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Kamila Serwa

Publications and source records attributed to Kamila Serwa.

2 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

A Practical Guide for Establishing a Technical Debt Management Process (Preprint)

Context. Technical Debt (TD) refers to short-term beneficial software solutions that impede future changes, making TD management essential. However, establishing a TD management (TDM) process is one of the most pressing concerns in practice. Goal. We plan to identify which previously researched TDM approaches are feasible in practice and what typical challenges emerge to create a guideline for establishing a TDM process. Method. We replicated our previously published action research study by conducting five workshops introducing TDM with two teams from different companies. To determine the feasibility of TDM approaches, we presented the teams with approaches for various TD activities and let them decide which to adopt. Overall, we conducted 19 workshops and retrospectives, analyzing 108 meetings (96 hours) over a 30-month period. Results. The adopted TD prevention strategies and documentation were similar in all teams. The teams utilized their respective backlogs and created a new backlog item type for TD, incorporating similar attributes such as interest, contagiousness, a resubmission date, and reminders to discuss drawbacks and risks. However, they used different prioritization approaches and deviating repayment methods. The teams had to overcome similar challenges during the establishment, which we list in this paper. Conclusions. We identified the TDM approaches used by all teams as a starting point for best practices. For challenges, we provided solutions or identified them as research gaps. Issue tracking system vendors should implement TD issue types employing the identified attributes. Finally, we created a white paper for practitioners to establish a TDM process based on our results.

cs.SE↗
arXiv2025

Establishing Technical Debt Management -- A Five-Step Workshop Approach and an Action Research Study

Context. Technical debt (TD) items are constructs in a software system providing short-term benefits but hindering future changes. TD management (TDM) is frequently researched but rarely adopted in practice. Goal. This study aimed to establish a TDM process in an IT company based on a predefined workshop concept. We analyzed which research approaches practitioners adopted for each TD activity and the TDM's long-term effect on TD awareness. Method. We used action research (five action cycles in 16 months) with an IT team that creates IT solutions for signal processing. To examine TD awareness, we (1) analyzed questionnaires completed during each workshop, (2) observed team meetings, (3) adopted a method from psychology for measuring awareness in decision-making situations called TD-SAGAT, and (4) evaluated the backlog data. Results. Practitioners preferred TD repayment and prioritization based on the system's evolution and cost calculations, i.e., repayment of so-called low-hanging fruits. Reminders in the backlog items, such as checkboxes or text templates, led to a sustainable rise in TD awareness. Conclusions. We showed that a workshop-based approach is feasible and leads to sustainable process changes. New ideas for TDM applicable to other IT teams emerged, e.g., using a re-submission date, using a Talked about TD checkbox, and using visualizations for TD prioritization.

cs.SE↗