On the understanding of the role of experimentation in technology-based startups

• Ano de defesa: 2021
• Autor(a) principal: Bernardes, Matheus Jardim
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; Escola Politécnica; Brasil; PUCRS; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação
• Palavras-chave em Português: Software Engineering; Agile Software Development; Lean Startup; Continuous Experimentation; Technology Entrepreneurship; Engenharia de Software; Desenvolvimento de Software Ágil; Experimentação Contínua; Empreendedorismo Tecnológico; CIENCIA DA COMPUTACAO::TEORIA DA COMPUTACAO
• Link de acesso: http://tede2.pucrs.br/tede2/handle/tede/9953

Technology startups are constantly emerging, trying to create innovative solutions in environments of extreme uncertainty, and because they face numerous challenges, they have high failure rates. The scarcity of resources and the product’s lack of adherence to market needs are among the main challenges. In an attempt to alleviate these challenges, initiatives such as Continuous Experimentation arise. This approach supports systematical tests of hypotheses, helping teams prioritize deliveries that increase perceived value by the users. In this context, this thesis presents a literature review followed by a interview-based study that focused on identifying how Continuous Experimentation is being adopted and how it underlies software engineering activities throughout the product development cycle of technology-based startups. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 members of technology-based startups to explore and characterize roles, processes, tools, challenges, benefits, among others. Results were compared with the information found in the litera- ture review to formulate answers to the research questions and propose future work to fur- ther explore the topic. Thus, this thesis aimed to characterize the use of this approach in technology-based startups and identify challenges and benefits perceived by professionals working in this scenario.