Using card sorting technique to classify requirements change

Requirements volatility is considered to be a major source of risk to the management of large and complex software projects. The ability to characterise the nature and origins of requirements change during software development is important and can lead organisations towards more effective management of changing requirements. This work focuses on a study to establish how practitioners classify requirements change requests. We used the card sorting method to identify categories of change requests that software developers use in practice. Card sorting is a knowledge elicitation method that is commonly used for capturing information about different ways of representing domain knowledge. This study has allowed us to get valuable insights into the way practitioners classify change requests and to understand their perspectives on classification. This classification is a valuable source of information in prioritizing change requests and assessing their impact. Our findings from the card sorting exercise further reveal that the criteria used for categorization are related to the role the practitioner plays in the software development team and the nature and extent of their responsibilities.