TechDebt 2025
Sun 27 - Mon 28 April 2025 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
co-located with ICSE 2025
Sun 27 Apr 2025 14:00 - 14:30 at 103 - Research Papers and Posters Chair(s): Fatemeh Hendijani Fard, Reed Milewicz

Context. Technical Debt (TD), defined as software constructs that are beneficial in the short term but may hinder future change, is a frequently used term in software development practice. Nevertheless, practitioners do not always fully understand its definition and, in particular, conceptual model. Previous research highlights that communication about TD is challenging, especially with non-technical stakeholders. Discussions on this topic often cause conflicts due to misunderstandings related to other stakeholders’ perspectives. Goal. We designed a board game to emulate TD concepts to make them tangible to all stakeholders, including non-technical ones. The game aims to encourage discussions about TD in an emulated and safe environment, thereby avoiding real-life conflicts. Method. To evaluate the game’s effectiveness, we surveyed 46 practitioners from diverse domains, positions, and experience levels who played the game in 13 sessions following extensive testing during its development. In addition to the players’ general feedback, we examined situations where players recognized new insights about TD or connected game scenarios to real-life experiences. Results. Overall, the feedback on the game and its enjoyment factor were highly positive. While developers and software architects often connected game situations to their real-world experiences, non-technical stakeholders, such as scrum masters, product owners, and less experienced developers, encountered multiple new insights on TD. Numerous players have shifted their attitudes toward TD and have outlined a plan to modify their behavior regarding TDM. Conclusions. Although the game may not lead to long-term behavior change among stakeholders, participants’ feedback provides evidence that it might serve as a valuable starting point for team discussions on technical debt management. – Offline Game: https://github.com/TechDebtGame/TechDebtGame – Online Game: https://tabletopia.com/login?redirect=%2fworkshop%2fgames%2ftechdebts%2f1-7players%2ftest

Sun 27 Apr

Displayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change

14:00 - 15:30
Research Papers and PostersIndustry Track / Technical Papers at 103
Chair(s): Fatemeh Hendijani Fard Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Reed Milewicz Sandia National Laboratories
14:00
30m
Paper
The TechDebt Game - Enabling Discussions about Technical Debt
Technical Papers
Marion Wiese University of Hamburg, Germany, Angelina Heinrichs University of Hamburg, Nino Rusieshvilli University of Hamburg, Rodrigo Rebouças de Almeida Federal University of Paraiba, Klara Borowa Warsaw University of Technology
DOI Pre-print
14:30
10m
Industry talk
Perspective-Taking as a Strategy to Manage Technical Debt
Industry Track
Kezia Devathasan University of Victoria, Mike Rowling Felix Payment Systems
14:40
10m
Industry talk
A Quantitative Approach to Measuring Technical Debt: The Technical Debt Index (TDI)
Industry Track
Nitin Gupta Assembly Digital and the University of Victoria
14:50
10m
Industry talk
Automating Dead Code Cleanup: Challenges Beyond the Code
Industry Track
15:00
10m
Industry talk
Addressing Technical Debt through Collaboration
Industry Track
15:10
20m
Panel
War Stories in TechDebt
Industry Track
Reed Milewicz Sandia National Laboratories, Fatemeh Hendijani Fard Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus
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