Impacts of IDEF0-Based Models on the Usefulness, Learning, and Value Metrics of Scrum and XP Project Management Guides

Abstract Plan-driven Project Management is a highly relevant approach for successful systems and software development projects, and its application is pursued uniformly. Agile Project Management practices, in contrast, are highly flexible and varied, and their learning and correct application has been found a challenging task. In other Engineering Management domains, IDEF0-based models have been satisfactorily used for documenting process guides, but their study in agile practices has been scarce. This paper investigates whether the IDEF0-based models for agile Project Management guides, as in Scrum and XP practices, can improve the usefulness, learning, and value metrics when compared to using standard guides. A quantitative experimental evaluation conducted with 58 international subjects and blocked on the variables of Practical Experience and Knowledge on Scrum/XP methods found that the IDEF0-based guides were evaluated with better metrics than the standard guides in 11 paired t-tests, and similarly in the remaining 16 ones. This study thus provides empirical evidence of positive impacts by using the IDEF0-based models for digital guides of agile practices and fosters their utilization and further research in the agile Engineering Management domain.