User Representatives as Boundary Spanners: Case Study of Large-Scale Agile Software Development

Abstract

User participation in software development is widely seen as beneficial for user acceptance, software adoption, and aligning outcomes with user needs. However, the scale and complexity of modern digitalization, particularly in large and distributed agile development, have reshaped participation. Representative participation is proposed as a solution, but its role remains underexplored. While often associated with requirements gathering, emerging research highlights broader boundary-spanning activities connecting development teams and users. This paper frames representative participation as boundary-spanning by posing the following research question: What are the practices and challenges of user representatives in large-scale agile software development? Through an exploratory case study using interviews and document analysis, we explore the role of user representatives—labeled as change agents—in our case organization. These individuals are expected to go beyond passively providing requirements. Their roles include planning software releases, participating in development, conducting training, helping colleagues adapt to changes, and serving as contact points for user feedback. However, this role presents challenges such as balancing responsibilities, adapting to agile development’s fast pace, coping with limited documentation, and managing dual roles in matrix organizations. This paper contributes by framing user representatives as boundary spanners and expanding understanding of user participation in agile software development.