Developing situationally specific methods through stakeholder collaboration

Abstract

Software development methods can only be used effectively where there is a close match between the method being used and the situational application. There are two key features that need to be considered by those concerned with formalising the development of situational methods: (i) the stakeholder input and (ii) the method engineering process. The method presented, MEWSIC (Method Engineering With Stakeholder Input and Collaboration), formalises the development of situational methods so that links to quality assurance processes is retained. MEWSIC accounts for the number of stakeholders who have a legitimate interest in the success of the project but distinguishes between those who provide input that informs the method engineering process and those who carry out this process. A description of MEWSIC is given bringing out the collaborative nature of the approach. The authors then discuss MEWSIC's place within software engineering (particularly in relation to method engineering approaches and quality assurance mechanisms).