Decision-making in the requirements engineering process : a human-centered approach

Abstract: Complex decision-making is a prominent aspect of requirements engineering and the need forimproved decision support for requirements engineers has been identified by a number ofauthors. A first step toward better decision support in requirements engineering is tounderstand decision-makers- complex decision situations. To gain a holistic perspective of thedecision situation from a decision-makers perspective, a decision situation framework hasbeen created. The framework evolved through a literature analysis of decision supportsystems and decision-making theories. The decision situation of requirements engineers hasbeen studied at Ericsson Microwave Systems and is described in this thesis. Aspects ofdecision situations are decision matters, decision-making activities, and decision processes.Another aspect of decision situations is the factors that affect the decision-maker. A numberof interrelated factors have been identified. Each factor consists of problems and these arerelated to decision-making theories. The consequences of this for requirements engineeringdecision support, represented as a list that consists of desirable high-level characteristics, arealso discussed.