Empirical Assessment of the Perception of Software Product Line Engineering by an SME before Migrating its Code Base
Thomas Georges, Marianne Huchard, Mélanie König, Clémentine Nebut, Chouki Tibermacine
TL;DR
The paper presents an empirical, interview-based assessment of how SME staff perceive migrating an existing code base into a Software Product Line. It documents four research questions focused on current practices, expected benefits, risks, and fears, and uses actor- and topic-driven interviews to gather diverse perspectives. Key findings highlight widespread perceived benefits (notably customization and rapidity) alongside risks (complexity and maintainability) and fears (notably potential uselessness and resistance to change), with practical guidelines for preparing the migration that emphasize stakeholder engagement and preserving good practices. The study contributes an early, practical framework for guiding SPLE adoption in SMEs and lays groundwork for subsequent variability analysis, feature localization, and migration planning workflows. Practical implications include leveraging existing practices, structured training, and concrete actions (e.g., Sprint Zero, persona-driven planning) to facilitate a smooth SPL transition in agile SME environments.
Abstract
Migrating a set of software variants into a software product line (SPL) is an expensive and potentially challenging endeavor. Indeed, SPL engineering can significantly impact a company's development process and often requires changes to established developer practices. The work presented in this paper stems from a collaboration with a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) that decided to migrate its existing code base into an SPL. In this study, we conducted an in-depth evaluation of the company's current development processes and practices, as well as the anticipated benefits and risks associated with the migration. Key stakeholders involved in software development participated in this evaluation to provide insight into their perceptions of the migration and their potential resistance to change. This paper describes the design of the interviews conducted with these stakeholders and presents an analysis of the results. Among the qualitative findings, we observed that all participants, regardless of their role in the development process, identified benefits of the migration relevant to their own activities. Furthermore, our results suggest that an effective risk mitigation strategy involves keeping stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the process, preserving as many good practices as possible, and actively involving them in the migration to ensure a smooth transition and minimize potential challenges.