Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2311 |
| Journal | Journal of Software: Evolution and Process |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 27 Aug 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Jan 2021 |
Abstract
Product Owners have an important role in the agile and hybrid software development process. While this role is supposed to maximize the value of a product, there seem to be several scattered results on how they achieve this, as well as what actually constitutes this role in practice. To consolidate current research results and to further analyze the key attribute of Product Owners, we conducted a multi-method research approach spanning a systematic mapping study and a consecutive case study in a hybrid development environment. The results of the mapping study states that Product Owners are communicators. We further investigated on this and used the shadowing technique to observe three Product Owners' communication activities. The results support that statement, as the gained data reveal that Product Owners spend 65% of their time in meetings. But rather than just providing the team with the necessary requirements for the product under development, Product Owners need this time to synchronize and align their work, streamline the agile process of large-scale Scrum, discuss team-based topics, and to solve upcoming issues addressed by the team. These results contribute to draw a more comprehensive picture of the important but yet complex role of Product Owners in practice.
Keywords
- agile software development, case study, communication, On-Site Customer, Product Owner, Scrum, systematic mapping study, XP
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science(all)
- Software
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In: Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, Vol. 33, No. 1, e2311, 18.01.2021.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Are Product Owners communicators?
T2 - A multi-method research approach to provide a more comprehensive picture of Product Owners in practice
AU - Unger-Windeler, Carolin
AU - Klünder, Jil Ann Christin
AU - Reuscher, Timothy
AU - Schneider, Kurt
N1 - Funding Information: The case study was supported by Baker Hughes.
PY - 2021/1/18
Y1 - 2021/1/18
N2 - Product Owners have an important role in the agile and hybrid software development process. While this role is supposed to maximize the value of a product, there seem to be several scattered results on how they achieve this, as well as what actually constitutes this role in practice. To consolidate current research results and to further analyze the key attribute of Product Owners, we conducted a multi-method research approach spanning a systematic mapping study and a consecutive case study in a hybrid development environment. The results of the mapping study states that Product Owners are communicators. We further investigated on this and used the shadowing technique to observe three Product Owners' communication activities. The results support that statement, as the gained data reveal that Product Owners spend 65% of their time in meetings. But rather than just providing the team with the necessary requirements for the product under development, Product Owners need this time to synchronize and align their work, streamline the agile process of large-scale Scrum, discuss team-based topics, and to solve upcoming issues addressed by the team. These results contribute to draw a more comprehensive picture of the important but yet complex role of Product Owners in practice.
AB - Product Owners have an important role in the agile and hybrid software development process. While this role is supposed to maximize the value of a product, there seem to be several scattered results on how they achieve this, as well as what actually constitutes this role in practice. To consolidate current research results and to further analyze the key attribute of Product Owners, we conducted a multi-method research approach spanning a systematic mapping study and a consecutive case study in a hybrid development environment. The results of the mapping study states that Product Owners are communicators. We further investigated on this and used the shadowing technique to observe three Product Owners' communication activities. The results support that statement, as the gained data reveal that Product Owners spend 65% of their time in meetings. But rather than just providing the team with the necessary requirements for the product under development, Product Owners need this time to synchronize and align their work, streamline the agile process of large-scale Scrum, discuss team-based topics, and to solve upcoming issues addressed by the team. These results contribute to draw a more comprehensive picture of the important but yet complex role of Product Owners in practice.
KW - agile software development
KW - case study
KW - communication
KW - On-Site Customer
KW - Product Owner
KW - Scrum
KW - systematic mapping study
KW - XP
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089959392&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/smr.2311
DO - 10.1002/smr.2311
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089959392
VL - 33
JO - Journal of Software: Evolution and Process
JF - Journal of Software: Evolution and Process
SN - 2047-7473
IS - 1
M1 - e2311
ER -