On Cognitive Biases in Requirements Elicitation

Authors:

• Andrzej Zalewski,
• Klara Borowa,
• Damian Kowalski

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to identify the cognitive biases most frequently affecting requirements elicitation, as well as to identify how these biases may influence the requirements elicitation and its outcomes. The research was based on an analysis of forty-one student reports prepared during software engineering classes. The analysis was performed using an adaptation of the Angoff Method, which is very popular in the area of psychological research. It demonstrated that, out of the eight analyzed cognitive biases, representativeness, anchoring and confirmation bias most frequently influence the requirements elicitation, while pro-innovation bias, the bandwagon effect and the IKEA effect are the least likely to occur. The research also revealed that cognitive biases may distort the identified requirements in many ways.