A Method to Support Documentation Technical Debt Management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5753/isys.2024.2904Keywords:
Documentation Technical Debt, Technical Debt Management, Technical Debt, Software DocumentationAbstract
Documentation technical debt typically is related to non-existent, inconsistent, outdated, unnecessary, or incomplete documentation. Such problems may lead to negative consequences to the software product development and maintenance endeavors, for instance, difficulties identifying and removing defects and increased cost and effort to deploy new versions. We followed Design Science Research principles to create DOTED, a method for managing Documentation Technical Debt on software products. We present a case study to evaluate DOTED viability in supporting the management of this type of technical debt. The study participants highlighted its benefits and reported the intention of future use. We also found that DOTED may be more effective in fostering technical debt repayment if used early and continuously on the product’s development lifecycle.
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