Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study

Technological progress, upcoming cyber-physical systems, and limited resources confront small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the challenge of complexity management in product development projects spanning over the entire product lifecycle. SMEs require a solution for documenting and analyz...

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Main Authors:	Jan-Phillip Herrmann, Sebastian Imort, Christoph Trojanowski, Andreas Deuter
Format:	article
Language:	EN
Published:	MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:	complexity management assistance system product development systems engineering design structure matrix asset administration shell Electronic computers. Computer science QA75.5-76.95
Online Access:	https://doaj.org/article/3015f2e41e0e48c0810daa96546b4f91
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3015f2e41e0e48c0810daa96546b4f912021-11-25T17:17:28ZRequirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study10.3390/computers101101492073-431Xhttps://doaj.org/article/3015f2e41e0e48c0810daa96546b4f912021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/10/11/149https://doaj.org/toc/2073-431XTechnological progress, upcoming cyber-physical systems, and limited resources confront small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the challenge of complexity management in product development projects spanning over the entire product lifecycle. SMEs require a solution for documenting and analyzing the functional relationships between multiple domains such as products, software, and processes. The German research project FuPEP “Funktionsorientiertes Komplexitätsmanagement in allen Phasen der Produktentstehung” aims to address this issue by developing an assistance system that supports product developers by visualizing functional relationships. This paper presents the methodology and results of the assistance system’s requirements elicitation with two SMEs. Conducting the elicitation during a global pandemic, we discuss its application using specific techniques in light of COVID-19. We model problems and their effects regarding complexity management in product development in a system dynamics model. The most important requirements and use cases elicited are presented, and the requirements elicitation methodology and results are discussed. Additionally, we present a multilayer software architecture design of the assistance system. Our case study suggests a relationship between fear of a missing project focus among project participants and the restriction of requirements elicitation techniques to those possible via web conferencing tools.Jan-Phillip HerrmannSebastian ImortChristoph TrojanowskiAndreas DeuterMDPI AGarticlecomplexity managementassistance systemproduct developmentsystems engineeringdesign structure matrixasset administration shellElectronic computers. Computer scienceQA75.5-76.95ENComputers, Vol 10, Iss 149, p 149 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	complexity management assistance system product development systems engineering design structure matrix asset administration shell Electronic computers. Computer science QA75.5-76.95
spellingShingle	complexity management assistance system product development systems engineering design structure matrix asset administration shell Electronic computers. Computer science QA75.5-76.95 Jan-Phillip Herrmann Sebastian Imort Christoph Trojanowski Andreas Deuter Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study
description	Technological progress, upcoming cyber-physical systems, and limited resources confront small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the challenge of complexity management in product development projects spanning over the entire product lifecycle. SMEs require a solution for documenting and analyzing the functional relationships between multiple domains such as products, software, and processes. The German research project FuPEP “Funktionsorientiertes Komplexitätsmanagement in allen Phasen der Produktentstehung” aims to address this issue by developing an assistance system that supports product developers by visualizing functional relationships. This paper presents the methodology and results of the assistance system’s requirements elicitation with two SMEs. Conducting the elicitation during a global pandemic, we discuss its application using specific techniques in light of COVID-19. We model problems and their effects regarding complexity management in product development in a system dynamics model. The most important requirements and use cases elicited are presented, and the requirements elicitation methodology and results are discussed. Additionally, we present a multilayer software architecture design of the assistance system. Our case study suggests a relationship between fear of a missing project focus among project participants and the restriction of requirements elicitation techniques to those possible via web conferencing tools.
format	article
author	Jan-Phillip Herrmann Sebastian Imort Christoph Trojanowski Andreas Deuter
author_facet	Jan-Phillip Herrmann Sebastian Imort Christoph Trojanowski Andreas Deuter
author_sort	Jan-Phillip Herrmann
title	Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study
title_short	Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study
title_full	Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study
title_fullStr	Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study
title_full_unstemmed	Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study
title_sort	requirements elicitation for an assistance system for complexity management in product development of smes during covid-19: a case study
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3015f2e41e0e48c0810daa96546b4f91
work_keys_str_mv	AT janphillipherrmann requirementselicitationforanassistancesystemforcomplexitymanagementinproductdevelopmentofsmesduringcovid19acasestudy AT sebastianimort requirementselicitationforanassistancesystemforcomplexitymanagementinproductdevelopmentofsmesduringcovid19acasestudy AT christophtrojanowski requirementselicitationforanassistancesystemforcomplexitymanagementinproductdevelopmentofsmesduringcovid19acasestudy AT andreasdeuter requirementselicitationforanassistancesystemforcomplexitymanagementinproductdevelopmentofsmesduringcovid19acasestudy
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Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study

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