Capturing domain knowledge from very small enterprises, during agile development - a Case Study

Abstract: Very Small Enterprises (VSEs) are currently the backbone of all industries, since they account for roughly 80% of the world’s economy. In some countries, they account for over 95% of all companies and enterprises. As such, VSEs are a fundamental element in any given industry. Because of this, understanding how VSEs function and how, as a software developer, work and think is crucial to facilitate the software development process. A software unaware VSE (SUVSE) is a company which has little tangency with understanding software in general. The problem lies in how to properly and efficiently communicate with SUVSE, due to their limitations, as well as the general lack of knowledge regarding software development.   This report will cover the topic of challenges faced when working with a very small company for gathering domain knowledge (DK) and facilitating the communication and exchange of meaningful information, in the context of developing a software product, using agile methodologies. In the report, some of the more popular agile methodologies will be covered and chosen, in addition to existing ISO standards for VSEs.   The purpose of the research is to answer the following questions:   What topics are software unaware very small enterprise (SUVSE) aware of, in the software development process?   Which aspects of the software development process must be known by a software unaware domain expert of a very small enterprise (VSE), so that a software development team can capture the required domain knowledge (DK)?     How is the software unaware very small enterprises (SUVSEs) understanding of the software development process affected by their involvement in an agile development methodology?   To fulfill the purpose of the study, a case study was performed using 3 techniques to gather data: questionnaire, observation and interview. The participants were employees and CEOs from a few VSEs, contacted either via phone or face-to-face meetings.   The study showed the problems faced when working with SUVSE, what steps should be performed to facilitate communication with domain experts for gathering DK, and how the VSE can benefit from the knowledge and experience gained because of actively participating in the software development process. It concludes with practices on how to improve communication between software developers and VSE stakeholders to optimize the exchange of meaningful data and knowledge in the context of VSEs, and recommends future work based on the findings.