Lessons learned on applying design science for bridging the collaboration gap between industry and academia in empirical software engineering

Abstract

Collaboration between industry practitioners and researchers has been reported as a challenge to conduct empirical studies in software engineering. Gaining practitioners interest in research activities is challenging in the software development industry characterized by tough competition and short time-to-market. Often, practitioners do not see the direct value in collaborating with researchers. Meanwhile, researchers are frequently frustrated because they have no access to the real-world data that would enable them to develop scientific knowledge. Design science has become a popular research framework in Information Systems. This paper describes our lessons learned on how design science can help to attract and motivate industry practitioners to take part in empirical research. We present our practical experiences with using design science in the context of empirical software engineering, and how the design science framework helped us to bridge the collaborative gap with our industry partners. In illustrating our experiences, we present two case studies conducted in collaboration with Ericsson and Elektrobit in which the design science framework was followed. Based on our experience, design science is a suitable research framework for empirical software engineering since much of the research in the field is constructive. The similarities between the design science practices and the day-to-day work of practitioners in industry make it easy for them to understand the research approach. Thus, it supports their willingness to participate in research activities.

Approaches, success factors, and barriers for technology transfer in software engineering—Results of a systematic literature review

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Protocol and tools for conducting agile software engineering research in an industrial-academic setting

“…Agile Approach -An Overview Many software companies have moved from plan-driven software development processes to Agile software development in the recent years. Thanks to this shift in paradigms, industry practitioners are now more likely to understand research activities driven by design science and action research, as these two approaches resemble their daily work to a large degree [13,15]. Design science has been discussed during CESI (Conducting Empirical Studies in Industry) workshops several times in the recent years (e.g.…”

“…Design science has been discussed during CESI (Conducting Empirical Studies in Industry) workshops several times in the recent years (e.g. [15,22]). Action research, however, is significantly less popular in software engineering research (despite its wide acceptance in the organizational development field).…”

“…Consequently, changing focus from plan-centric to feedback-centric is essential, as researchers should maximize their efforts on industry-relevant experimentation and the industrial partner's (customer) engagement. However, so far, the software engineering field has been lacking research methods and techniques, which would help with preparing a research design and conducting the actual research in industry [15]. In the same vein, Petersen et al [13] contend that the research community still needs to better describe its approach when conducting industry-driven research -i.e.…”

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