<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Cognitive biases influence every human being, including the individuals that take part in the software development process. Fixation is a cognitive bias that occurs when one focuses too much on certain items, events, obstacles or activities. In this study, we examine whether agile team members fixate on any particular agile practices. Through a set of semi-structured interviews, we investigated the source of these fixations, their consequences, and then propose possible countermeasures. We found that practitioners tend to fixate on practices that give them a sense of being in control over the project (such as meetings or Scrum events), while neglecting the Agile Principles of self-organising teams and working at a sustainable pace. This resulted in a series of problems, such as futile attempts to control team members, oversharing information with the client, meetings becoming a form of interrogation, and others.</p>
</abstract>

Cognitive biases influence every human being, including the individuals that take part in the software development process. Fixation is a cognitive bias that occurs when one focuses too much on certain items, events, obstacles or activities. In this study, we examine whether agile team members fixate on any particular agile practices. Through a set of semi-structured interviews, we investigated the source of these fixations, their consequences, and then propose possible countermeasures. We found that practitioners tend to fixate on practices that give them a sense of being in control over the project (such as meetings or Scrum events), while neglecting the Agile Principles of self-organising teams and working at a sustainable pace. This resulted in a series of problems, such as futile attempts to control team members, oversharing information with the client, meetings becoming a form of interrogation, and others.

Fixations in Agile Software Development Teams

Foundations of Computing and Decision Sciences

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Fixations in Agile Software Development Teams"}

Cognitive biases influence every human being, including the individuals that take part in the software development process. Fixation is a cognitive bias that...

Fixations in Agile Software Development Teams

Data publikacji: 19 mar 2023

Zakres stron: 3 - 18

Otrzymano: 14 wrz 2022

Przyjęty: 02 gru 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fcds-2023-0001

Słowa kluczowe
Agile software development, Software Development, Fixation, Cognitive Bias

© 2023 Klara Borowa et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fixations in Agile Software Development Teams

Data publikacji: 19 mar 2023

Zakres stron: 3 - 18

Otrzymano: 14 wrz 2022

Przyjęty: 02 gru 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fcds-2023-0001

Słowa kluczoweAgile software development, Software Development, Fixation, Cognitive Bias

© 2023 Klara Borowa et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Słowa kluczowe
Agile software development, Software Development, Fixation, Cognitive Bias