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An Exploratory Study on Applying a Scrum Development Process for Safety-Critical Systems

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Book cover Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2017)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 10611))

Abstract

Background: Agile techniques recently have received attention from the developers of safety-critical systems. However, a lack of empirical knowledge of performing safety assurance techniques, especially safety analysis in a real agile project hampers further steps. Aims: In this article, we aim at (1) understanding and optimizing the S-Scrum development process, a Scrum extension with the integration of a systems theory based safety analysis technique, STPA (System-Theoretic Process Analysis), for safety-critical systems; (2) validating the Optimized S-Scrum development process further. Method: We conducted a two-stage exploratory case study in a student project at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. Results: The results in stage 1 showed that S-Scrum helps to ensure safety of each release but is less agile than the normal Scrum. We explored six challenges on: priority management; communication; time pressure on determining safety requirements; safety planning; time to perform upfront planning; and safety requirements’ acceptance criteria. During stage 2, the safety and agility have been improved after the optimizations, including an internal and an external safety expert; pre-planning meeting; regular safety meeting; an agile safety plan; and improved safety epics and safety stories. We have also gained valuable suggestions from industry, but the generalization problem due to the specific context is still unsolved.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.kaaproject.org/overview/.

  2. 2.

    https://github.com/ywISTE/student-project---Smart-Home.

  3. 3.

    The questionnaire is available: https://zenodo.org/record/439696#.WODCovl96Uk.

  4. 4.

    http://www.xstampp.de/.

  5. 5.

    The interview guideline is available: https://zenodo.org/record/439696#.WODCovl96Uk.

  6. 6.

    The questionnaire is available: https://zenodo.org/record/439696#.WODCovl96Uk.

  7. 7.

    The interview guideline is available: https://zenodo.org/record/439696#.WODCovl96Uk.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank Dr. A. Nguyen-Duc for proof reading and his valuable suggestions. We are grateful to all participants involved during the case study. Finally, we want to thank all the feedback on previous versions. The first author is supported by the LGFG (Stipendien nach dem Landesgraduiertenfördergesetz).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Yang Wang, Jasmin Ramadani & Stefan Wagner

Authors
  1. Yang Wang
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  2. Jasmin Ramadani
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  3. Stefan Wagner
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yang Wang , Jasmin Ramadani or Stefan Wagner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Michael Felderer

  2. Technical University Munich, Garching, Germany

    Daniel Méndez Fernández

  3. Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom

    Burak Turhan

  4. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Marcos Kalinowski

  5. University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Federica Sarro

  6. Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

    Dietmar Winkler

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Wang, Y., Ramadani, J., Wagner, S. (2017). An Exploratory Study on Applying a Scrum Development Process for Safety-Critical Systems. In: Felderer, M., Méndez Fernández, D., Turhan, B., Kalinowski, M., Sarro, F., Winkler, D. (eds) Product-Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10611. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69926-4_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69926-4_23

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69926-4

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