1. The Soft Topics in Software Engineering Mark Ardis Stephen Chenoweth Frank Young

2. 2 Categories of Soft Topics 1.Observing 2.Reviewing 3.Presenting 4.Writing 5.Planning 6.Cooperating 7.Reflecting 8.Judging

3. 3 1. Observing  Good listening skills  Exploratory and goal-directed, not too focused  Need to record without analyzing behavior

4. 4 2. Reviewing  Reading and providing feedback  Feedback to other groups in the lifecycle  Need to learn how to give feedback to clients

5. 5 3. Presenting  Industry practice requires responding to potentially hostile or anxious audience members  Use of rubrics for evaluation is important

6. 6 4. Writing  Many type of documents: Requirements specifications Designs User documentation  Many other informal documents: Task lists Meeting agendas Interview summary

7. 7 5. Planning  Estimation Individual and team estimates Need lots of feedback  Project plans Scheduling Tracking Risk analysis

8. 8 6. Cooperating  Teamwork  Leadership  Group problem solving

9. 9 7. Reflecting  Project retrospectives  Data collection and analysis  Personal reflections (project notebooks)

10. 10 8. Judging  Professional ethics  Personal ethics  Consideration of all stakeholders

11. 11 How Important are Soft Topics?  79% of topics in the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge involve them  5 of the most important 25 topics for software developers and managers [Lethbridge 2000]  Numerous studies and industry surveys confirm need for soft skills

12. 12 Example 1: Usability Testing 1.Design an experiment: test usability of a software system 2.Observe subjects using system 3.Analyze results 4.Recommend improvements

13. 13 Example 2: Capstone Project 1.Elicit requirements 2.Design a solution 3.Implement and test 4.Deliver to client 5.Present final results

14. 14 Usability Testing Opportunities (1/2) 1.Observing –Subjects –Other teams 2.Reviewing –Feedback to other teams 3.Presenting –Recommendations –Project experiences 4.Writing –Instructions –Survey –Recommendations

15. 15 Usability Testing Opportunities (2/2) 5.Planning –Experiment 6.Cooperating –Team roles –Working with subjects 7.Reflecting –Improvements –Experimental process 8.Judging –Disabilities –Demographics

16. 16 Capstone Opportunities (1/2) 1.Observing –Client meetings 2.Reviewing –Peer performance –Other teams' artifacts 3.Presenting –Milestone reports 4.Writing – Project plan – Requirements – Documentation

17. 17 Capstone Opportunities (2/2) 5.Planning –Project plan –Weekly reports 6.Cooperating – Group meetings 7.Reflecting – Retrospectives 8.Judging – Stakeholders

18. 18 Summary CategoriesUsabilityCapstone 1. Observing√√ 2. Reviewing√√ 3. Presenting√√ 4. Writing√√ 5. Planning√√ 6. Cooperating√√ 7. Reflecting√√ 8. Judging√√

19. 19 Usability Testing Materials http://www.swenet.org