Small Group Software Development: A Case Study

The development process that a group uses to design software is important for determining the success of a project. Although considerable research discusses processes best suited for large companies, this paper presents a case study of software development by a small group and considers the process taken towards the completion of a project. The collaborative undergraduate team project analyzed included the design and development of a cell phone game using the programming language Java 2 Micro Edition. Many development processes exist, such as the waterfall model, the spiral model, the unified process, and extreme programming. These were compared with the process the team used. The analysis suggests the process was too detailed for a small group environment. In this situation, it was found that less time should have been spent on design. My research shows the need for a simplified method usable by small groups that allows adaptation to changes and takes advantage of the close communication environment of the group.