arXiv subjects

Waqar Hussain

Publications and source records attributed to Waqar Hussain.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Advice for Diabetes Self-Management by ChatGPT Models: Challenges and Recommendations

Given their ability for advanced reasoning, extensive contextual understanding, and robust question-answering abilities, large language models have become prominent in healthcare management research. Despite adeptly handling a broad spectrum of healthcare inquiries, these models face significant challenges in delivering accurate and practical advice for chronic conditions such as diabetes. We evaluate the responses of ChatGPT versions 3.5 and 4 to diabetes patient queries, assessing their depth of medical knowledge and their capacity to deliver personalized, context-specific advice for diabetes self-management. Our findings reveal discrepancies in accuracy and embedded biases, emphasizing the models' limitations in providing tailored advice unless activated by sophisticated prompting techniques. Additionally, we observe that both models often provide advice without seeking necessary clarification, a practice that can result in potentially dangerous advice. This underscores the limited practical effectiveness of these models without human oversight in clinical settings. To address these issues, we propose a commonsense evaluation layer for prompt evaluation and incorporating disease-specific external memory using an advanced Retrieval Augmented Generation technique. This approach aims to improve information quality and reduce misinformation risks, contributing to more reliable AI applications in healthcare settings. Our findings seek to influence the future direction of AI in healthcare, enhancing both the scope and quality of its integration.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2024

Thorns and Algorithms: Navigating Generative AI Challenges Inspired by Giraffes and Acacias

The interplay between humans and Generative AI (Gen AI) draws an insightful parallel with the dynamic relationship between giraffes and acacias on the African Savannah. Just as giraffes navigate the acacia's thorny defenses to gain nourishment, humans engage with Gen AI, maneuvering through ethical and operational challenges to harness its benefits. This paper explores how, like young giraffes that are still mastering their environment, humans are in the early stages of adapting to and shaping Gen AI. It delves into the strategies humans are developing and refining to help mitigate risks such as bias, misinformation, and privacy breaches, that influence and shape Gen AI's evolution. While the giraffe-acacia analogy aptly frames human-AI relations, it contrasts nature's evolutionary perfection with the inherent flaws of human-made technology and the tendency of humans to misuse it, giving rise to many ethical dilemmas. Through the HHH framework we identify pathways to embed values of helpfulness, honesty, and harmlessness in AI development, fostering safety-aligned agents that resonate with human values. This narrative presents a cautiously optimistic view of human resilience and adaptability, illustrating our capacity to harness technologies and implement safeguards effectively, without succumbing to their perils. It emphasises a symbiotic relationship where humans and AI continually shape each other for mutual benefit.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2023

Identifying human values from goal models: An industrial case study

Human values are principles that guide human actions and behaviour in personal and social life. Ignoring human values during requirements engineering introduces a negative impact on software uptake and continued use. Embedding human values into software is admittedly challenging; however, early elicitation of stakeholder values increases the chances of their inclusion into the developed system. Using Pharaon, a research and innovation project of the European Union's Horizon 2020 program, as a case study we analysed stakeholder requirements expressed as motivational goal models consisting of functional, quality, and emotional goals in three large-scale trial applications of the project. We were able to elicit 9 of 10 human values according to the theory of human values by Schwartz from the motivational goal models that represent the requirements for the three applications. Our findings highlight the dominant trend of stakeholder values being embedded in emotional goals and show that almost 45% of the identified values belong to the value categories of Security and Self-direction. Our research extends prior work in emotional goal modelling in requirements engineering by linking emotional goals to various stakeholder roles and identifying their values based on the Schwartz theory of human values

cs.SE↗

arXiv2022

Operationalizing Human Values in Software Engineering: A Survey

Human values (e.g., pleasure, privacy, and social justice) are what a person or a society considers important. The inability to address them in software-intensive systems can result in numerous undesired consequences (e.g., financial losses) for individuals and communities. Various solutions (e.g., methodologies, techniques) are developed to help "operationalize values in software". The ultimate goal is to ensure building software (better) reflects and respects human values. In this survey, "operationalizing values" is referred to as the process of identifying human values and translating them to accessible and concrete concepts so that they can be implemented, validated, verified, and measured in software. This paper provides a deep understanding of the research landscape on operationalizing values in software engineering, covering 51 primary studies. It also presents an analysis and taxonomy of 51 solutions for operationalizing values in software engineering. Our survey reveals that most solutions attempt to help operationalize values in the early phases (requirements and design) of the software development life cycle. However, the later phases (implementation and testing) and other aspects of software development (e.g., "team organization") still need adequate consideration. We outline implications for research and practice and identify open issues and future research directions to advance this area.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2022

Investigating End-Users' Values in Agriculture Mobile Applications Development: An Empirical Study on Bangladeshi Female Farmers

The omnipresent nature of mobile applications (apps) in all aspects of daily lives raises the necessity of reflecting end-users values (e.g., fairness, honesty, etc.) in apps. However, there are limited considerations of end-users values in apps development. Value violations by apps have been reported in the media and are responsible for end-users dissatisfaction and negative socio-economic consequences. Value violations may bring more severe and lasting problems for marginalized and vulnerable end-users of apps, which have been explored less (if at all) in the software engineering community. However, understanding the values of the end-users of apps is the essential first step towards values-based apps development. This research aims to fill this gap by investigating the human values of Bangladeshi female farmers as a marginalized and vulnerable group of end-users of Bangladeshi agriculture apps. We conducted an empirical study that collected and analyzed data from a survey with 193 Bangladeshi female farmers to explore the underlying factor structure of the values of Bangladeshi female farmers and the significance of demographics on their values. The results identified three underlying factors of Bangladeshi female farmers. The first factor comprises of five values: benevolence, security, conformity, universalism, and tradition. The second factor consists of two values: self-direction and stimulation. The third factor includes three values: power, achievement, and hedonism. We also identified strong influences of demographics on some of the values of Bangladeshi female farmers. For example, area has significant impacts on three values: hedonism, achievement, and tradition. Similarly, there are also strong influences of household income on power and security.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

The Impact of Considering Human Values during Requirements Engineering Activities

Human values, or what people hold important in their life, such as freedom, fairness, and social responsibility, often remain unnoticed and unattended during software development. Ignoring values can lead to values violations in software that can result in financial losses, reputation damage, and widespread social and legal implications. However, embedding human values in software is not only non-trivial but also generally an unclear process. Commencing as early as during the Requirements Engineering (RE) activities promises to ensure fit-for-purpose and quality software products that adhere to human values. But what is the impact of considering human values explicitly during early RE activities? To answer this question, we conducted a scenario-based survey where 56 software practitioners contextualised requirements analysis towards a proposed mobile application for the homeless and suggested values-laden software features accordingly. The suggested features were qualitatively analysed. Results show that explicit considerations of values can help practitioners identify applicable values, associate purpose with the features they develop, think outside-the-box, and build connections between software features and human values. Finally, drawing from the results and experiences of this study, we propose a scenario-based values elicitation process -- a simple four-step takeaway as a practical implication of this study.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

How Can Human Values Be Addressed in Agile Methods? A Case Study on SAFe

Agile methods are predominantly focused on delivering business values. But can Agile methods be adapted to effectively address and deliver human values such as social justice, privacy, and sustainability in the software they produce? Human values are what an individual or a society considers important in life. Ignoring these human values in software can pose difficulties or risks for all stakeholders (e.g., user dissatisfaction, reputation damage, financial loss). To answer this question, we selected the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), one of the most commonly used Agile methods in the industry, and conducted a qualitative case study to identify possible intervention points within SAFe that are the most natural to address and integrate human values in software. We present five high-level empirically-justified sets of interventions in SAFe: artefacts, roles, ceremonies, practices, and culture. We elaborate how some current Agile artefacts (e.g., user story), roles (e.g., product owner), ceremonies (e.g., stand-up meeting), and practices (e.g., business-facing testing) in SAFe can be modified to support the inclusion of human values in software. Further, our study suggests new and exclusive values-based artefacts (e.g., legislative requirement), ceremonies (e.g., values conversation), roles (e.g., values champion), and cultural practices (e.g., induction and hiring) to be introduced in SAFe for this purpose. Guided by our findings, we argue that existing Agile methods can account for human values in software delivery with some evolutionary adaptations.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

Human Values in Mobile App Development: An Empirical Study on Bangladeshi Agriculture Mobile Apps

Given the ubiquity of mobile applications (apps) in daily lives, understanding and reflecting end-users' human values (e.g., transparency, privacy, social recognition etc.) in apps has become increasingly important. Violations of end users' values by software applications have been reported in the media and have resulted in a wide range of difficulties for end users. Value violations may bring more and lasting problems for marginalized and vulnerable groups of end-users. This research aims to understand the extent to which the values of Bangladeshi female farmers, marginalized and vulnerable end-users, who are less studied by the software engineering community, are reflected in agriculture apps in Bangladesh. Further to this, we aim to identify possible strategies to embed their values in those apps. To this end, we conducted a mixed-methods empirical study consisting of 13 interviews with app practitioners and four focus groups with 20 Bangladeshi female farmers. The accumulated results from the interviews and focus groups identified 22 values of Bangladeshi female farmers, which the participants expect to be reflected in the agriculture apps. Among these 22 values, 15 values (e.g., accuracy, independence) are already reflected and 7 values (e.g., accessibility, pleasure) are ignored/violated in the existing agriculture apps. We also identified 14 strategies (e.g., "applying human-centered approaches to elicit values", "establishing a dedicated team/person for values concerns") to address Bangladeshi female farmers' values in agriculture apps.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

Does Domain Change the Opinion of Individuals on Human Values? A Preliminary Investigation on eHealth Apps End-users

The elicitation of end-users' human values - such as freedom, honesty, transparency, etc. - is important in the development of software systems. We carried out two preliminary Q-studies to understand (a) the general human value opinion types of eHealth applications (apps) end-users (b) the eHealth domain human value opinion types of eHealth apps end-users (c) whether there are differences between the general and eHealth domain opinion types. Our early results show three value opinion types using generic value instruments: (1) fun-loving, success-driven and independent end-user, (2) security-conscious, socially-concerned, and success-driven end-user, and (3) benevolent, success-driven, and conformist end-user Our results also show two value opinion types using domain-specific value instruments: (1) security-conscious, reputable, and honest end-user, and (2) success-driven, reputable and pain-avoiding end-user. Given these results, consideration should be given to domain context in the design and application of values elicitation instruments.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

Towards a Human Values Dashboard for Software Development: An Exploratory Study

Background: There is a growing awareness of the importance of human values (e.g., inclusiveness, privacy) in software systems. However, there are no practical tools to support the integration of human values during software development. We argue that a tool that can identify human values from software development artefacts and present them to varying software development roles can (partially) address this gap. We refer to such a tool as human values dashboard. Further to this, our understanding of such a tool is limited. Aims: This study aims to (1) investigate the possibility of using a human values dashboard to help address human values during software development, (2) identify possible benefits of using a human values dashboard, and (3) elicit practitioners' needs from a human values dashboard. Method: We conducted an exploratory study by interviewing 15 software practitioners. A dashboard prototype was developed to support the interview process. We applied thematic analysis to analyse the collected data. Results: Our study finds that a human values dashboard would be useful for the development team (e.g., project manager, developer, tester). Our participants acknowledge that development artefacts, especially requirements documents and issue discussions, are the most suitable source for identifying values for the dashboard. Our study also yields a set of high-level user requirements for a human values dashboard (e.g., it shall allow determining values priority of a project). Conclusions: Our study suggests that a values dashboard is potentially used to raise awareness of values and support values-based decision-making in software development. Future work will focus on addressing the requirements and using issue discussions as potential artefacts for the dashboard.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

Emerging Trends for Global DevOps: A New Zealand Perspective

The DevOps phenomenon is gaining popularity through its ability to support continuous value delivery and ready accommodation of change. However, given the relative immaturity and general confusion about DevOps, a common view of expectations from a DevOps role is lacking. Through investigation of online job advertisements, combined with interviews, we identified key Knowledge Areas, Skills and Capabilities for a DevOps role and their relative importance in New Zealand's job market. Our analysis also revealed the global dimensions and the emerging nature of the DevOps role in GSE projects. This research adds a small advanced economy (New Zealand) perspective to the literature on DevOps job advertisements and should be of value to employers, job seekers, researchers as well educators and policy makers.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

Managing Requirements Change the Informal Way: When Saying 'No' is Not an Option

Software has always been considered as malleable. Changes to software requirements are inevitable during the development process. Despite many software engineering advances over several decades, requirements changes are a source of project risk, particularly when businesses and technologies are evolving rapidly. Although effectively managing requirements changes is a critical aspect of software engineering, conceptions of requirements change in the literature and approaches to their management in practice still seem rudimentary. The overall goal of this study is to better understand the process of requirements change management. We present findings from an exploratory case study of requirements change management in a globally distributed setting. In this context we noted a contrast with the traditional models of requirements change. In theory, change control policies and formal processes are considered as a natural strategy to deal with requirements changes. Yet we observed that "informal requirements changes" (InfRc) were pervasive and unavoidable. Our results reveal an equally 'natural' informal change management process that is required to handle InfRc in parallel. We present a novel model of requirements change which, we argue, better represents the phenomenon and more realistically incorporates both the informal and formal types of change.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2021

The Many Facets of Distance and Space: the Mobility of Actors in Globally Distributed Project Teams

Global software development practices are shaped by the challenges of time and 'distance', notions perceived to separate sites in a multi-site collaboration. Yet while sites may be fixed, the actors in global projects are mobile, so distance becomes a dynamic spatial dimension rather than a static concept. This empirical study applies grounded theory to unpack the nature of mobility within a three site globally distributed team setting. We develop a model for mapping the movements of team members in local and global spaces, and demonstrate its operation through static snapshots and dynamic patterns evolving over time. Through this study we highlight the complexity of 'mobility' as one facet of 'space' in globally distributed teams and illuminate its tight coupling with the accompanying dimensions of accessibility and context awareness.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2020

A First Look at Human Values-Violation in App Reviews

Ubiquitous technologies such as mobile software applications (mobile apps) have a tremendous influence on the evolution of the social, cultural, economic, and political facets of life in society. Mobile apps fulfil many practical purposes for users including entertainment, transportation, financial management, etc. Given the ubiquity of mobile apps in the lives of individuals and the consequent effect of these technologies on society, it is essential to consider the relationship between human values and the development and deployment of mobile apps. The many negative consequences of violating human values such as privacy, fairness or social justice by technology have been documented in recent times. If we can detect these violations in a timely manner, developers can look to better address them. To understand the violation of human values in a range of common mobile apps, we analysed 22,119 app reviews from Google Play Store using natural language processing techniques. We base our values violation detection approach on a widely accepted model of human values; the Schwartz theory of basic human values. The results of our analysis show that 26.5% of the reviews contained text indicating user perceived violations of human values. We found that benevolence and self-direction were the most violated value categories, and conformity and tradition were the least violated categories. Our results also highlight the need for a proactive approach to the alignment of values amongst stakeholders and the use of app reviews as a valuable additional source for mining values requirements.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2020

Measuring Bangladeshi Female Farmers' Values for Agriculture Mobile Applications Development

The ubiquity of mobile applications (apps) in daily life raises the imperative that the apps should reflect users' values. However, users' values are not usually taken into account in app development. Thus there is significant potential for user dissatisfaction and negative socio-economic consequences. To be cognizant of values in apps, the first step is to find out what those values are, and that was the objective of this study conducted in Bangladesh. Our focus was on rural women, specifically female farmers. The basis for our study was Schwartz's universal human values theory, and we used an associated survey instrument, the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ). Our survey of 193 Bangladeshi female farmers showed that Conformity and Security were regarded as the most important values, while Power, Hedonism, and Stimulation were the least important. This finding would be helpful for developers to take into account when developing agriculture apps for this market. In addition, the methodology we used provides a model to follow to elicit the values of apps' users in other communities.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2019

A Study on the Prevalence of Human Values in Software Engineering Publications, 2015-2018

Failure to account for human values in software (e.g., equality and fairness) can result in user dissatisfaction and negative socio-economic impact. Engineering these values in software, however, requires technical and methodological support throughout the development life cycle. This paper investigates to what extent software engineering (SE) research has considered human values. We investigate the prevalence of human values in recent (2015 - 2018) publications at some of the top-tier SE conferences and journals. We classify SE publications, based on their relevance to different values, against a widely used value structure adopted from social sciences. Our results show that: (a) only a small proportion of the publications directly consider values, classified as relevant publications; (b) for the majority of the values, very few or no relevant publications were found; and (c) the prevalence of the relevant publications was higher in SE conferences compared to SE journals. This paper shares these and other insights that motivate research on human values in software engineering.

cs.SE↗