A Proxy Stakeholder Approach to Requirements Engineering for Inclusive Navigation
Wei Wang, Anuradha Madugalla, John Grundy, Paul McIntosh, Charmine E. J. Härtel
TL;DR
This paper tackles the gap in RE for IwCI by introducing the proxy-stakeholder concept and a qualitatively led mixed-methods approach to derive inclusive navigation design. It reports a three-stage RE framework for identifying, engaging, and interpreting proxy inputs, supported by an international survey (n=80) and 15 interviews, analyzed with socio-technical grounded theory and member checking. The key contributions are formalizing proxy stakeholders, providing empirical design recommendations for IwCI, caregivers, and support workers, and illustrating how proxy-informed RE yields more usable, customizable, and collaborative navigation tools. The work advances software engineering practice toward inclusivity by embedding social context and multi-user coordination into requirements elicitation and system design, with implications for broader accessibility and independence.
Abstract
Wayfinding, or the ability to navigate one's surroundings, is crucial for independent living and requires a complex combination of cognitive abilities, environmental awareness, and technology to manage this successfully. Individuals with cognitive impairment (IwCI) often face significant challenges in learning and navigating their environment. Despite its importance, mainstream navigation technologies are rarely designed with their diverse needs in mind. This study reframes the search for places as a socially distributed task and emphasizes the role of proxy stakeholders, who act on behalf or in coordination with IwCI during navigation. Using a qualitatively led mixed-methods approach, which includes an international survey and a three-stage interview study, we examine the real-world strategies that proxy stakeholders employ to support daily navigation. The findings are synthesized into a set of empirically grounded design recommendations that emphasize customisability, collaborative use, and support for routine-based navigation. Our findings highlight key challenges and adaptive practices, which are synthesized into design recommendations that prioritize customisability, routine-based navigation, and multi-user coordination. By introducing the proxy stakeholder concept into the software engineering literature, we propose a more inclusive approach to requirements elicitation and offer practical guidance for designing navigation technologies that better reflect the complex realities of cognitive support.