MASTERÂ Assignment
Feature Request Handling in Software Development SMEs
Type : Master M-BIT
Period: September, 2024 - February, 2025
Student : Jakel, T. (Tibor, Student BIT)
Date Final project: February 27, 2025
Supervisors:
Abstract:
Software development companies in general and SaaS providers in particular face the need to constantly innovate and improve their products to stay ahead of competitors. An important source of external innovation are their customers, who supply them with a constant stream of new ideas for their products, so-called feature requests. However, many software companies struggle to process and prioritize incoming feature requests. This research set out to develop a standardized feature request handling process that software development SMEs could implement to improve the selection and prioritization of their customers' feature requests. The design of the process follows Design Science Methodology proposed by Wieringa (2014). The proposed feature request handling process consists of three stages. The initial Request Intake and Preparation, during which feature requests are clarified and processed for further evaluation, the Feature Backlog Grooming, during which the projected value and effort of feature requests is estimated by a team of practitioners, and the Feature Review, which serves to assess the success of implemented features, and gives the team the chance to further improve their solutions and learn from mistakes. Moreover, a digital implementation of the estimation game used during the Feature Backlog Grooming session was developed.