How Distributed Pair Programming (DPP) can mitigate risk factors causing challenged IT projects : An interview study with software developers

Abstract: The rise of Agile project methodologies has increased the success rate of software development projects, but recent studies show that, even though the risk of failing has lessened, only 31% of the completed software development projects are declared as successful while the rest are declared either challenged or failed. A concept called Pair Programming that derives from agile methodologies is widely and basically always used by developers but in present time as we are heading towards a more remote environment and Distributed Pair Programming has become a hot topic. At its core, it is the same as Pair Programming, but the coding session is conducted in a distributed setting, meaning, the two developers are not sitting next to each other. There are little to no studies conducted about DPPs impact on software development projects and if DPP has the potential to mitigate risk factors that may arise while implementing code in an agile software development project.   The purpose of this thesis has been to research and discover what the perceived benefits and drawback of Distributed Pair Programming (DPP) are and which factors that are the most harmful to a software development project and if DPP can facilitate higher success rates. To answer the research questions, a qualitative research method has been used. The empirical data have been gathered by conducting 6 semi structured interviews with developers. Further, a thematic analysis has been carried through with the intent to easily map out the different themes that appears during the interviews.     The findings from the conducted study shows that there are multiple drawbacks and benefits. According to the informants, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks in such a manner that by not conducting DPP, they set themselves up for setbacks. It is very beneficial when onboarding a new team member and when tackling tougher problems. When it comes to implementing DPP in a successful manner there is a need for a digital infrastructure that supports verbal communication, web camera, screensharing and collaboration tools.