On the Adoption of Behaviour Driven Development in New Zealand

Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) is a set of practices designed to address difficulties in maintaining good communication through the software development lifecycle to ensure that the right system is built. In New Zealand, the methodologies and the underlying practices are believed to be inconsistently adopted. To better understand the low level of adoption, I explored the key aspects of BDD with New Zealand software development professionals and leaders. In this thesis, I present the findings of interviews and a questionnaire-based survey with industry professionals. In contrast to other studies on BDD, I have focused on the non-technical organisational barriers to adoption and to sustainably maintaining BDD practices. I found that barriers to adoption and ongoing use of BDD practices take several forms. Professional development pathways and individual motivations do not provide the breadth of skills needed to adopt cross-role, full lifecycle software delivery practices. Larger organisations encounter greater issues with adoption. The communication channels and opportunities for regular feedback that delivery teams need to build a common understanding of the goals are inhibited by upfront requirements and organisational silos. The uniform application of software delivery methodologies and practices constrains teams assessing the problem context and adopting practices that suit the circumstances. The choice of practices is further limited by the contracting model for software delivery services from third parties. Several other barriers were also identified by participants and are discussed. Identifying barriers to adoption is a critical step in forming a plan to address them. Leaders, researchers and software delivery practitioners can improve practice adoption by implementing organisational changes, decision-making practices and professional development pathways that address these barriers.