An Experimental Study of the Use of Design Thinking as a Requirements Elicitation Approach for Mobile Learning Environments

Mobile learning (m-learning) is a research field that aims to analyze how mobile devices can contribute to learning. The development of software for mobile devices to support learning is essential for an effective implementation of m-learning or mobile learning environments (MLE). Requirements Engineering processes need to include activities that provoke creativity in the stakeholders to conceive MLEs that actually modify and improve the teaching and learning process. In this context, this paper presents a process for requirements elicitation and documentation of mobile learning environments. This process is based on the concepts of the Design Thinking process that provides a methodology to elicit customer needs, producing simple prototypes that eventually converge to innovative solutions. An experiment was conducted to evaluate if the proposed process contributes to create MLEs that present distinctive and interesting characteristics when compared to existing solutions for a specific problem.