Software Engineers' Information Seeking Behavior in Change Impact Analysis - An Interview Study

Abstract

Software engineers working in large projects must navigate complex information landscapes. Change Impact Analysis (CIA) is a task that relies on engineers' successful information seeking in databases storing, e.g., source code, requirements, design descriptions, and test case specifications. Several previous approaches to support information seeking are task-specific, thus understanding engineers' seeking behavior in specific tasks is fundamental. We present an industrial case study on how engineers seek information in CIA, with a particular focus on traceability and development artifacts that are not source code. We show that engineers have different information seeking behavior, and that some do not consider traceability particularly useful when conducting CIA. Furthermore, we observe a tendency for engineers to prefer less rigid types of support rather than formal approaches, i.e., engineers value support that allows flexibility in how to practically conduct CIA. Finally, due to diverse information seeking behavior, we argue that future CIA support should embrace individual preferences to identify change impact by empowering several seeking alternatives, including searching, browsing, and tracing.

When traceability goes awry: An industrial experience report

“…Another concept related to traceability is change management [19]-i.e., the idea that when a software artifact is changed, all associated artifacts need to be identified and updated accordingly. The responsibility for this task is often delegated to the development team, and its complexity is affected by the already available traceability links.…”

“…The responsibility for this task is often delegated to the development team, and its complexity is affected by the already available traceability links. In their case study, Borg et al found that developers prefer flexible forms of information rather than formal information, including traceability information, when dealing with changes [19].…”

“…Second, achieving traceability in a large system is resource-intensive, and human commitment also comes into play. In a study by Borg et al about change requests and change management, it was observed that teams are hesitant to even touch upon other teams' code [19]. In larger silo organizations this situation is exacerbated since silos may assume that other individuals or teams keep traceability up to date, especially when teams suffer from resource constraints.…”