ABSTRACT
Empirical research on software development practices in startups is growing. However, little has been investigated about how User eXperience (UX) work has been carried out in software startups. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate what software startups need from UX work. To achieve this goal, we conducted open-ended interviews and retrospective meetings with 16 software professionals from two software startups in Brazil. We analysed the data qualitatively using different coding approaches: initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding. We found 14 UX work-related needs which emerged from the daily practices used for software development in the two startups studied. Based on our findings, we propose an initial theoretical framework that highlights two theoretical themes and four groups underlying the needs identified. Our study reveals several relationships between UX work-related needs which are helpful to understand in order to identify what startups need from UX work in practice and to focus startup teams' efforts on the most urgent needs. As future work, we plan to explore ways in which these needs may be addressed so that UX work may be put into practice in software startups.
ABSTRACT
The working environment of railways is challenging and complex and often involves high-risk operations. These operations affect both the company staff and inhabitants of the towns and cities alongside the railway lines. To reduce the employees' and public's exposure to risk, railway companies adopt strategies involving trained safety personnel, advanced forms of technology, and special work processes. Nevertheless, unfortunate incidents still occur. To assist railway safety management, researchers developed a visual-analytics system. Using a data analytics workflow, it compiles an incident risk index that processes information about railway incidents. It displays the index on a geographical map, together with socioeconomic information about the associated towns and cities. Feedback on this system suggests that safety engineers and experts can use it to make and communicate decisions.