{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:31:42Z","timestamp":1760236302586,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,10]],"date-time":"2021-11-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1636502400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002347","name":"Federal Ministry of Education and Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Innovations for Tomorrow\u2019s Production, Services, and Work"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Innovations for Tomorrow\u2019s Production, Services, and Work"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002347","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Computers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Technological progress, upcoming cyber-physical systems, and limited resources confront small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the challenge of complexity management in product development projects spanning over the entire product lifecycle. SMEs require a solution for documenting and analyzing the functional relationships between multiple domains such as products, software, and processes. The German research project FuPEP \u201cFunktionsorientiertes Komplexit\u00e4tsmanagement in allen Phasen der Produktentstehung\u201d aims to address this issue by developing an assistance system that supports product developers by visualizing functional relationships. This paper presents the methodology and results of the assistance system\u2019s requirements elicitation with two SMEs. Conducting the elicitation during a global pandemic, we discuss its application using specific techniques in light of COVID-19. We model problems and their effects regarding complexity management in product development in a system dynamics model. The most important requirements and use cases elicited are presented, and the requirements elicitation methodology and results are discussed. Additionally, we present a multilayer software architecture design of the assistance system. Our case study suggests a relationship between fear of a missing project focus among project participants and the restriction of requirements elicitation techniques to those possible via web conferencing tools.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/computers10110149","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,9]],"date-time":"2021-11-09T21:39:07Z","timestamp":1636493947000},"page":"149","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Requirements Elicitation for an Assistance System for Complexity Management in Product Development of SMEs during COVID-19: A Case Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8875-1890","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jan-Phillip","family":"Herrmann","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Engineering and Wood Technologies, OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 32657 Lemgo, Germany"}]},{"given":"Sebastian","family":"Imort","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Engineering and Wood Technologies, OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 32657 Lemgo, Germany"}]},{"given":"Christoph","family":"Trojanowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Informatics, Communication, and Economics, University of Applied Sciences, 10318 Berlin, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6529-6215","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas","family":"Deuter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Engineering and Wood Technologies, OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 32657 Lemgo, Germany"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s12159-016-0152-9","article-title":"Complexity drivers in manufacturing companies: A literature review","volume":"9","author":"Vogel","year":"2016","journal-title":"Logist. 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