Supporting Cognitive Work in Software Development Workflows

摘要

Both the increasing complexity of developing software systems and the growing significance of knowledge work require new innovations to support developers' cognitive activities in product development. A workflow is one aid to the development process. Current workflow models support business process management and logical ordering of tasks, but provide insufficient cognitive support for developers' daily work. We argue that cognitive support should also be provided. This paper addresses the topic through an empirical study. A model to support cognitive work in product development workflows has been developed and validated in an action research intervention. The empirical results indicate that the model tackles the identified challenges in workflows, increases the development process's efficiency, and provides better results. The findings of this study offer new insights into workflows and work support for both scholars and practitioners.