A Game for Taking Requirements Engineering More Seriously

Abstract

Requirements engineering (RE) is often neglected and not taken seriously. In particular, students and small or medium enterprises do not see how RE activities are related to the success or failure of projects. We address this serious problem with a game students can play in a few minutes. Our software quantum metaphor helps to visualize a main challenge of RE: building the right system within available time. We animate the metaphor and present it as simulated software project. Agile ideas and comprehensive documentation can be tried out, as well as the impact of prototypes and reviews on requirements. A player needs to balance speed and quality, and should weed out early misunderstandings later. This helps to experience advantages of systematic RE. The game facilitates comprehension and encourages taking RE a little more seriously.