Human factors in software development A study on database systems adoption by developers

Ease of use and usability of tools and programming languages used in software development has been a topic of interest of the field of human-computer interaction. Various studies have examined these technologies from the point of view of the user, focusing either in general purpose programming languages, or specific tools. The area of database design and development and the adopted data models and tools is of high importance for most modern information systems, as the explosion of data generation has triggered a rapid development in databases. So, an interesting research question is to investigate the factors that influence practitioners in adopting database models and tools today. Factors to be considered relate to business, organizational and social factors, as well as the usability of the tools and representations used. In this explorative study we investigate (1) choices by professionals in relation to different types of projects (2) the criteria programmers use when selecting technological models; (3) possible reasons for reluctance in adoption; and (4) Perception of different models. The research is based on interviews with 9 professional developers in both their work as independent consultants and in corporate environments. The results revealed a strong influence of background knowledge acquired during university studies and experience as well as other social and organizational factors that influence technology selection by IT professionals concerned.