Extending the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) for Data Visualization in Software Project Management

The human brain responds better to visual information when compared to plain text. In other words, our brain consumes visual information more easily than text-only content, which helps improve communication, sharing and retaining information, reducing misinterpretation, and clarifying complex information. However, most of the tools adopted for software project management are based on textual reports. The number of software projects that fail is huge, and the stakeholders’ lack of understanding of the project is among the reasons for project failure. The implementation of data visualization using techniques and tools for project management can help identify and prevent project issues such as unexpected budget increases, unrealistic deadlines, lack of clear goals, and success criteria. In this paper, we extend our previous work by evaluating the proposed data visualization extension for the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® guide) in terms of its applicability in software project management and alignment within the PMBOK guide. The results from the evaluation show that our proposal adds support to visual project management and helps to identify the status and progress of the project quickly and prevent future issues related to communication. Our proposal was also found to be helpful for less experienced software project managers.