Novice-friendly probes for the gathering and analysis of requirements and subsequent design of software

Abstract

Developing software, both in its entirety or some specific elements and components, poses a significant challenge. One of the main obstacles one may face during this process is conducting a thorough survey and subsequent analysis of requirements. This difficulty arises from stakeholders struggling to accurately articulate their needs, desires, and expectations. To address this issue, qualitative strategies such as interviews, surveys, work tables, brainstorming, observation, and user stories are commonly employed. However, mastering and utilising them effectively often takes years of experience. To simplify this process for novices (e.g., students, beginners, enthusiasts) in the field of computer science and related areas, inspired by participatory design guidelines, we devised a series of design probes that we call Mirrors. To explore their feasibility, we conducted two different interventions with students. In this document, we present these tools along with a methodology for their application. Additionally, we show the results obtained through their implementation. Lastly, we talk about their benefits and limitations, as well as our future work in order to consolidate their effectiveness.