Professor Keith Phalp: Notes and Materials

An introductory lecture for Spring 2013, which gives overview and discusses importance of requirements phase. (Alternative introduction, which focusses on methods issues, for those with existing understanding of requirements importance and some UML experience). 

Requirements Engineering, three descriptions, requirements: Definitions of requirements based intro.

Getting started with the process modelling: An exercise for drawing RADs.

A purist solution and a more literal solution. Discussion of some possible issues with the scenario that you might have spotted.

Lecture on Issues with Requirements Approaches. Slides on Types of Requirements and Exercise: Types of Requirement

Another overview of issues with a more historical focus: Analysis (the trouble with) & approaches to analysis.

Process Models, Roles and Role Activity Diagrams (RADs) . Some further alternative RADs, v1 & v2, and the process description. (An extension to these ideas, enactable role models).

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: Problem Frames. An exercise on identifying problem frames. Some suggested answers.(Masters topic only)

Guest Lecture: Goal Modelling in Requirements

Some background and revision for those less familiar with use cases. An introduction to use cases, and an introduction to Use case Descriptions

An introduction to the importance of the use case description, the need for guidelines and some example guidelines - Use Case Rules and Guidelines.

Assuming we want guidelines then it is important to know whether they are useful. Here is presentation to SQM 2006 on empirical studies of guidelines, which also notes how experimental results can appear powerful but be flawed. A paper on the basis for guidelines, and one on their assesment.

A further presentation on the problems with guidelines and issues for empirical studies. As promised a specific lecture on Dependencies in Use Cases.

For those wanting more, there is a further presentation on Comprehension within requirements, with use cases as the example, and associated paper in the Software Quality Journal. 

Moving from Process Models to Specification. Overview of the issues and notational mechanisms. 

The approach to mapping using POSD can be found here: Moving to Specification Using POSD. The approach to enaction is described above with respect to use case dependencies.

Assignment overview and introduction for 2013

Additional material for the assignment:

Interview 1
Interview 2

This week will be dedicated to support for the assignment.

Alignment. (An overview, of the early ideas of: Process Oriented Requirements Engineering). Requirements Engineering for Business Need and IT Alignment. 1st REBNITA workshop. REBNITA home page, and REBNITA proceedings. Variations on the move from Process Model to Problem Frames . REFSQ03, position paper and presentation. Journal papers: Deriving requirements from process models, Requirements Engineering for E-business advantage, and Business Systems Context and Process (B-SCP). Shows development from position paper, and increasing focus on integration of strategy. Progression of problems and problem frames for alignment. A web services example. Student presentations on selected alignment papers from REBNITA

 MDA and Stakeholders in the requirements process

Guest Lecture: Requirements using Soft Systems Approach

Guest Lecture: Requirements using Soft Systems Approach

For those using RADs, another really useful place to look is Martyn Ould's site at Venice Consulting Ltd.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: Use Case Rules and Guidelines. A presentation to SQM 2006 on emprical studies of guidelines. A paper on the basis for guidelines, and one on their assesment.

A further presentation on the problems with guidelines and issues for empirical studies.

1) Analysis of models: Lecture on heuristics and guidance for process models. These help to find and consider possible process issues and improvements. The concpet of metrics for process models is also described.

2) Research on Business Processes and IT Alignment.

• An overview, of the early ideas of: Process Oriented Requirements Engineering).
  
• Requirements Engineering for Business Need and IT Alignment. 1st REBNITA workshop. REBNITA home page, and REBNITA proceedings.
  
• Variations on the move from Process Model to Problem Frames: REFSQ03, position paper and presentation.
  

• Deriving requirements from process models, 
• Requirements Engineering for E-business advantage, and
  
• Business Systems Context and Process (B-SCP)

• How these ideas can be seen in current approaches.