A model of requirements engineering in software startups

Abstract

Context: Over the past 20 years, software startups have created many products that have changed human life. Since these companies are creating brand-new products or services, requirements are difficult to gather and highly volatile. Although scientific interest in software development in this context has increased, the studies on requirements engineering in software startups are still scarce and mostly focused on elicitation activities. Objective: This study overcomes this gap by answering how requirements engineering practices are performed in this context. Method: We conducted a grounded theory study based on 17 interviews with software startups practitioners. Results: We constructed a model to show that software startups do not follow a single set of practices but, instead, build a custom process, changed throughout the development of the company, combining different practices according to a set of influences (Founders, Software Development Manager, Developers, Market, Business Model and Startup Ecosystem). Conclusion: Our findings show that requirements engineering activities in software startups are similar to those in agile teams, but some steps vary as a consequence of the lack of an accessible customer.