Exploring how to use scenarios to discover requirements

This paper investigates the effectiveness of different uses of scenarios on requirements discovery using results from requirements processes in two projects. The first specified requirements on a new aircraft management system at a regional UK airport to reduce its environmental impact. The second specified new work-based learning tools to be adopted by a consortium of organizations. In both projects scenarios were walked through both in facilitated workshops and in the stakeholders’ workplaces using different forms of a scenario tool. In the second project, scenarios were also walked through with a software prototype and creativity prompts. Results revealed both qualitative and quantitative differences in discovered requirements that have potential implications for models of scenario-based requirements discovery and the design of scenario tools

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Engineering (RE) aims to ensure that systems meet the needs of their stakeholders including users, sponsors, and customers. Often consid- ered as one of the earliest activities in software engineering, it has developed into a set of activities that touch almost every step of the software development process. In this chapter, we reflect on how the need for RE was first recognised and how its foundational concepts were developed. We present the seminal papers on four main activities of the RE process, namely (i) elicitation, (ii) modelling & analysis, (iii) as- surance, and (iv) management & evolution. We also discuss some current research challenges in the area, including security requirements engineering as well as RE for mobile and ubiquitous computing. Finally, we identify some open challenges and research gaps that require further exploration

Known and unknown requirements in healthcare

We report experience in requirements elicitation of domain knowledge from experts in clinical and cognitive neurosciences. The elicitation target was a causal model for early signs of dementia indicated by changes in user behaviour and errors apparent in logs of computer activity. A Delphi-style process consisting of workshops with experts followed by a questionnaire was adopted. The paper describes how the elicitation process had to be adapted to deal with problems encountered in terminology and limited consensus among the experts. In spite of the difficulties encountered, a partial causal model of user behavioural pathologies and errors was elicited. This informed requirements for configuring data- and text-mining tools to search for the specific data patterns. Lessons learned for elicitation from experts are presented, and the implications for requirements are discussed as “unknown unknowns”, as well as configuration requirements for directing data-/text-mining tools towards refining awareness requirements in healthcare applications

CREWS-SAVRE: Scenarios for Acquiring and Validating Requirements

: This paper reports research into semi-automatic generation of scenarios for validating system requirements. The research was undertaken as part of the ESPRIT IV 21903 'CREWS' long-term research project. The paper presents the underlying theoretical models of domain knowledge, computational mechanisms and user-driven dialogues needed for scenario generation. It describes how CREWS draws on theoretical results from the ESPRIT III 6353 'NATURE'basic research action, that is object system models which are abstractions of the fundamental features of different categories of problem domain. CREWS uses these models to generate normal course scenarios, then draws on theoretical and empirical research from cognitive science, human-computer interaction, collaborative systems and software engineering to generate alternative courses for these scenarios. The paper describes a computational mechanism for deriving use cases from object system models, simple rules for use case composition, taxonomies..

Seeding, Evolutionary Growth and Reseeding: Constructing, Capturing and Evolving Knowledge in Domain-Oriented Design Environments

We live in a world characterized by evolution – that is, by ongoing processes of development, formation, and growth in both natural and human-created systems. Biology tells us that complex, natural systems are not created all at once but must instead evolve over time. We are becoming increasingly aware that evolutionary processes are ubiquitous and critical for technological innovations as well. This is particularly true for complex software systems because these systems do not necessarily exist in a technological context alone but instead are embedded within dynamic human organizations. The Center for LifeLong Learning and Design (L 3 D) at the University of Colorado has been involved in research on software design and other design domains for more than a decade. We understand software design as an evolutionary process in which system requirements and functionality are determined through an iterative process of collaboration among multiple stakeholders, rather than being completely specified before system development occurs. Our research focuses on the following claims about software systems embedded within dynamic human organizations: (1) they must evolve because they cannot be completely designed prior to use, (2) they must evolve to some extent at the hands of the users, and (3) they must be designed for evolution. Our theoretical work builds upon our existing knowledge of design processes and focuses on a software process model and architecture specifically for systems that must evolve. Our theories are instantiated and assessed through the development and evolution of domain-oriented design environments (DODEs) – software systems that support design activities within particular domains and that are built specifically to evolve