Separating Users' Views in a Development Process for Agile Methods

Abstract

Agile methods require a rigorous development process that takes into account a permanent involvement of user in all development steps. Several advanced researches have treated the various aspects of agile development methods. However, they lack rigorous and specific processes based on explicit and detailed definition of users’ organization and interaction during development process. In this paper, we have suggested an approach that guides software projects managers in assignment of integrated users in development process. The basic definition of this process is based on a set of layers represented by nested circles. Circles from the center to the external surface represent, respectively, initial or starting users’ requirements, software architecture, design level and codification level. These layers are decomposed into slices from the center to the external circle. Each slice represents a different view that corresponds to a specific class of users. In our process, developers have not constrained by a specific views approach, they can choose the appropriate views approach from the literature (e.g. 4+1 view approach). Initial requirements, in this process, are represented by an extension of use case diagram definition of UML. The proposed process is driven by requirements. It is used for large software systems developed by a numerous and heterogeneous development teams. The developed process is characterized by its simplicity, and it can be easily adapted for other agile processes.