Reduction of Software Rework Through theMitigation of Cognitive Biases

The work proposed will lead to mechanisms for reducing or eliminating selected Cognitive Biases – automatic, unconscious elements of the human reasoning system known to cause decision errors. While Cognitive Biases have been studied for decades, there has been almost no research into how to reduce or eliminate their effects. The end goal of the proposed work is to identify, for selected Cognitive Biases, mechanisms that reliably, simply and cost-effectively accomplish such ‘de-biasing’ in a workplace setting. The focus for the proposed work is the software engineering industry, where very high defect rates are endemic; we believe that by focusing on the psychology of the human beings that create these defects, we will bring a new kind of mechanism to bear on this most problematic situation. We expect to produce several workshops to communicate and train practitioners in the resultant interventions.

Faculty Supervisor:

Philippe Kruchten

Student:

Partner:

Clarrus Consulting Group Inc

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate