article · Indonesian Journal of Computer Science
Research in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, identifies a significant gap between software developers' satisfaction with their processes and end-users' satisfaction with digital products in higher education institutions. This study introduces the Developer–Stakeholder Understanding Gap (DSU-Gap), empirically quantifying it through a mixed-methods study involving developers, staff, and students. Key findings reveal that despite agile development being dominant, project failures are common, and developers rarely adapt standard models. A significant proportion of end-users were not consulted during software conception, and many students lack access to digital services. The findings highlight a need for a contextual software development framework tailored to resource-constrained Central African cities.
This research is important because it uncovers a critical disconnect in digital transformation efforts within higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. Addressing the DSU-Gap could lead to more effective and user-friendly digital systems, improving educational outcomes and operational efficiency in resource-constrained environments.
The abstract argues for the design of a contextual software development framework specifically adapted to the operational, financial, and organisational constraints of higher education institutions in resource-constrained Central African cities. This suggests an early-stage research pathway towards developing a new methodology or toolkit for software development teams working in similar environments, aiming to improve user satisfaction and project success rates.
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The digitalisation of higher education institutions (HEIs) in sub-Saharan African cities presents a para-dox rarely documented in the literature: developers report high satisfaction with their development pro-cesses whilst end-users simultaneously experience low satisfaction with the resulting software products. This article introduces and empirically quantifies the Developer–Stakeholder Understanding Gap (DSU-Gap) — a structural asymmetry between developers’ self-assessed process quality and end-users’ actual product experience — through a tri-group, mixed-methods exploratory study conducted across HEIs in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. A total of 175 respondents participated across three groups: 17 software developers, 22 administrative and teaching staff (agent users), and 136 students. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire administered through KoBoToolbox (November 2024–November 2025) and analysed using descriptive statistics, non-parametric inferential tests (Mann-Whitney U, binomial tests), and inductive thematic analysis. Five empirically validated tensions define the DSU-Gap: (T1) Agile is the dominant development model (65%) yet 82% of developers re-port project failures (binomial test: p = .006); (T2) 88% of developers never adapt standard models de-spite 24% acknowledging their inadequacy; (T3) 73% of end-users were never consulted during software conception (p = .026), violating core requirements engineering principles; (T4) 38% of students lack ac-cess to their institution's digital services — an internal digital divide significantly exceeding a 20% threshold (p < .001); and (T5) developers’ process satisfaction is significantly higher than users’ product satisfaction (Mann-Whitney U = 246, p = .007, rank-biserial |r| = 0.45, medium-to-large effect). These findings argue for the design of a contextual software development framework specifically adapted to the operational, financial, and organisational constraints of HEIs in resource-constrained Central Afri-can cities.
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DOI: 10.33022/ijcs.v15i4.5163
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