Gamification of Traceability Management Tools

Abstract

Background: Traceability is a desired quality of software. However, successfully implementing it can be expensive. The existing traceability management tools meant to simplify the process are often considered unengaging, further complicating the task of creating and maintaining a high standard of traceable systems. Objective: In this study we examine whether gamification features can be used to extend the verification aspects of traceability management tools. Our intent is to render the existing tool Capra more engaging and to examine to which extent it is affected. Method: Our methodology is built around a Design Science Research framework and incorporates various data collection methods. To produce viable data sets to analyze we have conducted an experiment along with three different surveys. In the aforementioned experiment, two groups of 12 participants are tasked to verify the trace links of the same trace matrice. The first group was assigned the traceability management tool Capra extended with a level and a badge feature, while the control group used Capra with no additional features. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference between the groups’ speed and correctness. The level and badge features were perceived positively by the majority of the participants while some pitfalls and improvements were pointed out. Upon testing the results they proved mostly to be insignificant, with the exception of the user’s perceived enjoyment, as such further research would be required in order to confirm many of the indications presented in this study. Conclusion: In conclusion the study indicates the need for further research into the field as the result raises several questions regarding traceability, gamification and their interaction. More extensive studies need to be conducted to investigate these indications with larger sample sizes, different gamification features and alternative traceability management tools.