The number of people with age related physical or cognitive impairments is increasing due to the worlds ageing population. Technology has the potential to support independent living, and to achieve aged and health service efficiencies, however, there are gaps in our understanding of factors that motivate technology adoption and ongoing use by older adults, especially those with cognitive impairments. This study aims to explore motivators and enablers for technology adoption and ongoing use by older Australians with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and their carers, to identify technology design principles and guidelines that maximise adoption. Semi structured interviews were used to gather data about individual demographics, needs, priorities, lifestyle, challenges, and experiences with technology. Results of inductive, reflective, thematic analysis indicate that a desire for independence, autonomy and quality of life motivate use of technology, and perceived technology self-efficacy and IT literacy are enablers. The Protection Motivation Theory illustrates that constant technology change is a disabler for technology adoption and sustained use, because it lowers perceived technology self-efficacy and IT literacy, and reduces confidence to use technology. Two high-level technology design principles and related guidelines are proposed, grounded in theory and aligned with Banduras four sources of self-efficacy. These design principles and guidelines are intended to increase feelings of self-efficacy and confident use of technology, while also reducing adverse impacts of technological change and encouraging sustained technology adoption by older adults with MCI to support independent living and quality of life.
Agile - denoting "the quality of being agile, readiness for motion, nimbleness, activity, dexterity in motion" - software development methods are attempting to offer an answer to the eager business community asking for lighter weight along with faster and nimbler software development processes. This is especially the case with the rapidly growing and volatile Internet software industry as well as for the emerging mobile application environment. The new agile methods have evoked substantial amount of literature and debates. However, academic research on the subject is still scarce, as most of existing publications are written by practitioners or consultants. The aim of this publication is to begin filling this gap by systematically reviewing the existing literature on agile software development methodologies. This publication has three purposes. First, it proposes a definition and a classification of agile software development approaches. Second, it analyses ten software development methods that can be characterized as being "agile" against the defined criterion. Third, it compares these methods and highlights their similarities and differences. Based on this analysis, future research needs are identified and discussed.
P. Abrahamsson, O. Salo, Jussi Ronkainen et al.· arXiv.org· 728 citations· ⚡54
Context: Software startups are newly created companies with no operating history and fast in producing cutting-edge technologies. These companies develop software under highly uncertain conditions, tackling fast-growing markets under severe lack of resources. Therefore, software startups present a unique combination of characteristics which pose several challenges to software development activities. Objective: This study aims to structure and analyze the literature on software development in startup companies, determining thereby the potential for technology transfer and identifying software development work practices reported by practitioners and researchers. Method: We conducted a systematic mapping study, developing a classification schema, ranking the selected primary studies according their rigor and relevance, and analyzing reported software development work practices in startups. Results: A total of 43 primary studies were identified and mapped, synthesizing the available evidence on software development in startups. Only 16 studies are entirely dedicated to software development in startups, of which 10 result in a weak contribution (advice and implications (6); lesson learned (3); tool (1)). Nineteen studies focus on managerial and organizational factors. Moreover, only 9 studies exhibit high scientific rigor and relevance. From the reviewed primary studies, 213 software engineering work practices were extracted, categorized and analyzed. Conclusion: This mapping study provides the first systematic exploration of the state-of-art on software startup research. The existing body of knowledge is limited to a few high quality studies. Furthermore, the results indicate that software engineering work practices are chosen opportunistically, adapted and configured to provide value under the constrains imposed by the startup context.
Nicolò Paternoster, Carmine Giardino, M. Unterkalmsteiner et al.· Information and Software Tec...· 394 citations· ⚡54
A new method, called CW-Net, translates the reasoning process of an autonomous vehicle’s AI system into understandable concepts that explain its behavior.
