Using the WinWin spiral model: a case study

B. Boehm, A. Egyed, J. Kwan, D. Port, A. Shah, R. Madachy
1998 Computer  
Fifteen teams used the WinWin spiral model to prototype, plan, specify, and build multimedia applications for USC's Integrated Library System. The authors report lessons learned from this case study and how they extended the model's utility and cost-effectiveness in a second round of projects. A t the 1996 and 1997 International Conferences on Software Engineering, three of the six keynote addresses identified negotiation techniques as the most critical success factor in improving the outcome
more » ... software projects. At the USC Center for Software Engineering, we have been developing a negotiationbased approach to software system requirements engineering, architecture, development, and management. Our approach has three primary elements: • Theory W, a management theory and approach, which says that making winners of the system's key stakeholders is a necessary and sufficient condition for project success. 1 • The WinWin spiral model, which extends the spiral software development model by adding Theory W activities to the front of each cycle. The sidebar "Elements of the WinWin Spiral Model" describes these extensions and their goals in more detail. • WinWin, a groupware tool that makes it easier for distributed stakeholders to negotiate mutually satisfactory (win-win) system specifications. 2 In this article, we describe an experimental validation of this approach, focusing on the application of the WinWin spiral model. The case study involved extending USC's Integrated Library System to access multimedia archives, including films, maps, and videos. The Integrated Library System is a Unix-based, text-oriented, client-server COTS system designed to manage the acquisition, cataloging, public access, and circulation of library material. The study's specific goal was to evaluate the feasibility of using the WinWin spiral model to build applications written by USC graduate student teams. The students developed the applications in concert with USC library clients, who had identified many USC multimedia archives that seemed worthy of transformation into digitized, userinteractive archive management services. The study showed that the WinWin spiral model is a good match for multimedia applications and is likely to be useful for other applications with similar characteristics-rapidly moving technology, many candidate approaches, little user or developer experience with similar systems, and the need for rapid completion. The study results show that the model has three main strengths. • Flexibility. The model let the teams adapt to accompanying risks and uncertainties, such as a rapid project schedule and changing team composition. • Discipline. The modeling framework was sufficiently formal to maintain focus on achieving three main, or "anchor-point," milestones: the life-cycle objectives, the life-cycle architecture, and the initial operational capability. (Table A in the sidebar describes these milestones.) • Trust enhancement. The model provided a means for growing trust among the project stakeholders, enabling them to evolve from adversarial, contract-oriented system development approaches
doi:10.1109/2.689675 fatcat:7w36bdqt5vgkhpk26tddz24ofq