A preference-based approach to incorporate the "voice of the customer" in mass-market software product design

Abstract

With mobile and cloud computing, the software industry has witnessed a shift from customer-specific systems to a mass-market scenario. Integrating the "voice of the customer" is a critical success factor for mass-market products, but remains a challenge given the heterogeneity and distribution of their users. Classical requirements engineering methods rely on close interactions to gather user requirements and feedback regarding product features. However, they are hardly applicable in mass market scenarios, and new methods are required to assist product managers in designing their products while taking into consideration the opinion of the mass. In this paper, we argue for using market research techniques as preference-based approach in software product management. Following method engineering guidelines, we develop a method component 1 that refines conjoint analysis for the use in software product management. We present the meta-model and procedure and demonstrate it in a study on secure cloud storage services. We evaluate the feasibility, usefulness and ease of use of method component with experts in the RE domain. We contribute to mass-market software product management domain through a method component that builds on detailed understanding of user preferences for successful product design.