Cognitive bias in software development : a thematic literature review of debiasing strategies
Dangi, Pranita (2026)
Kandidaatintyö
2026
School of Engineering Science, Tietotekniikka
Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe20260822119281
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe20260822119281
Tiivistelmä
Software development involves many activities that require human decision-making in the process, such as design, estimation, testing, and code review. When programmers and testers work on these activities, they tend to use mental shortcuts referred to as cognitive biases.
This bachelor’s thesis explores the problem of cognitive bias in software development and simple strategies for minimizing the negative impact of cognitive bias. The study aims to gain insight into how cognitive bias affects everyday software development activities and how supporting approaches based on awareness can aid in improved decision-making.
The research was carried out using a literature review method with a thematic analysis technique. Academic literature and industry sources were gathered, coded, and organized into themes concerning the cognitive and social biases and de-biasing methods. Furthermore, a brief exercise to test for bias awareness was conducted: a basic Python program was tested prior to and after learning about confirmation bias.
Results suggest that there is a cognitive bias impact in software development activities, especially software testing and decision-making. Themes identified were awareness and training methods; team and process practices. The practical exercise also found that greater awareness fostered wider testing as it brought attention to edge cases and other inputs that weren't considered obvious. This study has its limitations, as it is dependent on literature and a tiny individual consciousness exercise. So, the conclusions do not apply to all software development teams. Larger development teams and the long-term effects of awareness-based debiasing techniques in actual software projects could be considered for future studies.
This bachelor’s thesis explores the problem of cognitive bias in software development and simple strategies for minimizing the negative impact of cognitive bias. The study aims to gain insight into how cognitive bias affects everyday software development activities and how supporting approaches based on awareness can aid in improved decision-making.
The research was carried out using a literature review method with a thematic analysis technique. Academic literature and industry sources were gathered, coded, and organized into themes concerning the cognitive and social biases and de-biasing methods. Furthermore, a brief exercise to test for bias awareness was conducted: a basic Python program was tested prior to and after learning about confirmation bias.
Results suggest that there is a cognitive bias impact in software development activities, especially software testing and decision-making. Themes identified were awareness and training methods; team and process practices. The practical exercise also found that greater awareness fostered wider testing as it brought attention to edge cases and other inputs that weren't considered obvious. This study has its limitations, as it is dependent on literature and a tiny individual consciousness exercise. So, the conclusions do not apply to all software development teams. Larger development teams and the long-term effects of awareness-based debiasing techniques in actual software projects could be considered for future studies.