Abstract
This diploma thesis studies the impact of velocity on product quality in
distributed agile software development. The work is motivated by the current
challenges to produce products faster and with better quality. At the same
time, projects have to stay on budget and schedule. Projects have problems
meeting deadlines and staying on budget. The work focuses on measuring how
development speed influences internal quality. After the literature review,
the models were tested empirically in case projects.
First, the current knowledge on distributed agile development was studied and
analysed. Many challenges were found from the collaborative development, and
advantages could not always be attained. Next, the product quality definitions
and measurements were studied. The requirements of the quality model were
specified based on the findings: the model should support all the perspectives
which are used to consider product quality. Furthermore, the quality model
should support top-down and down-top approaches to measuring quality. Finally,
velocity measurement was studied. Measuring is challenging and there is no
standard.
Selected metrics were realized empirically in case studies. The measuring of
the metrics was found to be challenging, and not all the metrics could be
collected. Case projects did not suggest any significant differences in
quality for small projects performed by junior developers. There were
differences in velocity between the case projects though these may have been
due to the experience of the developers or the programming language used.
Distributed projects reported more problems in communication and integration
work than co-located projects. Finally, the product quality in the case
projects was similar.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Master Degree |
Awarding Institution |
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Place of Publication | Oulu |
Publisher | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
MoE publication type | G2 Master's thesis, polytechnic Master's thesis |
Keywords
- Productivity
- iterative development
- project management
- small-scale software development