Using Concurrent Task Trees for Stakeholder-centered Modeling and Visualization of Business Processes

The different stakeholders in Business Process Management have to deal with various process models in order to understand the business processes being relevant for them. Especially inexperienced stakeholders often have difficulties in comprehending large and complex process models. In this paper a stakeholder-centered approach for modeling, changing and visualizing business processes is introduced. It is based on the Concurrent Task Tree (CTT), which constitutes a task modeling language widely applied in the field of end-user development. In particular, CTT considers stakeholder needs in modeling the behaviour of user interfaces. In the context of our work we apply CTT for modeling, changing and visualizing business processes. To evaluate whether CTT is appropriate for stakeholder-centered process modeling we compare it with imperative process modeling, and introduce a mapping between CTT process models and imperative process models expressed in terms of the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). Finally, we provide an advanced stakeholder-centered visualization concept based on CTT

A model driven component agent framework for domain experts

Industrial software systems are becoming more complex with a large number of interacting parts distributed over networks. Due to the inherent complexity in the problem domains, most such systems are modified over time to incorporate emerging requirements, making incremental development a suitable approach for building complex systems. In domain specific systems it is the domain experts as end users who identify improvements that better suit their needs. Examples include meteorologists who use weather modeling software, engineers who use control systems and business analysts in business process modeling. Most domain experts are not fluent in systems programming and changes are realised through software engineers. This process hinders the evolution of the system, making it time consuming and costly. We hypothesise that if domain experts are empowered to make some of the system cha nges, it would greatly ease the evolutionary process, thereby making the systems more effective. Agent Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) is seen as a natural fit for modeling and implementing distributed complex systems. With concepts such as goals and plans, agent systems support easy extension of functionality that facilitates incremental development. Further agents provide an intuitive metaphor that works at a higher level of abstraction compared to the object oriented model. However agent programming is not at a level accessible to domain experts to capitalise on its intuitiveness and appropriateness in building complex systems. We propose a model driven development approach for domain experts that uses visual modeling and automated code generation to simplify the development and evolution of agent systems. Our approach is called the Component Agent Framework for domain-Experts (CAFnE), which builds upon the concepts from Model Driven Development and the Prometheus agent software engineering methodolo gy. CAFnE enables domain experts to work with a graphical representation of the system, which is easier to understand and work with than textual code. The model of the system, updated by domain experts, is then transformed to executable code using a transformation function. CAFnE is supported by a proof-of-concept toolkit that implements the visual modeling, model driven development and code generation. We used the CAFnE toolkit in a user study where five domain experts (weather forecasters) with no prior experience in agent programming were asked to make changes to an existing weather alerting system. Participants were able to rapidly become familiar with CAFnE concepts, comprehend the system's design, make design changes and implement them using the CAFnE toolkit

Developing BP-driven web application through the use of MDE techniques

Model driven engineering (MDE) is a suitable approach for performing the construction of software systems (in particular in the Web application domain). There are different types of Web applications depending on their purpose (i.e., document-centric, interactive, transactional, workflow/business process-based, collaborative, etc). This work focusses on business process-based Web applications in order to be able to understand business processes in a broad sense, from the lightweight business processes already addressed by existing proposals to long-running asynchronous processes. This work presents a MDE method for the construction of systems of this type. The method has been designed in two steps following the MDE principles. In the first step, the system is represented by means of models in a technology-independent manner. These models capture the different aspects of Web-based systems (these aspects refer to behaviour, structure, navigation, and presentation issues). In the second step, the model transformations (both model-to- model and model-to-text) are applied in order to obtain the final system in terms of a specific technology. In addition, a set ofEclipse-based tools has been developed to provide automation in the application of the proposed method in order to validate the proposal.Torres Bosch, MV.; Giner Blasco, P.; Pelechano Ferragud, V. (2012). Developing BP-driven web application through the use of MDE techniques. Software and Systems Modeling. 11(4):609-631. doi:10.1007/s10270-010-0177-5S609631114Andrews, T., Curbera, F., Dholakia, H., Goland, Y., Klein, J., Leymann, F., Liu, K., Roller, D., Smith, D., Thatte, S., Trickovic, I., Weerawarana, S.: Business process execution language for Web services version 1.1 (May 2003)Barna, P., Frasincar, F., Houben, G.J.: A workow-driven design of Web information systems. In: Wolber, D., Calder, N., Brooks, C., Ginige, A. (eds.) 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In: Proceedings of the 9th international World Wide Web conference on Computer networks : the international journal of computer and telecommunications networking, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 137–157. North-Holland Publishing Co., The Netherlands (2000)Davis J.: Open Source SOA. Manning Publications Co, Greenwich (2009)Distante, D.: Reengineering legacy applications and Web transactions: an extended version of the UWA transaction design model. Ph.D. thesis, University of Lecce, Italy (2004)Distante D., Rossi G., Canfora G., Tilley S.R.: A comprehensive design model for integrating business processes in Web applications. Int. J. Web Eng. Technol. 3(1), 43–72 (2007)Duhl, J.: Rich internet applications. Technical report, IDC (November 2003)Fons, J.: OOWS: A model driven method for the development of web applications. Ph.D. thesis, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (2008)Fons, J., Pelechano, V., Pastor, O., Valderas, P., Torres, V.: Applying the OOWS model-driven approach for developing web applications. The internet movie database case study. In: Web Engineering: Modelling and Implementing Web Applications. Human–Computer Interaction Series, pp. 65–108. Springer, London (2008)Fowler, M.: Inversion of control containers and the dependency injection pattern. http://martinfowler.com/articles/injection.html (January 2004)Gershenfeld N., Krikorian R., Cohen D.: The internet of things. Sci Am 291(4), 76–81 (2004)Giner P., Cetina C., Fons J., Pelechano V.: Developing mobile business processes for the internet of things. IEEE Pervasive Comput. 9, 18–26 (2010)Gómez J., Cachero C., Pastor O.: Extending a conceptual modelling approach to Web application design. In: Wangler, B., Bergman, L. (eds) CAiSE. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1789, pp. 79–93. 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Towards the Composition of Services by End-Users: A Mobile-Based Solution

[EN] Nowadays, we live surrounded by heterogeneous and distributed services that are available to people anytime and anywhere. Even though these services can be used individually, it is through their synchronized and combined usage that end-users are provided with added value. However, existing solutions to service composition are not targeted at ordinary end-users. In fact, these solutions require technical knowledge to deal with the technological heterogeneity in which they are offered to the market. To this end, the paper presents a tool-supported platform that is aided by: (1) EUCalipTool, an end-user mobile tool that implements a Domain Specific Visual Language, which has been specifically designed to compose services on mobile devices; (2) a Faceted Service Registry, which plays the role of gateway between service implementations and end-users, hiding technological issues from the latter when including services in a composition; and (3) a Generation Module, which transforms end-user descriptions into BPMN specification that are interpreted by an execution infrastructure developed for that purpose.This work has been developed with the financial support of the Spanish State Research Agency under the project TIN2017-84094-R and co-financed with ERDF.Valderas, P.; Torres Bosch, MV.; Pelechano Ferragud, V. (2020). Towards the Composition of Services by End-Users: A Mobile-Based Solution. 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Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 118–127Dey AK, Sohn T, Streng S, Kodama J (2006) iCAP: interactive prototyping of context-aware applications. In: Fishkin KP, Schiele B, Nixon P, Quigley A (eds) Pervasive Computing. Pervasive 2006, vol 3968. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 254–271Engeström Y, Miettinen R, Punamäki RL (1999) Perspectives on activity theory. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeErmagan V, Krüger IH (2007) A UML2 profile for service modeling. In: Engels G, Opdyke B, Schmidt DC, Weil F (eds) Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems. MODELS 2007, vol 4735. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 360–374Galitz WO (2002) The essential guide to user interface design: an introduction to GUI. Design principles and techniques. Wiley, New YorkGuillen J, Miranda J, Berrocal J, Garcia-Alonso J, Murillo JM, Canal C (2014) People as a service: a mobile-centric model for providing collective sociological profiles. IEEE Softw 31(2):48–53Häkkilä J, Korpipää P, Ronkainen S, Tuomela U (2005) Interaction and end-user programming with a context-aware mobile application. In: Costabile MF, Paternò F (eds) Human-Computer Interaction—INTERACT 2005, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3585. Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 927–937IFTTT (2015) IFTTT, if this then that. https://IFTTT.com/ . Accessed 1 Oct 2018Klusch M, Sycara K (2001) Brokering and matchmaking for coordination of agent societies: a survey. In: Omicini A, Zambonelli F, Klusch M, Tolksdorf R (eds) Coordination of Internet Agents. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 197–224Locale (2015). http://www.twofortyfouram.com . Accessed 1 Oct 2018Lucci G, Paternò F (2014) Understanding end-user development of context-dependent applications in smartphones. In: Sauer S, Bogdan C, Forbrig P, Bernhaupt R, Winckler M (eds) Human-Centered Software Engineering. HCSE 2014, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8742. 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Property Management Analytics (OLAP) System

In information technology, on-line analytical processing (OLAP) is an approach or technique to analyze the raw data in multi-dimensional analytical perspectives to provide summaries. OLAP consists of basic analytical operations such as consolidation (roll-up), drill-down, and slicing and dicing. This involves aggregation of data that can be accumulated and computed in one or more dimensions based on the data hierarchy. Typical applications of OLAP include key performance indicators i.e., does the current value satisfy the goal, business reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process management (BPM), budgeting & forecasting, financial reporting. OLAP functionality depicts the multi-dimensional analysis of consolidated enterprise data supporting end user analytical and navigational activities including: calculations and modeling applied across dimensions, hierarchies, trend analysis over sequential time periods, and drill-down to deeper levels of consolidation. OLAP encompasses: Relational database Report writing Data mining Databases configured for OLAP uses a multi-dimensional data model, allowing for complex analytical and ad-hoc queries with a rapid execution time. They borrow aspects of navigational databases, hierarchical databases, and relational databases that allow business users to slice and dice data at will. Property Management Analytics (OLAP) System is being developed for the in-house use for meeting business needs from time to time. This Property Management Analytics (OLAP) System will extensively be used by managers and service providers, which will help in making certain business decisions. It was developed for this audience to be able to provide better service. A key feature of this Property Management Analytics (OLAP) System is embedding business portability centralized to one system

Exploring the Dynamic Costs of Process-aware Information Systems through Simulation

Introducing process-aware information systems (PAIS) in enterprises (e.g., workflow management systems, case handling systems) is associated with high costs. Though cost evaluation has received considerable attention in software engineering for many years, it is difficult to apply existing evaluation approaches to PAIS. This difficulty particularly stems from the inability of these techniques to deal with the complex interplay of the many technological, organizational and project-driven factors which emerge in the context of PAIS engineering projects. In response to this problem this paper proposes an approach which utilizes simulation models for investigating costs related to PAIS engineering projects. We motivate the need for simulation, discuss the design and execution of simulation models, and give an illustrating example

A mobile-based solution for supporting end-users in the composition of services

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-016-3910-4Currently, technologies and applications evolve to create eco-systems made up of a myriad of heterogeneous and distributed services that are accessible anytime and anywhere. Even though these services can be used individually, it is their coordinated and combined usage what provide an added value to end-users. In addition, user¿s wide adoption of mobile devices for daily activities have fostered a shift in the role played by end-users towards Internet data and services. However, existing solutions to service composition are not targeted to ordinary end-users. More easy-to-use tools have to be offered to end-users to make sure that they are successfully accepted and used by them. To this end, the work presented in this paper supports end-users in the creation of service compositions by using mobile devices. We present a Domain Specific Visual Language (DSVL) for end-users that allows them to create service compositions. A tool specifically designed for mobile devices supports this DSVL.This work has been developed with the support of MINECO under the project SMART ADAPT TIN2013-42981-P and co-financed with ERDF.Valderas Aranda, PJ.; Torres Bosch, MV.; Mansanet Benavent, I.; Pelechano Ferragud, V. (2016). A mobile-based solution for supporting end-users in the composition of services. Multimedia Tools and Applications. 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-016-3910-4S131Athreya B, Bahmani F, Diede A, Scaffidi C (2012) End-user programmers on the loose: a study of programming on the phone for the phone. In IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), Innsbruck, Austria, pp. 75–82Atoma (2015) Atoomam, a touch of magic. Accesible at: https://www.atooma.com/ . 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Springer, Berlin, pp. 289–294Dadam P, Reichert M (2009) The ADEPT project: a decade of research and development for robust and flexible process support. Comput Sci - R&D 23:81–97Danado J, Paternò F (2014) Puzzle: a mobile application development environment using a jigsaw metaphor. J Vis Lang Comput 25(4):297–315Danado J, Davies M, Ricca P, Fensel A (2010) An authoring tool for user generated mobile services. In: Future internet-FIS 2010. Springer, Berlin, pp. 118–127Dey AK, Sohn T, Streng S, Kodama J (2006) iCAP: interactive prototyping of context-aware applications. In: Pervasive computing. Springer, Berlin, pp. 254–271Engeström Y, Miettinen R, Punamäki RL (1999) Perspectives on activity theory. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeGalitz WO (2002) The essential guide to user interface design: an introduction to GUI. In: Design principles and techniques. 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Last time accessed: December 2015Ifttt (2015) Ifttt, If This Then That. Accesible at: https://ifttt.com/ . Last time accessed: December 2015Larman C, Basili VR (2003) Iterative and incremental development: a brief history. Computer 6:47–56Lewis JR (1995) IBM computer usability satisfaction questionnaires: psychometric evaluation and instructions for use. Int J Hum Comput Interact 7(1):57–78Liberman H, Paternò F, Klann M, Wulf V (2006) End user development. In: Liberman H, Paternò F, Wulf V (eds) End-user development: an emerging paradigm, vol 9, pp. 427–457Locale (2015) Accesible at: http://www.twofortyfouram.com . Last time accessed: December 2015Lucci G, Paternò F (2014) Understanding end-user development of context-dependent applications in smartphones. In: Human-centered software engineering. Springer, Berlin, pp. 182–198Mansanet I, Torres V, Valderas P, Pelechano V (2014) A Mobile End-Use Tool for service Compositions. X Jornadas de Ciencia e Ingeniería de Servicios (JCIS 2014), 25–35Mansanet I, Torres V, Valderas P, Pelechano V (2015) IoT Compositions by and for the Crowd. XI Jornadas de Ciencia e Ingeniería de Servicios (JCIS 2015)Neil T (2014) Mobile design pattern gallery: UI patterns for smartphone apps. “O’Reilly Media, Inc.”, SebastopolNielsen J (2005) Ten usability heuristics. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics . Last time accessed: February 2016Renger M, Kolfschoten GL, de Vreede GJ (2008) Challenges in collaborative modeling: A literature review. In Advances in enterprise engineering I, held at CAiSE 2008, Montpellier, 10. 61–77Repenning A, Ioannidou A (2006) What makes end-user development tick? 13 design guidelines. End user development, Human-Computer Interaction Series, vol 9, pp. 51–85Runeson P, Höst M (2009) Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research in software engineering. 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Pattern Languages of Programs Conference (pp. 13–16)Weber B, Reichert M, Rinderle S (2008) Change patterns and change support features - enhancing flexibility in process-aware information systems. Data Knowl Eng 66:438–466Yu J, Sheng QZ, Han J, Wu Y, Liu C (2012) A semantically enhanced service repository for user-centric service discovery and management. Data Knowl Eng 72:202–21

On Modeling and Analyzing Cost Factors in Information Systems Engineering

Introducing enterprise information systems (EIS) is usually associated with high costs. It is therefore crucial to understand those factors that determine or influence these costs. Though software cost estimation has received considerable attention during the last decades, it is difficult to apply existing approaches to EIS. This difficulty particularly stems from the inability of these methods to deal with the dynamic interactions of the many technological, organizational and projectdriven cost factors which specifically arise in the context of EIS. Picking up this problem, we introduce the EcoPOST framework to investigate the complex cost structures of EIS engineering projects through qualitative cost evaluation models. This paper extends previously described concepts and introduces design rules and guidelines for cost evaluation models in order to enhance the development of meaningful and useful EcoPOST cost evaluation models. A case study illustrates the benefits of our approach. Most important, our EcoPOST framework is an important tool supporting EIS engineers in gaining a better understanding of the critical factors determining the costs of EIS engineering projects

Simulation Models for Analyzing the Dynamic Costs of Process-aware Information Systems

Introducing process-aware information systems (PAIS) in enterprises (e.g., workflow management systems, case handling systems) is associated with high costs. Though cost estimation has received considerable attention in software engineering for many years, it is difficult to apply existing approaches to PAIS. This difficulty particularly stems from the inability of existing estimation techniques to deal with the complex interplay of the many technological, organizational and project-driven factors which emerge in the context of PAIS. In response to this problem, this paper proposes an approach which utilizes simulation models for investigating the dynamic costs of PAIS engineering projects. We motivate the need for simulation, discuss the development and execution of simulation models, and give an illustrating example. The present work has been accomplished in the EcoPOST project, which deals with the development of a comprehensive evaluation framework for analyzing PAIS engineering projects from a value-based perspective