Banu Aysolmaz

Automated Functional Size Estimation Using Business Process Models with UPROM Method

Estimating functional size in early phases of software projects is essential for accurate effort and cost planning. When an organization requires its business processes to be automated by a business application software, business processes are analyzed in the initial phases and utilized in various ways through software development life cycle. In previous studies we presented a unified business process modelling methodology, UPROM for the practices of business process and user requirements analysis, COSMIC based functional size estimation (FSE) and process documentation. Applying UPROM notation, process and guidelines to implement these practices in an integrated way, a set of models are developed that can be used to generate related artifacts. As one of the artifacts, UPROM tool is used to automatically estimate the early COSMIC functional size conforming to UPROM FSE method. The procedures and rules of UPROM FSE method are described in this paper. The results of multiple case study and validation activities indicate that UPROM can be used to achieve reasonably accurate size estimation results in early phases and decreased subjectivity without significant extra work for estimation.

Towards an Integrated Framework for Invigorating Process Models: A Research Agenda

Process models abstract a dynamic phenomenon in the form of a static representation. This contrast makes them difficult to comprehend. Innovative usage of dynamic multimedia techniques in combination with static process model visualization knowledge remains an opportunity to address this problem. In this paper, we unfold our research plan to invigorate process models through the development of eight different embellishment components to enhance process comprehension.

A semi-automated approach for generating natural language requirements documents based on business process models

Abstract Context: The analysis of requirements for business-related software systems is often supported by using business process models. However, the final requirements are typically still specified in natural language. This means that the knowledge captured in process models must be consistently transferred to the specified requirements. Possible inconsistencies between process models and requirements represent a serious threat for the successful development of the software system and may require the repetition of process analysis activities. Objective: The objective of this paper is to address the problem of inconsistency between process models and natural language requirements in the context of software development. Method: We define a semi-automated approach that consists of a process model-based procedure for capturing execution-related data in requirements models and an algorithm that takes these models as input for generating natural language requirements. We evaluated our approach in the context of a multiple case study with three organizations and a total of 13 software development projects. Results: We found that our approach can successfully generate well-readable requirements, which do not only positively contribute to consistency, but also to the completeness and maintainability of requirements. The practical use of our approach to identify a suitable subcontractor on the market in 11 of the 13 projects further highlights the practical value of our approach. Conclusion: Our approach provides a structured way to obtain high-quality requirements documents from process models and to maintain textual and visual representations of requirements in a consistent way.

A 3D visualization approach for process training in office environments

Process participants need to learn how to perform in the context of their business processes. Process training is challenging due to cognitive difficulties in relating process model elements to real world concepts. In this paper we present a 3D Virtual World (VW) process training approach for office environments. In this VW, process participants can experience a process in an immersive environment. They interact with VW representations of process elements in changing locations, based on process activities. By means of embodied 3D representation, deep immersion and engagement in this environment, enhancements in long term memory learning and episodic memory usage for knowledge retrieval are expected. Our illustration of an example process model shows the applicability of the approach. We list a number of future directions to extend the use and the benefits.

A Research Agenda on Visualizations in Information Systems Engineering

Effectively using visualizations in socio-technical artifacts like information systems and software yields a number of challenges, such as ensuring that they allow for all necessary information to be captured, that visualizations can be efficiently and correctly read, and perhaps most important: that communication is fostered, leading rather to a shared understanding instead of misunderstandings and communication breakdowns. While over the last years many strides have been made to propose visualizations for specific purposes (such as modeling language notations, software interfaces, visual methods, and games), there has been less attention for frameworks and guidelines meant to support the people making such visualizations. When taking a closer look at the deficiencies in research on visualizations in information systems today, it turns out that especially a deeper understanding of the mental processes behind comprehending visualizations and the way humans are cognitively affected by visualizations, is required in order to gain advanced theoretic underpinnings for the creation and use of visualizations in information systems. In this paper we build towards a research agenda on visualization in information systems engineering by identifying a number of relevant requirements for research to address, of fundamental, methodical and tool nature.

A process variant modeling method comparison : Experience report

Various process variant modeling methods have been introduced in the literature to manage process diversity in a business context. In industrial settings, it is difficult to select a method suitable for the needs and limitations of the organization due to the limited number of examples and guidelines. In this paper, we report our experiences on variant modeling in a process management consultancy company. The company experienced difficulties in maintaining and reusing process definitions of their customers and decided to evaluate variant modeling methods as a solution. We selected two methods, the Decomposition Driven and the Provop, to develop variant models of seven software project management processes from five customers. We evaluated the results together with company experts. This study contributes to the field by providing real-life examples of two variant modeling methods, a comparison of the results with these methods and a guideline for choosing a method under comparable conditions.

Use Cases for Understanding Business Process Models

Process models are used by people for many different purposes. Depending on that purpose, users may look into process models in different ways. However, the current stream of research into process model comprehension does not explicitly consider the type of information that a user is seeking for. By failing to do so, attempts to improve the readability of process models may be lopsided at best. To overcome this situation, we propose a list of 17 so-called process model comprehension use cases. These capture the different types of information-seeking behavior of the users. We validated the list through interview and focus group studies, which included 24 participants from 8 organizations. Based on our findings, we present implications for researchers to re-investigate the comprehension topic. The use cases may also be beneficial for the development of modeling tools and process modelers to better support the user needs.

A Reflection on the Interrelations Between Business Process Management and Requirements Engineering with an Agility Perspective

The paper points out some aspects of the interrelations between business process management, agility, flexibility, and requirements engineering. It shows some possibilities for agile development of business processes and for the development of flexible processes for changing requirements.

Selecting a process variant modeling approach: guidelines and application

Various modeling approaches have been introduced to manage process diversity in a business context. For practitioners, it is difficult to select an approach suitable for the needs and limitations of their organization due to the limited number of examples and guidelines. In this paper, we report on an action research study to perform a comparative process variant modeling application in a process management consultancy company. This company experienced difficulties in maintaining and reusing process definitions of their customers. We describe how the requirements were determined and led to the selection of two specific approaches, the Decomposition Driven Method and the Provop approach. We comparatively evaluated the suitability of these approaches to develop variant models for six software project management processes of five customers. This study contributes to the field by presenting an industrial case for process variant modeling, reporting in-depth, real-life applications of two approaches, applying the approaches for hierarchical processes, and presenting guidelines for choosing an approach under comparable conditions.

Transforming Process Models to Problem Frames

An increase of process awareness within organizations and advances in IT systems led to a development of process-aware information systems (PAIS) in many organizations. UPROM is developed as a unified BPM methodology to conduct business process and user requirements analysis for PAIS in an integrated way. However, due to the purpose, granularity and form of UPROM artifacts, one cannot analyze the software requirements in detail with (semi-)formal methods for properties such as completeness, compliance and quality. In contrast, Problem Frames modeled using the UML4PF tool can be used for such analysis. But using the Problem Frames notation and corresponding methods alone does not cover a direct support for building a PAIS. Hence, in this work we propose to integrate UPROM and UML4PF using model transformation. We use eCompany, a project which is part of an e-government program, as running example.