Patterns of Situational Method Engineering

Situational Method Engineering (SME) addresses the need for custom-built software development methodologies that are tailored to fit specific project situations. A process pattern is a description of a recurring development process fragment that can be used as a generic model or a building block for engineering development processes. Software development process patterns are extensively used in SME, mainly as process components assembled to form bespoke methodologies; however, the SME field itself has not been scrutinized as to the methodology development process fragments frequently encountered. Situational method engineering knowledge captured in the form of SME process patterns is not only useful for building and improving SME processes, but can also facilitate knowledge transfer among method engineers. We propose a set of SME process patterns obtained through studying existing method engineering approaches. The set of patterns is organized into a generic pattern-based framework for SME. The framework can be used for developing SME processes according to the specific requirements of method engineering projects; the resulting SME processes can then be enacted to yield custom-built, project-specific methodologies.