Using Social Networking Sites for Requirements Elicitation: Perspectives and Challenges
Keywords:
Requirement elicitation, Social Networking Sites, Requirement engineering, Software engineeringAbstract
The primary aim of any software system is to fulfill users' needs by providing functionality that matches what users are expecting. The success of any software application depends on the requirements elicitation (RE) processes that are the main determinant of software quality. This paper is intended to undertake a preliminary investigation into the ways in which popular social networking sites (SNS) could offer support for RE activities. This research used two approaches, quantitative and qualitative in means of a survey and focus group, and seeks to understand the opinions and perceptions of system developers, system analysts, and IT managers working in Kuwait about the use and the effectiveness of Social Networking Sites (SNS) to elicit end user requirements and to discover whether SNS technology can be of assistance in terms of ways we gather, priorities, and negotiate stakeholder requirements. In addition, this research aims at investigating factors that influence the sudden adoption of SNS as used for RE within Kuwait before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, and to shed light on the opportunities and challenges. The results of this study reveal that participants indicate that SNS can be used for requirements elicitation processes, and can help hear what stakeholders have to say about the system under investigation. Participants indicated that SNS could encourage the generation of new ideas and will speed the elicitation process. The interesting finding is that among the SNS, WhatsApp is mostly used by the participants for RE activities.
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