Improving the Usability of an Automated Testing System by Applying Requirements Engineering Practices
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Journal Title
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Volume Title
Perustieteiden korkeakoulu |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2018-01-22
Department
Major/Subject
Software and Service Engineering
Mcode
SCI3043
Degree programme
Master’s Programme in Computer, Communication and Information Sciences
Language
en
Pages
103
Series
Abstract
Automated testing is an important part in scaling agile in software companies. Automated testing systems are assuring the quality of software products. The principle that quality is everybody's concern is rising and automated testing systems are being used by multiple user groups. The basic assumption of this thesis is that a user friendly interface that supports an efficient workflow will improve the daily testing operations and in the end the quality of the software. The goal of this thesis was to improve the user interface of an automated testing system based on user workflows with the help of requirements engineering practices. The main research method used in this thesis was action research, an iterative approach which combines theory and practice. In order to investigate the user interface issues, analysis of existing literature was an important step to understand which are good requirements engineering practices that can be applied in the case study. The results of the study show that clarifying user groups and identifying workflows were key steps to define a clear scope for user interface improvement. Workflow diagrams and prototyping were practices of documenting, validating and communicating requirements within stakeholder groups. Analysis of user feedback gathered from interviews was achieved with a user needs table that summarized workflows, issues and ideas. The user needs table created the necessary input for requirements prioritization and for low and high fidelity prototyping. The lessons learned from the empirical study indicate that simplifying workflows by applying user need tables can be the key RE practice when improving the UI of an existing system. In addition, prioritizing requirements iteratively during prototype validation is essential for the identification of user needs.Description
Supervisor
Kauppinen, MarjoThesis advisor
Rautakorpi, TiinaChauMing, Lim
Keywords
requirements engineering practices, interactive prototyping, user interface, automated testing, paper prototyping