Context: Requirements engineering (RE) is an important part of Software Engineering (SE), consisting of various human-centric activities that require the frequent collaboration of a variety of roles. Prior research has shown that personality is one such human aspect that has a huge impact on the success of a software project. However, a limited number of empirical studies exist focusing on the impact of personality on RE activities. Objective: The objective of this study is to explore and identify the impact of personality on RE activities, provide a better understanding of these impacts, and provide guidance on how to better handle these impacts in RE. Method: We used a mixed-methods approach, including a personality test-based survey (50 participants) and an in-depth interview study (15 participants) with software practitioners from around the world involved in RE activities. Results: Through personality test analysis, we found a majority of the practitioners have a high score on agreeableness and conscientiousness traits and an average score on extraversion and neuroticism traits. Through analysis of the interviews, we found a range of impacts related to the personality traits of software practitioners, their team members, and external stakeholders. These impacts can be positive or negative, depending on the RE activities, the overall software development process, and the people involved in these activities. Moreover, we found a set of strategies that can be applied to mitigate the negative impact of personality on RE activities. Conclusion: Our identified impacts of personality on RE activities and mitigation strategies serve to provide guidance to software practitioners on handling such possible personality impacts on RE activities and for researchers to investigate these impacts in greater depth in future.
翻译:背景:需求工程是软件工程的重要组成部分,包括各种以人为中心的活动,需要团队内的各种角色频繁协作。先前的研究表明,人格是一个有很大影响的人类因素,对软件项目的成功有着巨大影响。但是,很少有实证研究关注人格对需求工程活动的影响。目标:本研究旨在探索和识别人格对需求工程活动的影响,更好地理解这些影响,并为如何更好地处理这些影响提供指导。方法:我们采用了混合方法,包括一个基于人格测试的调查(50名参与者)和一项深度访谈研究(15名参与者),涉及全球从事需求工程活动的软件从业人员。结果:通过人格测试分析,我们发现大多数从业者在宜人性和责任感特质方面得分较高,外向性和情绪不稳定性特质得分一般。通过对访谈的分析,我们发现人格特质对软件从业人员、团队成员和外部利益相关者的影响范围很广,这些影响可能是积极的或消极的,具体取决于需求工程活动、整个软件开发过程以及涉及这些活动的人员。此外,我们还提出了一组应对策略,以减轻人格对需求工程活动的负面影响。结论:我们确定的人格对需求工程活动的影响和缓解策略是为软件从业人员提供处理这些可能的人格影响的指导,为未来的研究在更深入程度上研究这些影响提供了思路。