Providing tool-support for value-based decision-making: a usability assessment

Numerous companies worldwide make their decisions related to software projects/products in a value neutral way, using only earned value systems, which represent short-term goals. Better decisions can be made using a value-based approach, achieving cost-effective results and reliable construction and maintenance of products. However, moving from a value-neutral to a value-based paradigm can be a challenge. We provide tool-support, which was co-created in collaboration with three software companies, to ease the paradigm shift. Our tool supports both individual and group-based decisions using several visualization mechanisms. Despite the co-creation process employed while developing the VALUE tool, there are specific issues relating to its usability that must also be assessed in order to reduce any possible drawbacks for its adoption by industry. This paper details three usability studies that were carried out to assess the VALUE tool's usability. The results also suggest that the tool is ready to be taken into use in the industry.