[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-307652-105":53,"doc-detail-307652-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","towards-better-requirements-from-the-crowd-developer-engagement-with-feature-requests-in-open-source-software-version-1-research-paper","Towards Better Requirements from the Crowd: Developer Engagement with Feature Requests in Open Source Software - Version 1 - Research paper","","As user demands evolve, incorporating feature requests effectively becomes essential to keep software relevant and maintain satisfaction. Feature requests often rely on natural language, where ambiguity and missing details can cause misinterpretation and faulty implementation. Developers commonly ask for clarification, yet little is known about how they carry it out in real OSS issue tracker discussions. This study analyzes NL defect prevalence and clarification dynamics to reveal practical interaction patterns.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":11,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/presentations/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/towards-better-requirements-from-the-crowd-developer-engagement-with-feature-requests-in-open-source-software-version-1-research-paper/307652/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/towards-better-requirements-from-the-crowd-developer-engagement-with-feature-requests-in-open-source-software-version-1-research-paper/307652.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Anda","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":79},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"Why are feature requests prone to NL defects in open-source projects?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Feature requests are written in natural language, so they can be ambiguous or incomplete due to communication gaps and missing details. Limited requester technical knowledge can further contribute to these defects.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What does the study investigate about developer clarification practices?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"The study examines when and how developers attempt clarification in OSS issue tracker conversations, which information they prioritize, and how they decide to proceed or close requests without clarification.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What do the study’s findings indicate about clarification frequency and focus?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Feature requests published on OSS platforms often contain ambiguity and incompleteness, yet explicit clarification to resolve these defects is uncommon. When clarification happens, it tends to emphasize understanding user intent, goals, and feasibility rather than technical implementation details.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},307652,1791735867,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":8,"category_name":11,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":79,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":140,"read_time":76},962075006959,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/e0002397efbe92a78e?_k=1776741047341049297","Towards Better Requirements from the Crowd: Developer Engagement with Feature Requests in  \nOpen Source Software  \nPragyan K C 1 , Rambod Ghandiparsi 1 , Thomas Herron 1 , John Heaps 1 , Mitra Bokaei Hosseini 1  \n1University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA  \n[pragyan.kc, rambod.ghandiparsi, thomas.herron, john.heaps, mitra.bokaeihosseini]@[utsa.edu](utsa.edu),  \narXiv :2507 . 13553v 1 [ cs . SE] 17 Jul 2025  \nAbstract—As user demands evolve, effectively incorporating feature requests is crucial for maintaining software relevance and user satisfaction. Feature requests, typically expressed in natural language, often suffer from ambiguity or incomplete information due to communication gaps or the requester’s limited technical expertise. These issues can lead to misinterpretation, faulty implementation, and reduced software quality. While seeking clarification from requesters is a common strategy to mitigate these risks, little is known about how developers engage in this clarification process in practice—how they formulate clarifying questions, seek technical or contextual details, align on goals and use cases, or decide to close requests without attempting clarification. This study investigates how feature requests are prone to NL defects (i.e., ambiguous or incomplete) and the conversational dynamics of clarification in open-source software (OSS) development, aiming to understand how developers handle ambiguous or incomplete feature requests. Our findings suggest that feature requests published on the OSS platforms do possess ambiguity and incompleteness, and in some cases, both. We also find that explicit clarification for the resolution of these defects is uncommon; developers usually focus on aligning with project goals rather than resolving unclear text. When clarification occurs, it emphasizes understanding user intent/goal and feasibility, rather than technical details. By characterizing the dynamics of clarification in open-source issue trackers, this work identifies patterns that can improve user-developer collaboration and inform best practices for handling feature requests effectively.  \nIndex Terms—Requirements Evolution, Feature Requests Analysis, Open Source Software, Grounded Theory  \nI. INTRODUCTION  \nAs user demands grow and shift over time, the ability to rapidly implement enhancements and additional functionalities has become vital for software to retain its competitive edge and meet user expectations. Feature requests play a crucial role in shaping software development by enabling users to suggest new functions or enhancements based on their experiences [1]–[4] . Open-source software (OSS) platforms such as GitHub provide “Issue Tracker” where users can submit feature requests in regards to the software and communicate with the contributors. A typical feature request begins with a user-submitted issue containing a title and a short description of the feature request that the requester intends to see in the software [5] . Although feature requests provide important insights into what users need, they are expressed in natural language (NL), which makes them prone to NL defects such  \nas ambiguity and lack of completeness. These defects occur because of communication gaps, incomplete details, or the requester’s limited technical knowledge [6] . Consequently, developers need to interpret and clarify feature requests, which can result in wrong assumptions, faulty implementations, and decreased software quality [7] . Without sufficient detail, developers risk misinterpreting the user’s needs, potentially leading to solutions that fail to address the core problem or require costly revisions later in the development process [8] . One way to mitigate these issues is by interacting with the requester to seek clarification and ensure a shared understanding of the requested feature. Previous research has extensively explored GitHub Issue Tracker for various purposes, such as issue classification, project c","cbCaiqT9aqzaLHys","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqT9aqzaLHys","pdf",674854,8,"English","# Introduction\n# Background and Related Works\n## Open Source Software\n## Feature Request Clarification","[{\"question\":\"Why are feature requests prone to NL defects in open-source projects?\",\"answer\":\"Feature requests are written in natural language, so they can be ambiguous or incomplete due to communication gaps and missing details. Limited requester technical knowledge can further contribute to these defects.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about developer clarification practices?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines when and how developers attempt clarification in OSS issue tracker conversations, which information they prioritize, and how they decide to proceed or close requests without clarification.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the study’s findings indicate about clarification frequency and focus?\",\"answer\":\"Feature requests published on OSS platforms often contain ambiguity and incompleteness, yet explicit clarification to resolve these defects is uncommon. When clarification happens, it tends to emphasize understanding user intent, goals, and feasibility rather than technical implementation details.\"}]","Towards Better Requirements from the Crowd: Developer Engagement with Feature Requests in Open Source Software - Version 1 - Research paper | PDF",1789852558]