User stories method and assistive technology product development: A new approach to requirements elicitation

Abstract

Requirements elicitation for assistive technology (AT) product development must be collaborative and systemic. This process must ensure that the needs of all different users are identified. For this, UCD methods introduce different tools that seek user involvement and their needs identification. One method commonly used in software development is User Stories. The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of User Stories for requirements elicitation in an AT product development project. This method was applied with three types of users: patients, companions and occupational therapists. For the involvement of these users, the method was customized and two main adaptations were adopted: the stories were written by the development team and all user needs were identified through observations of interactions between patients and prototype. As a result, the development team was able to identify numerous product requirements to be used in later development phases. These requirements were generated by the user needs identified with User Stories. Thus, the method with necessary adaptations, was efficient for requirements elicitation in the AT product development process.