A Requirements Engineering Framework for Software Startup Companies

Abstract

Requirements engineering (RE) for startups has only recently become an area of intense exploration. This paper provides results of a qualitative study with 45 practitioners from four startup companies in four countries. This research was planned and executed using the design science research (DSR) methodology and yielded a descriptive framework that was subjected to a first evaluation in empirical settings. The authors found that practitioners in startups deploy rapid prototyping practices and user feedback but in a different way than the agile methods assume. This research concludes with discussion on validity threats and some implications for practice and research.