where the results are based on interviews and internal documents. The results together with the literature enable a discussion on how AD and modularization can coexist. The results can be summarized accordingly: • AD and modularization can coexist given that AD is a philosophy and mindset and modularization is product strategy; • the agile mindset and freedom have to be limited to the existing boundaries and principles set by the overall firm modular strategy; and • the ability to work agile in modular settings is disrupted when the agile team requires external involvement of additional individuals. The thesis concludes that the ability to effectively leverage AD in a modular setting depends on two aspects. First, the size and complexity of the project. Second, the product architectural knowledge within the agile team. / I dagens globala och konkurrenskraftiga företagsvärld blir produktutveckling en alltmera kritisk process för att kunna möta snabbt ändrande kundbehov. Således, eftersöker företag att utnyttja mer okonventionella och iterativa produktutvecklingsmetoder. Dessa nya agila metoder har påvisats väldigt effektiva för mjukvarubolag. Det är dock oklart hur dessa metoder kan nyttjas fördelaktigt för modulära hårdvarubolag. Denna studie analyserar utmaningarna i att använda och uttnyttja Agile Development (AD) samtidigt som man lyckas upprätthålla en modulär produktstrategi. Studien syftar till att öka förståelsen kring AD och modulariseringens samexistens, och därmed förklara hur man kan kombinera dessa för att minimera kostnader och ledtider. En fallstudie har gjort på ett svenskt tillverkande företag av modulära transportsystem. Med ett abduktivt förhållningssätt med kvalitativa metoder där data är från intervjuer och interna dokument. Resultaten tillsammans med teori möjliggör för en diskussion kring hur AD och modularisering kan samexistera. Resultaten kan sammanfattas enligt följande: • AD och modularisering kan samexistera för att AD ä ren filosofi medan modulariserig är en produktstrategi, • den agila friheten måste begränsas till de redan befintliga villkoren bestämda av företagets modulära strategi och • förmågan att arbeta agilt i en modulär kontext hämmas av när de agila teamen kräver involvering av externa individer. Studien drar slutsatsen att förmågan att effektivt nyttja AD i en modulär kontext beror på två aspekter. Först, storleken och komplexiteten av projektet. Sedan, kunskapen om produktarkitekturen i de agila teamen.

Public procurement is described as trade in goods andservices by government agencies. Carrying out aprocurement of information systems according to atraditional purchasing process is challenging if the intendedsystem is extensive or complex, as many requirements andother documentation are needed for a supplier to be able tocarry out the assignment. This makes it challenging forsuppliers to deliver a product that meets the customer'sexpectations and is one of the reasons why many public ITprojects fail today.System development has been conducted as standardaccording to an agile development process for many years.To be able to apply the agile way of working in systemdevelopment work in the public sector, a new way ofprocuring is required. This is done by describing whichimpact goals the business wants the system to satisfy andthen sets requirements for the development team that willcarry out the work, instead of setting requirements for thesystem.The knowledge gap identified and which the study aimed toinvestigate was how agile development teams should beevaluated, so that it is ensured that the supplier who winsthe procurement is also the development team that candeliver the most cost-effective solution for the contractingauthority.A qualitative study has been carried out, which was basedon a literature review to map the current state of knowledgein the field and to create a theoretical basis to start from. Theempirical material has been collected by conducting eightsemi-structured interviews with respondents from thecustomer and supplier side in public procurement of agiledevelopment teams. The collected material has beenanalysed to map success factors in evaluating agiledevelopment teams in public procurement.The study resulted in five success factors that were identifiedas important to consider when evaluating agile developmentteams, these are clear impact goals, mature organization,competence in the agile working methods, evaluation of softfactors and a clear project plan. By identifying and ensuringthese factors during the evaluation phase in publicprocurement, the contracting authority can procure thesupplier that best meets their expectations. / Offentlig upphandling beskrivs som handel av varor ochtjänster av statliga verksamheter. Att genomföra enupphandling av informationssystem enligt en traditionellinköpsprocess är utmanande om det påtänkta systemet äromfattande eller komplext eftersom det behövs en stormängd krav och annan dokumentation för att en leverantörska kunna genomföra uppdraget. Detta gör det utmanandeför leverantörer att leverera en produkt som motsvararbeställarens förväntningar och är en av anledningarna till attmånga offentliga IT-projekt misslyckas idag.Systemutveckling bedrivs som standard enligt en agilutvecklingsprocess sedan många år tillbaka. För att kunnatillämpa det agila arbetssättet vid systemutvecklingsarbeteninom offentliga sektorn så krävs ett nytt sätt att upphandla.Detta görs genom att beskriva vilka effektmål verksamhetenvill att systemet ska tillfredsställa och sedan kravställskompetenser på det utvecklingsteam som ska genomföraarbetet, i stället för att ställa krav på systemet.Den kunskapslucka som identifierats och som studien syftatatt undersöka var hur agila utvecklingsteam bör utvärderas,så att det säkerställs att den leverantör som vinnerupphandlingen också är det utvecklingsteam som harförmågan att leverera den mest kostnadseffektiva lösningenför den upphandlande myndigheten.En kvalitativ studie har genomförts, som utgått från enlitteraturgranskning för att kartlägga det aktuellakunskapsläget inom området och för att skapa en teoretiskgrund att utgå från. Det empiriska materialet har samlats ingenom att genomföra åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer medrespondenter från beställar- och leverantörssidan vidoffentlig upphandling av agila utvecklingsteam. Detinsamlade materialet har analyserats för att kartläggaframgångsfaktorer vid utvärdering av agila utvecklingsteamvid offentlig upphandling.Studien resulterade i fem framgångsfaktorer somidentifierats som viktiga att beakta vid utvärdering av agilautvecklingsteam, dessa är tydliga effektmål, mogenorganisation, kompetens inom de agila arbetssättet,utvärdering av mjuka faktorer och tydlig projektplan.Genom att kartlägga och säkerställa dessa faktorer underutvärderingsfasen inom offentlig upphandling, kan denupphandlande myndigheten upphandla den leverantör sommotsvarar deras förväntningar på bäst sätt.

Métodos ágeis são técnicas adequadas para o desenvolvimento de software sujeito a mudanças constantes. Essas mudanças não devem afetar o cronograma, orçamento do projeto e devem assegurar o atendimento às necessidades do cliente. Diversos valores, princípios e boas práticas de desenvolvimento e de condução de projeto são aplicados em projetos ágeis com esse objetivo. Algumas dessas práticas são relacionadas a atividade de teste de software. Este trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar a atividade de teste de software aplicada dentro de métodos de desenvolvimento ágil, buscando eliminar aspectos de teste não produtivos, identificando boas práticas e, principalmente, criando formas de acompanhar e melhorar continuamente a condução da atividade de teste. A partir da caracterização da atividade foi proposta a adoção de um conjunto de métricas para facilitar o seu acompanhamento e melhoria constante da mesma. Algumas dessas métricas de acompanhamento de testes foram implementadas na ferramenta Agile Testing Metrics Management (ATMM). O objetivo principal da ferramenta é gerenciar as iterações de desenvolvimento do projeto ágil e, também, exibir a evolução das métricas relacionadas ao código que está sendo testado e aos casos de teste desenvolvidos utilizando a ferramenta JUnit. Para validar a ferramenta e as métricas foram conduzidos estudos de casos com dois projetos de software de domínios diferentes que utilizaram métodos ágeis e testes de unidade / Agile methods are appropriate techniques for software development subject to constant changes. These changes should not affect the project schedule, budget and must ensure meeting the clients needs. Several values, principles and practices of project development and driving are applied in agile projects with this goal. Some of these practices are related to software testing activity. This study aimed at characterizing the software testing activity applied to agile development methods, trying to eliminate unproductive testing aspects, identifying good practices and especially creating ways of tracking and continuously improve the test activity. From this activity characterization, it was proposed an adoption of metrics set to facilitate the monitoring and constant improvement of the activity. Some of these testing tracking metrics were implemented in the Agile Testing Metrics Management Tool (ATMM). The main goal of this tool is to manage the iterations of agile project development and, also show the metrics evolutions regarding the code that have been tested and the test cases developed using JUnit. The tool and metrics were validated by case studies that were conducted with two software projects of different domains which used agile methods and unit testing

Utveckling av planeringssystem är ett komplext designproblem som kräver både en hög grad av flexibilitet men även struktur. I samband med planering är det ett flertal aktörer, aktiviteter och resurser som måste beaktas. Kunnandet när det gäller planering finns ofta koncentrerad till ett fåtal nyckelpersoner. Det är därför ingen tillfällighet att många företag, organisationer och även universitet idag bedriver sin planering i beprövade enanvändarsystem som Excel fast att det finns starkt behov för standardiserat fleranvändarsystem. Uppsala universitet är inget undantag trots dess storlek med över 40 000 studenter, 6 200 anställda, 130 utbildningsprogram och 2000 fristående kurser. Kursplaneringen bedrivs med hjälp av enanvändarsystem där man är beroende av ett antal nyckelpersoner för att planeringen skall fungera. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka och belysa den problematik som finns i samband med utveckling av planeringssystem genom att utveckla en prototyp för ett kursplaneringssystem. Den forskningsstrategi som används är Design Science och den utvecklingsmetodik som används är Scrum. Prototypen har utvärderats regelbundet under utvecklingen genom formativ utvärdering. Uppsatsens kunskapsbidrag utgörs av metodkunskap som visar hur Scrum och Design Science kan kombineras samt modellkunskap som visar den grundläggande strukturen för ett kursplaneringssystem. / Development of planning system is a complex design problem that requires both a high degree of flexibility but also structure. In the context of planning, there are several actors, activities and resources that must be considered. Expertise in planning is often concentrated in a few key individuals. It is therefore no coincidence that many businesses, organizations and even universities currently conducts its planning in proven single-user system like Excel even though there is a strong need for standardized multi-user system. Uppsala University is no exception, despite its size, with over 40,000 students, 6,200 employees, 130 programs and 2000 courses. Course planning is conducted using single-user system and which is dependent on a number of key individuals to plan to work. The essay aims to investigate and illustrate the problems that are associated with the development of the planning system by developing a prototype of a course scheduling system. The research strategy used is Design Science and the development methodology that is used is Scrum. The prototype has been evaluated regularly during development through formative evaluation. The essays knowledge contribution is methodological knowledge that shows both how Scrum and Design Science can be combined and model knowledge, which shows the basic structure of a course scheduling system.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The environment in which all organisations currently operate is undoubtably dynamic. Regardless of the nature, size or geographical location of business, companies are being forced to cope with a rapidly changing world and increasing levels of unpredictability. This thesis tracks the history of software development methodologies leading up to agile development (chapter 2). Agile development has appeared in response to the limitations of traditional development approaches and evolved to address the particular demands of a changing world (chapter 3). The theory of sensemaking is used to gain insight into the functioning of agile development. Sensemaking is introduced and a working definition of this concept is formulated (chapter 4). This research does not argue that agile development is the same as sensemaking, but rather that it can be better understood through sensemaking. Agile development can be seen as a type of sensemaking, but sensemaking is also a generic, universal cognitive ability. The structure and design of agile development is well aligned with sensemaking, and one can understand its nature and the type of management needed to support agile development better from this perspective. In fact, agile development directly supports and facilitates several important elements of the sensemaking process. For successful sensemaking to occur, certain organisational conditions need to be present. The term "managed sensemaking" is introduced to expand this notion. After performing an analysis of agile development (chapter 5), certain pertinent implications and challenges facing organisations are considered (chapter 6). By framing these implications in terms of sensemaking, practical management suggestions can be provided based on a good fit between the problem that agile development is meant to solve and the cognitive requirements of the process leading to a solution. The research conducted in this process opens the door to further research opportunities (chapter 7) and allows for the application of sensemaking in the context of software development methodologies. This study provides insight into the prevalence and functioning of agile methodologies, in software engineering contexts, by leveraging the theory of sensemaking to provide an explanation for the underlying worldview and processes constituting this approach. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die omgewing waarin alle organisasies tans funksioneer in ongetwyfeld dinamies. Maatskappye word genoop om die uitdagings van 'n vinnig-veranderende wêreld die hoof te bied, ongeag die aard, grootte of geografiese ligging van die besigheid. Hierdie tesis volg die geskiedenis van sagteware-ontwikkelingsmetodologiee tot by agile development (hoofstuk 2). Agile development het verskyn as 'n reaksie op die beperkings van tradisionele ontwikkelingsbenaderings en evolueer om aan te pas by huidige uitdagings (hoofstuk 3). Die teorie van sensemaking word gebruik om insig te verkry in die funksionering van agile development. Sensemaking word ingelei en 'n werksdefinisie word geformuleer (hoofstuk 4). Hierdie navorsing argumenteer nie dat agile development dieselfde is as sensemaking nie, maar eerder dat dit beter verstaan kan word deur sensemaking. Agile development kan wel gesien word as 'n tipe sensemaking, maar sensemaking is ook 'n generiese, universele kognitiewe vermoe. Die struktuur en ontwerp van agile development is goed belyn met sensemaking, en 'n mens kan die aard daarvan en tipe bestuur benodig om agile develop- ment te ondersteun beter verstaan vanuit hierdie perspektief. Tewens, agile development ondersteun en fasiliteer verskeie belangrike elemente van die sensemaking proses direk. Vir suksesvolle sensemaking om plaas te vind, word sekere organisatoriese toestande benodig. Die term "managed sensemaking" word ingelei om hierdie idee uit te brei. Na 'n analise van agile development (hoofstuk 5) word sekere dwingende implikasies en uitdagings, wat organisasies in die gesig staar, oorweeg (hoofstuk 6). Deur hierdie implikasies te plaas in sensemaking-terme kan praktiese bestuursvoorstelle aangebied word, gegrond op 'n goeie passing tussen die probleem wat agile development probeer aanspreek en die kognitiewe vereistes van die proses wat lei na 'n oplossing. Die navorsing wat onderneem is in hierdie proses ontsluit moontlikhede vir verdere studies (hoofstuk 7) en skep die moontlikheid vir die toepassing van sensemaking in die konteks van sagtewareontwikkelingsmetodologiee. Hierdie studie bied insig in die voorkoms en funksionering van agile methodologies in sagteware-ingenieurwese omgewings deur die teorie van sensemaking te hefboom om 'n verduideliking vir die onderliggende wereldbeeld en prosesse aan te bied.