Persuading Software Development Teams to Document Inspections: Success Factors and Challenges in Practice

Peer reviews have been identified as one of the best practices in requirements engineering. The most formal peer review technique - inspection - has been found to be effective for the discovery of defects in documents. Nonetheless, many software companies practice inspections infrequently or not at all. For instance, some engineers consider inspections to be uncreative work that adds costs. This paper describes the success factors and challenges involved in persuading review teams to document inspections. The case study utilized an action research approach over a 10-year period, during which two separate attempts were made to address inspection practices. Document inspections did not gain a sustainable position in the study. Consequently, key success factors and challenges were identified in order to explain how the review teams changed their perception throughout the adoption of document inspection. Long-term engagement to document inspection requires motivation and commitment on the part of the teams, and the favorable development culture of an organization, dedicated champions, and the careful tailoring of inspection practices seem to positively influence this. In the long run, it can be challenging to keep document inspections consistent with the existing values, previous experiences, and needs of the software development teams.