Personalities, cultures and software modeling: Questions, scenarios and research directions

Several evolutions in software engineering (SE) relate to the development of a reliable communication process among the project stakeholders. The models resulting from these improvements are the key instruments of communication in SE. There are studies that relate several problems in SE to user-engineers interactions during the modeling process. In addition to the usual challenges related to the technological issues of software modeling, new problems have appeared due to the presence of a multinational workforce. Specifically, people with distinct cultural identities must work together and, independently from their personal values and beliefs, they must develop common objectives. Consequently, this paper argues that the personality and cultural identity of project team members might be unconsciously affecting the SE process in a much greater way than is currently believed. Moreover, a research framework for investigating the influence of individual identities in the modelling techniques can present new perspectives for improving SE outcomes.