This report presents design and summarizes results of the survey research "What kind of wastes are the most common and most harmful in software development projects?". The survey research was a part of the project realized in the frame of Quality Management and Experimental Software Engineering classes at Poznan University of Technology.
- RQ1: What kinds of wastes in software development are the most common?
- RQ2: What kinds of wastes in software development are the most harmful?
- RQ3: Is there a relationship between frequency / harm of a "waste" and work experience?
- H1: Opinions on frequency and harm of a "waste" are related to kind (programming language and role) of work experience
- H2: Opinions on frequency and harm of a "waste" are related to amount (length and level) of work experience
The scope of our survey was to ask (as many as possible) people working in software projects, either professionally or in university projects.
We designed our study as a cross-sectional as we think that this approach fits our research questions the best. A big advantage of a cross-sectional study is that it’s fairly easy and quick to both conduct and gather the results. We decided to administer the survey to the participants in the way of self-administered, online questionnaires.
Our idea for the instrument was to create a survey on Google Forms as it’s the most convenient and popular approach nowadays. Link to the survey on Google Forms:
Q1: What is your name?
Justification: This question allows us to identify who already filled our survey
Type of response: Open
Q2: What is the main programming language you use in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ3
Type of response: Open
Q3: What is your main role in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ3
Type of response: Single choice from the list of most popular roles in projects
Roles: Frontend Developer, Backend Developer, Fullstack Developer, PM, DevOps
There is also an option to add your own role
Q4: What is your level of work experience in a such or similar role?
Justification: This question supports RQ3
Type of response: 5-steps scale from Junior to Senior
Q5: How long (in months) is your work experience in a such or similar role in general?
Justification: This question supports RQ3
Type of response: Open
Q6: How long (in months) is your work experience in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ3
Type of response: Open
Q7: How common are those task-related "wastes" in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ1 and RQ3
Type of response: Matrix of (single-per-row) choices where each row is a kind of "waste" and each column is a degree of how common is that "waste"
Columns: 5-steps scale from "Doesn’t happen" to "Very common"
Rows: List of some task-related "wastes" that might be found in projects "Wastes":
- Unclearly defined tasks
- Focusing on unneeded tasks
- Leaving tasks uncompleted
- Poorly executed tasks
- Avoiding specific tasks
Q8: How harmful are those task-related "wastes" in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ2 and RQ3
Type of response: Matrix of (single-per-row) choices where each row is a kind of "waste" and each column is a degree of how harmful is that "waste"
Columns: 5-steps scale from "Not harmful" to "Very harmful"
Rows: same as in Q7
Q9: How common are those information-related "wastes" in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ1 and RQ3
Type of response: Matrix of (single-per-row) choices where each row is a kind of "waste" and each column is a degree of how common is that "waste"
Columns: 5-steps scale from "Doesn’t happen" to "Very common"
Rows: List of some information-related "wastes" that might be found in projects "Wastes":
- Issues with documentation
- Wrong introduction of new team members
- Too frequent meetings
- Too long meetings
- Bad flow of information inside team
- Language communication issues
Q10: How harmful are those information-related "wastes" in the chosen project?
Justification: This question supports RQ2 and RQ3
Type of response: Matrix of (single-per-row) choices where each row is a kind of "waste" and each column is a degree of how harmful is that "waste"
Columns: 5-steps scale from "Not harmful" to "Very harmful"
Rows: same as in Q9
Data was collected during the period between 18.02.21 and 24.02.21. Respondents were students from our university group. In total there were 13 respondents.
Q2: Main programming languages used in chosen projects
Q3: Main roles in the chosen projects
Q7: Frequency of task-related "wastes" in the chosen projects
Q8: Harmfulness of task-related "wastes" in the chosen projects
Q9: Frequency of information-related "wastes" in the chosen projects
Q10: Harmfulness of information-related "wastes" in the chosen projects
- Our university group is specific because a big part of our studies is about participating in projects from an architecture and management perspective (and not development) - maybe people from different Master specializations would answer differently.
- Our university group is specific because most of us work as developers - maybe people working in other roles would answer differently.