Knowledge management in requirement elicitation: Situational methods view

In small-scale software development organizations, software engineers are beginning to realize the significance of adapting software development methods according to project conditions. There is a requirement to proliferate this know-how to other developers, who may be facing the same settings/context, so that they too can benefit from others' experiences. In this paper, the application of situational method engineering in requirements elicitation phase is investigated. A novel, simple and dynamic web-based tool, Situational Requirement Method System (SRMS), is developed which can aid in conception/formulation, repository, and elicitation/derivation of methods related with this stage. The proposed approach and tool are validated by distributing a questionnaire among software professionals working in large software companies, and making SRMS accessible to them. The results indicate that a majority of the participants finds SRMS useful and provides various suggestions to improve it.