Learning by Doing Comes at a Cost: Organizational Patterns and Deviations from the SDLC in a University Software Incubator
Abstract
University research seedbeds combine pedagogical objectives with real software development, introducing organizational tensions that standard SDLC frameworks do not address. This paper presents a retrospective analysis of the development of version 1.0 of the Ideas Bank Application (ABI), built by the Master Digital research group at the Universidad de Investigación y Desarrollo (UDI), Bucaramanga, Colombia. Drawing on documentary evidence —weekly reports, design artifacts, Git records, and meeting minutes— five dimensions of recurrent deviation were identified: academic governance and direction, project management and coordination, methodological coherence and early stack definition, documentation and knowledge management, and individual accountability. The absence of formal governance and knowledge transfer mechanisms produced a cumulative delay of seven to nine months, concentrating the operational workload on a small subset of team members. Organizational recommendations adapted to formative environments are proposed to strengthen traceability, technical continuity, and operational stability in similar projects across Latin American university research groups.
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