Abstract
Background: Experiment-driven development with the help of real usage data helps to build software products and services that are of high value to their users. As more software companies use experimentation in their development practises, ethical concerns are increasingly important. Objective: There is a need for understanding the ethical issues companies must take into account when practising experimentation as a development strategy.
This paper examines how software development practitioners experience the need for notifying users when involving them in experimentation. Method: We conducted a survey within four software companies, inviting employees in different functional roles to indicate their attitudes and perceptions through a number of statements. Results: Employees working in different roles have different viewpoints on ethical issues. While managers are more conscious about company-customer relationships, UX designers appear more familiar with involving users. Developers think that details of experiments can be withheld from users if the results depend on it. Conclusion: Barriers to successfully conducting experiment-driven development are different for different roles. Clear and specific guidelines are needed for ethical aspects of experimentation.
This paper examines how software development practitioners experience the need for notifying users when involving them in experimentation. Method: We conducted a survey within four software companies, inviting employees in different functional roles to indicate their attitudes and perceptions through a number of statements. Results: Employees working in different roles have different viewpoints on ethical issues. While managers are more conscious about company-customer relationships, UX designers appear more familiar with involving users. Developers think that details of experiments can be withheld from users if the results depend on it. Conclusion: Barriers to successfully conducting experiment-driven development are different for different roles. Clear and specific guidelines are needed for ethical aspects of experimentation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings - 11th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement, ESEM 2017 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Publication date | 11 Dec 2017 |
| Pages | 199-204 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-5090-4040-7 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-5090-4039-1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Dec 2017 |
| MoE publication type | A4 Article in conference proceedings |
| Event | International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement - Toronto, Canada Duration: 9 Nov 2017 → 10 Nov 2017 Conference number: 11 |
Fields of Science
- 113 Computer and information sciences