How the Perception of Agile Software Development Affects Beta Users’ Stress and Satisfaction

Abstract

Agile software development has been shown to alleviate stress and improve satisfaction levels in development teams. Since this development approach relies on strong user involvement, these effects might carry over to the users themselves. If users have a positive perception of the agile approach, they might be more receptive to the produced software. However, users are rarely aware of the underlying development methodology and are, therefore, only partly affected by it. Hence, this study develops a new construct to measure users’ perception of the development methodology and to investigate the effects on technostress and user satisfaction. A survey with 117 beta users was conducted showing that perceiving a development process as agile lowers users’ technostress and elevates their satisfaction levels. Our Results highlight the essential role of user communication in the development phase. We discuss our implications for theory and practice, and conclude with promising future research avenues.