The Impact of Impromptu User Story Modifications on the Project, Customers and Team Members During a Sprint

Maureen Tanner and Martin Lee Pan
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Maureen Tanner: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Martin Lee Pan: University of Cape Town, South Africa

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Abstract: Agile methodologies and Scrum specifically, accommodate for changing requirements during the lifespan of a software project. This is typically seen as an advantage but practitioners have reported numerous challenges related to impromptu requirements modifications, mid-Sprint. There is limited academic literature on this issue, which prompts for further empirical investigation. This study therefore investigates how impromptu user story (requirements) modifications impact the project, customers and the team. Qualitative data was captured from a single case study and analysed using the general inductive approach. Some of the findings include: negative impacts on Scrum team members due to conflicts with product owners, and negative perceptions on team members’ performance. Product Owners changing and requesting new requirements caused extra pressure on team members to complete work that was not originally agreed upon. Team members did not experience much conflict within the team, but did express discomfort with Product Owners due to the abuse of power.

Keywords: user-story modification; agile; scrum; sprint; teams; information technology; management; innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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