Requirements elicitation: A survey of techniques, approaches, and tools

Requirements elicitation is the process of seeking, uncovering, acquiring, and elaborating requirements for computer based systems. It is generally understood that requirements are elicited rather than just captured or collected. This implies there are discovery, emergence, and development elements in the elicitation process. Requirements elicitation is a complex process involving many activities with a variety of available techniques, approaches, and tools for performing them. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these determine when each is appropriate depending on the context and situation. The objectives of this chapter are to present a comprehensive survey of important aspects of the techniques, approaches, and tools for requirements elicitation, and examine the current issues, trends, and challenges faced by researchers and practitioners in this field. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Hippocampal pyramidal cells: the reemergence of cortical lamination

The increasing resolution of tract-tracing studies has led to the definition of segments along the transverse axis of the hippocampal pyramidal cell layer, which may represent functionally defined elements. This review will summarize evidence for a morphological and functional differentiation of pyramidal cells along the radial (deep to superficial) axis of the cell layer. In many species, deep and superficial sublayers can be identified histologically throughout large parts of the septotemporal extent of the hippocampus. Neurons in these sublayers are generated during different periods of development. During development, deep and superficial cells express genes (Sox5, SatB2) that also specify the phenotypes of superficial and deep cells in the neocortex. Deep and superficial cells differ neurochemically (e.g. calbindin and zinc) and in their adult gene expression patterns. These markers also distinguish sublayers in the septal hippocampus, where they are not readily apparent histologically in rat or mouse. Deep and superficial pyramidal cells differ in septal, striatal, and neocortical efferent connections. Distributions of deep and superficial pyramidal cell dendrites and studies in reeler or sparsely GFP-expressing mice indicate that this also applies to afferent pathways. Histological, neurochemical, and connective differences between deep and superficial neurons may correlate with (patho-) physiological phenomena specific to pyramidal cells at different radial locations. We feel that an appreciation of radial subdivisions in the pyramidal cell layer reminiscent of lamination in other cortical areas may be critical in the interpretation of studies of hippocampal anatomy and function

A situational method engineering approach to requirements elicitation workshops in the software development process

The elicitation of requirements for software systems is one of the most critical and complex activities within the development lifecycle. Although the subject has received some degree of attention in the research literature, there remains a need for situational methods and processes that can be easily utilized by the majority of practitioners in typical projects. In this paper we present a flexible yet systematic approach to the early stages of requirements elicitation in software development, based on collaborative workshops and the construction of a lightweight situational method, within a general process framework. The research provides practitioners with an approach to requirements elicitation that can be readily applied to real-world projects in order to improve both the process and the results. The work also offers researchers an example of how lightweight situational method engineering can be applied to very practical activities and situations in the software process. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

MUSTER: A Situational Tool for Requirements Elicitation

In this chapter they present a collaborative and situational tool called MUSTER, that has been specifically designed and developed for requirements elicitation workshops, and which utilizes, extends, and demonstrates a successful application of intelligent technologies for Computer Aided Software Engineering and Computer Aided Method Engineering. The primary objective of this tool is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the requirements elicitation process for software systems development, whilst addressing some of the common issues often encountered in practice through the integration of intelligent technologies. The tool also offers an example of how a group support system, coupled with artificial intelligence, can be applied to very practical activities and situations within the software development process