The Influence of Process Quality on Product Usability: A Systematic Review

When organizations implement software process improvement programs they are seeking to increase productivity, reduce costs and enhance the quality of the resulting software. In fact, the quality of software products depends, to a great extent, on the processes used for their development and/or maintenance. However, despite this belief concerning the influence of the process on product quality, the specific process-product relationship has been poorly addressed in literature. This paper therefore analyzes the influence that software processes can have on software product usability, which is one of the most important quality characteristics since it influences how the user perceives the product. To this end, we present a systematic literature review examining the relationship between usability and software processes, which has allowed us to identify the processes that relevant studies consider to be important in enhancing product usability.