Preventing technical debt with the TAP framework for Technical Debt Aware Management

Abstract

The talk is based on an article published in the Information and Software Technology journal in 2022 [Wi22]. Technical Debt (TD) is a metaphor for technical problems that are not visible to users and customers but hinder developers in their work, making future changes more difficult. TD is often incurred due to tight project deadlines. Furthermore, project management usually focuses on customer benefits and pays less attention to their IT systems’ internal quality. We present a framework focusing on TD prevention and repayment in agile-managed projects. The framework was developed and applied in an IT unit of a publishing house. It includes a feasible method for TD prevention despite tight timelines by making TD repayment part of project management. We evaluated this framework in a comparative case study based on ticket statistics and two structured surveys targeting team members and IT managers. In the observed IT unit, the TAP framework raises awareness for the incurrence of TD. Decisions to incur TD are intentional, and TD is repaid timelier. Unintentional TD incurred by unconscious decisions is prevented. Furthermore, better communication and better planning of the project pipeline can be observed.