A participative modelling tool supporting the story card method

Abstract

When business-oriented software needs to be developed within a scaled context, the story card method (SCM) assists in structuring emerging software requirements within a taxonomy that represents enterprise operation. However, agile team members first need to develop a common understanding about enterprise operation when they construct the enterprise operation taxonomy. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasised the need to use digital participative design practices when in-person face-to-face participation is not possible, especially when team members are geographically dispersed. A key concern was identified during a previous design iteration of the SCM and confirms that the current software modelling tool that is being used, in combination with the SCM, does not encourage active participative modelling (PM), due to the latency of the tool. This study aims to investigate whether a new PM modelling tool is useful to post-graduate participants within a tertiary educational context, when they apply digital PM within the context of their own enterprise using the SCM. The study starts with a literature review, indicating that problems related to PM also exist within a broader context than this study. A design science research (DSR) approach was followed in this study to evolve the existing SCM artefact and address the concern related to the previous software modelling tool. As multiple PM tools are available, a list of minimum requirements was used to short-list two tools. A comparative analysis of the two tools is provided, motivating the selection of a single tool that was used to support the SCM. In applying the SCM, 36 participants were involved. Of the 36 participants, 25 completed a survey to evaluate the usefulness of the tool and whether the tooling encouraged participative design. Using a demonstration case to illustrate the notion of participative design to the post-graduate participants, using the selected tool in combination with the SCM, feedback was obtained about the participative modelling tool that was used by post-graduate participants. Finally, a conclusion is provided on the usefulness of the PM tool and whether the findings could be generalised beyond the combined use with the SCM.