Modeling and decision support of the mobile software development process using influence diagrams

Abstract

Mobile devices are increasingly becoming one of the most popular and common computing tools with mobile users relying on them for carrying out their everyday working, social and amusement activities. As a result, mobile software has gained the lion's share in the software industry with millions of Dollars/Euros being spent for purchasing mobile applications worldwide. This paper investigates certain aspects of mobile software development through a promising decision making approach, namely Influence Diagrams (ID). Two key models are developed which aim to provide an answer to the questions, "should a developer proceed with producing a new mobile application?" and "what would be the estimated level of user acceptance for a new mobile application?", respectively. The IDs are composed of a number of interrelated factors which were identified through literature review and input received from domain experts. The models are validated against realistic and real-world examples. Their performance is proved quite successful in providing the correct prediction/estimation and therefore may be considered a useful decision making tool.