A Use Case based requirements specification approach to support the development of a rehabilitation system for CVD patients: The PATHway project

Over the last years, due to the emergency of new challenges in the area of the health care domain, particular emphasis was dedicated to the application of ICT in this sector. This, in turn, stimulated the analysis over the software requirements engineering techniques and their applicability in this context. The efficient application of the use-case based technique, within the PATHway project user requirements elicitation and formalisation activities, is here described. Efficiency has been reached by means of (i) a light and progressive introduction of UCs (Use Cases) instrument to the clinical teams by exploiting informal stories (i.e. anecdotes), (ii) a careful evaluation of the best UC description structure and, finally, (iii) an introduction of co-design moments with the final users (i.e. the patients) to speed up the UCs adaptation by the two main involved teams (i.e. technical team and clinical team). The qualitative results demonstrate advantages and limits of such technique applied to the context of cardiovascular home rehabilitation. Additionally the study has highlighted a smooth integration between the distinct phases of the requirements engineering process which can lead, in general, to a return of investment.