Evaluating the Impact of Pair Documentation on Requirements Quality in Agile Software Development

Qamar, Nosheen and Sabahat, Nosheen and Mosavi, Amirhosein (2025) Evaluating the Impact of Pair Documentation on Requirements Quality in Agile Software Development. IEEE ACCESS, 13. pp. 45784-45794. ISSN 2169-3536

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Abstract

A fundamental deliverable of the requirements engineering process is the software requirements specification (SRS) document. A reliable SRS ensures that the final product aligns with the stakeholder’s expectations. Yet poorly documented requirements may lead to significant project risks, which include delays, cost overruns, and product failure. Currently, delivering a precise SRS remains a complex task which sometimes result in miscommunication and incomplete information. Such challenges are particularly seen in agile development where the iterative nature of projects requires continuous refinement of the requirements. Consequently, this empirical research aims to evaluate the impact of pair documentation on the quality and effectiveness of SRS documents within agile development teams. Twenty pairs of documentation writers worked into two groups where one group used the pair documentation, i.e., the experimental group, and the other one used conventional documentation i.e., the control group. Both groups were tasked with producing SRS documents for the same project. The outcomes are evaluated against three key criteria of completeness, ambiguity, and consistency of the documents. Our preliminary analysis indicates that the experimental group demonstrated an improvement in document quality with fewer ambiguities, more comprehensive coverage of requirements, and greater consistency across sections. Our research further suggests that collaborative efforts in pair documentation not only enhance the clarity and precision of SRS documents but also may mitigate risks associated with possible miscommunications. In addition, the findings of this study emphasize the potential of pair documentation as a strategy to deliver higher quality SRS documents in dynamic project environments.

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