Research

Research Interests

  • Agile Software Development Methods with a focus on Agile Modeling
  • Collaboration Engineering
  • Knowledge Management

Research Summary

My research efforts focus on improving the cognitive performance of groups and individuals as they work with highly detailed and interrelated concepts.  Currently, much of my research focuses specifically on the role of documentation and processes in supporting the efforts of software development teams as they work with requirements.  The Agile software development movement places an emphasis on working software and face-to-face communication over more structured processes in order to respond effectively and efficiently to changing requirements.  However, as I have personally experienced, as designs become more detailed and complex, a minimal form of structure in the form of modeling becomes necessary, and a more substantial approach to requirements development may actually enable a more efficient and effective response to change .  It is therefore necessary to understand both ideal characteristics of requirements development methods as well as the ideal circumstances in which such artifacts are used.

To develop an understanding of the problem of appropriate documentation, I draw upon three subject areas:  Agility, distributed cognition, and  modeling.  A theoretical understanding of agility in groups informs us of what agility is and why it is necessary when dealing with uncertainties, such as changing user requirements.  Theories of group functioning, such as distributed cognition or group mind describe how members of a group work together and with artifacts to “compute” as a unit.  The modeling literature provides a taxonomy of the characteristics of models, and the values they have in enabling group understanding.

Current Research Projects

As part of my dissertation work:

I am currently working with Robert O. Briggs and G. J. de Vreede to develop a framework to explain requirements documentation decisions incorporated into an Agile software development process over a two and a half year time period.  An initial draft of this paper has been accepted at HICSS.

Other research projects:

Agile Software Development

I am developing a set of  critical risks related to Agile Software Development, based off of perceptions of practitioners.  The initial draft of this paper has been written, and we have commenced collecting data.

Collaborative software Development

I am currently collecting data to test methods of prompting groups to generate requirements.  The initial results of the data collected have been published in the AMCIS 2011 proceedings.  A study involving the use of Embodied Agents (Avatars) has been submitted to ICIS.

Published Journal Articles

Read, A., Badura, V., Briggs, R. O., and Vreede, G. J. de (Manuscript Accepted—International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making) Exploring the Effects of a Convergence Intervention on the Artifacts of an Ideation Activity.

Badura, V., Read, A. S., Briggs, R. O., & Vreede, G. J. d. (2011). Coding for Unique Ideas and Ambiguity: A Method for Measuring the Effect of Convergence on the Artifact of an Ideation Activity. International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in Information Technology, 1(3).

Lowry, P., Vance, A., Moody, G., Beckman, B., & Read, A. (2008). Explaining and Predicting the Impact of Branding Alliances and Web Site Quality on Initial Consumer Trust of E-Commerce Web Sites. J. Manage. Inf. Syst., 24(4), 199-224.

Selected Published Conference Articles

Read, A., Briggs, R. O., de Vreede, G. J. (August 9-11, 2012). Describing Agile Requirements Development and Communication Using Complex Adaptive Systems Theory.  Paper (to be) presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Seatle, WA.

Derrick, D., De Vreede, G. J., and Read. A (May 20-24, 2012). SPECIES Agents for Automated Facilitation of Mass Collaboration. Paper presented at the Group Decision and Negotation Conference, Recife, Brazil.

Read, A., Briggs, R. O. (January 4-7, 2012).  The Many Lives of an Agile Story:  Design Processes, Design Products, and Understandings in a Large-Scale Agile Development Project.  Paper presented at the 2011 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sceinces.

Read, A., Hullsiek, B., and Briggs, R. O. (January 4-7, 2012). The Seven Layer Model of Collaboration: A Study of the Process Identification and Process Improvement of Collaborative Processes of the Military Decision Making Process.  Paper presented at the 2011 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sceinces.

Read, A., Arreola, N., & Briggs, R. O. (2011). The Role of the Story Master: A Case Study of the Cognitive Load of Story Management Tasks. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

Read, A., Callens, A., Nguyen, C. D., & de Vreede, G. J. (2011). Generating User Stories in Groups with Prompts. Paper presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Detroit, MI. Presented

Read, A. S., Callens, A., Nguyen, C. D., & de Vreede, G. J. (2011). An Empirical Scenario for the Evaluation of Requirements Elicitation Tasks. Paper presented at the Midwest Association for Information Systems Conference, Omaha, NE. Presented

Read, A., Briggs, R. O., de Vreede, G. J. (August 9-11, 2012). Describing Agile Requirements Development and Communication Using Complex Adaptive Systems Theory.  Paper (to be) presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Seatle, WA.

Derrick, D., De Vreede, G. J., and Read. A (May 20-24, 2012). SPECIES Agents for Automated Facilitation of Mass Collaboration. Paper presented at the Group Decision and Negotation Conference, Recife, Brazil.

Read, A., Briggs, R. O. (January 4-7, 2012).  The Many Lives of an Agile Story:  Design Processes, Design Products, and Understandings in a Large-Scale Agile Development Project.  Paper presented at the 2011 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sceinces.

Read, A., Hullsiek, B., and Briggs, R. O. (January 4-7, 2012). The Seven Layer Model of Collaboration: A Study of the Process Identification and Process Improvement of Collaborative Processes of the Military Decision Making Process.  Paper presented at the 2011 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sceinces.

Badura, V., Read, A. S., Briggs, R. O., & de Vreede, G. J. (2010). Coding for Unique Ideas and Ambiguity:  Measuring the Effects of a Convergence Intervention on the Artifact of an Ideation Activity. Paper presented at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

Read, A. S., & Briggs, R. O. (2010). HyperStories: An Approach to Reducing Cognitive Load for Capturing, Communicating, and Maintaining System Requirements. Paper presented at the Group Decision and Negotiation, Delft, The Netherlands. Presented

Badura, V., Read, A., Briggs, R., & de Vreede, G.  J. (2009). Exploring the Effects of a Convergence Intervention on the Artifacts of an Ideation Activity during Sensemaking. In L. Carriço, N. Baloian & B. Fonseca (Eds.), Groupware: Design, Implementation, and Use (Vol. 5784, pp. 79-93): Springer Berlin / Heidelberg.

Badura, V., Read, A. S., Briggs, R. O., & de Vreede, G. J. (2009). Exploring the Effects of a Convergence Intervention on Ideation Artifacts: A Multi-Group Field Study Paper presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems, San Fransisco.

Read, A. S., Briggs, R. O., & de Vreede, G. J. (2009). Understanding Relationships in Software Requirements. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the CORS-INFORMS International Meeting, Toronto, Canada. Presented