Requirements engineering: problem domain knowledge capture and the deliberation process support

Abstract

The paper proposes a framework for group conversation support of the group problem solving and decision making activity involved during requirements interpretation and analysis in a typical information technology implementation project. Requirements interpretation and analysis is a crucial requirements engineering activity. It involves interpretive work with an intensive knowledge exchange process in informal language. The framework suggested here comprises activity domain relevant discussion primitives that form the substantial context surrounding any issue or requirement and certain recurrently observed conversation patterns in the domain. The conversation support using this framework would lead to problem domain knowledge capture and maintenance, some form of pretraceability and decision rationale capture. It would also enable more complete discussion of the requirement or the problem at hand, by way of providing contextual help during discussion time.