A Theoretical Review
Paper title: Prototyping and Software Development Approaches
Authors: Carr, M. and Verner, J.
My summary of the content of the paper:
The main discussion centers around Prototyping. The prototyping process, approaches as well as considerations that should be made during the process. Their strategy seems to be that of defining a Prototyping approach, then using a methodology of exploratory – and experimental approaches to confirm their initial idea. This then becomes their building block for evolving into a complete strategic prototyping in the area of system development.
- Quality of research
| Item | Comments |
| Is the research question or objective clearly stated? | No. However, they do define the aim of their review within the Introduction. |
| Is the research question interesting and important? | Yes. Prototyping is a useful tool and assists greatly in the Design Spring theory. Through Prototyping we can save time by collaborating around the requirements of the prototype. |
| Is the work original? | Yes. They introduce key concepts around prototyping that draws attention to the current climate in relation to Design Thinking. |
| Is the background research clear and relevant? | Yes. They utilized a number of reference resources that can be further examined to do further in depth study or investigation into the topic. |
| Are there any ethical problems? | Based on this single piece of work, no. However, if we prototype existing licensed software under our usage then we might have to rethink this answer. |
- The Research Methodology
| Item | Comments |
| Summarize the research method? | Desktop research. |
| Does the research method seem appropriate for the research question? | The research method seems to fit this type since one would need to do many benchmarking exercises at different software companies, cutting across industries to elicit a good result to the questions they want answered. |
| Are the methods adequately described? | Yes. The method they use to describe are the approaches and different strategies followed. |
| Were the analyses done correctly? | No analyses published. |
| Are the conclusions supported by the data? | Yes. They combine the points highlighted in the discussion into the summary at the end giving the reader the reason why this was done and why it is important. |
- Findings and Discussions
| Item | Comments |
| Is the paper logically presented? | Yes there is logical flow and it reads well. |
| Does the data adequately support the research question? | There is no data but, the ideas presented support the initial framework discussion of prototyping. |
| Does the discussion link back to the RQ and key literature? | Yes and it also provides an opportunity to reflect on their ideas. |
- Additional Notes
| Additional notes on the paper | The concepts of experimentation and exploration prototyping are introduced in such a way that it provides the reader an opportunity to reflect on it and its use and application within the software development framework. |
| Identify any links to other work discussed in IS sessions. | Design Thinking, Paper Prototyping, Rapid Prototyping as well as the Project Management subject since at the end of the day all software developments will be managed as projects. |
| Where can the paper be found? | Academia.edu or enter the title into google scholar. |