Using design thinking for requirements engineering in the context of digitalization and digital transformation: A motivation and an experience report

Abstract

In this chapter, which draws upon our daily project work at adesso AG, we first show how the various levels of digitalization have affected, or are currently impacting, requirements engineering. Projects within the context of digital transformation in particular place more stringent demands on requirements engineering because these call for new business models to be developed, and these in turn will only succeed if the new software to be developed does the best possible job of meeting users' real needs. One possible methodology for this is design thinking, because this method places users and their needs at the center of the design process. Starting with a brief overview of the main ideas and approaches behind this methodology, we show how we have successfully employed the design thinking concept in two concrete project situations.