# Integrating Interactive Detection of Code Smells into Scrum: Feasibility, Benefits, and Challenges
## 8 Conclusions and Future Directions  
This study presents a software development approach integrating the ID technique into the Scrum framework. A focus group of eight professionals, including developers and project managers, evaluated the proposed approach. The findings revealed that this integration significantly benefits software development, such as improved code quality, easier maintenance, and enhanced product delivery. However, the participants also highlighted challenges in implementing the approach, including a lack of knowledge and skills, organizational difficulties, and resistance to change. The evaluation results indicate that using the approach can be a promising strategy for improving software development in organizations that follow the Scrum model.  
Then, a controlled experiment with 24 participants concluded that using the proposed approach promoted increased attention to code quality, early anomaly detection, and collaboration among team members. One of the main findings was an improvement of over 15% in effectiveness measures. This indicates that the proposed approach enabled more accurate and comprehensive code smell detection, ensuring that more smells were identified and refactored during software development. Additionally, the approach facilitated collaboration among the involved teams, promoting better communication and knowledge sharing. The disciplined application of the ID technique encouraged cautious code analysis and the detailed review of detected smells, resulting in increased awareness of the importance of code quality throughout the software development process.  
In conclusion, our proposed approach signifies a noteworthy advancement in integrating code smell detection within the Scrum framework. However, to achieve optimality, future research endeavors may be necessary. While we diligently designed a robust and effective solution, we welcome continuous exploration, feedback, and contributions from the research community to further refine and enhance our approach. As a future research opportunity, we suggest conducting experimental studies involving a larger sample size and a diverse set of software development teams from industrial environments. This will provide more robust and reliable results, increasing the validity of the proposed approach. In addition, to enhance the relevance of the evaluation, we suggest conducting assessments in a real-world industrial setting. This will help validate the practical implications and effectiveness of the proposed approach in a context closer to that of its intended use. Finally,  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The empirical studies described in this manuscript were conducted in adherence to fundamental ethical principles, including obtaining informed consent, upholding privacy, and ensuring the respectful, secure, and confidential handling of collected data by the authors.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.  
**Data Availability Statement:** All data and Supplementary Materials can be obtained from the corresponding author.  
**Acknowledgments:** The authors thank all the subjects participating in the focus group and controlled experiment.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.