Paul A. Swatman

Structured-case: a methodological framework for building theory in information systems research

This paper presents a methodological framework, structured-case, that assists IS researchers to undertake and assess theory building research within the interpretive paradigm, and explains its value in achieving convincing explanations that are strongly linked to both the research themes and data collected in the field.

Managing the requirements engineering process

AbstractProcess management is a crucial issue in developing information or computer systems. Theories of software development process management suggest that the process should be supported and managed based on what the process really is. However, our learning from an action research study reveals that the requirements engineering (RE) process differs significantly from that which the current literature tends to describe. The process is not a systematic, smooth and incremental evolution of the requirements model, but involves occasional simplification and restructuring of the requirements model. This revised understanding of the RE process suggests a new challenge to both the academic and industrial communities, demanding new process management approaches. In this paper, we present our understanding of the RE process and its implications for process management.n

Supporting and monitoring the creativity of IS personnel during the requirements engineering process

The early stages of the RE process involve developing understanding of a problem situation, the problem domain, and the requirements for achieving improvements in the problem situation. How requirements engineers work to develop this understanding is poorly understood. The findings from several field studies of the RE process show that the process is creative and opportunistic, involving adaptive and responsive exploration of the problem space. The question of how to support and monitor the process remains. We have approached this problem by examining the complexity of the requirements models in a number of laboratory based studies. By recording the RE process using a design rationale notation and analysing the complexity of the requirements models, we have traced the oscillations in complexity throughout the process, we have called this the catastrophe-cycle of the requirements modelling process. We discuss the usefulness of design rationale in supporting and monitoring the RE process, examine the implications of this research for managing the creative and insight-driven RE process, and highlight areas for future research.

ICT intervention in the `Chandanbari' Village of Bangladesh: Results from a field study

The United Nations, the World Bank and the International Telecommunication Union purport that information and communication technology (ICT) interventions improve development in third world countries. Hence, developing countries are rushing to implement various ICT interventions in urban-rural areas aiming to engender local or national development. Through an interpretive case study of an ICT intervention in the Chandanbari village area of Bangladesh, this research describes some challenges surrounding ICT interventions. From background literature concerning bridging the digital-divide we emphasise users’ capability, local context and local content during the planning and implementation of ICT interventions. We apply Heeks’ (eDevelopment Briefing, 3(1), 1–2, 2005) information chain model to improve understanding of ICT-led development at the community/individual level. Our findings uncover considerable interest in ICT interventions from the community/individuals; however, there are challenges to the long-term acceptance of ICT interventions, such as the socio-cultural issues of gender discrimination and cultural barriers.

USING DESIGN EXPLANATION WITHIN THE FORMAL OBJECT-ORIENTED METHOD

This paper reports the results of an action research project which studied the benefits of documenting the evolution, and the rationale for the evolution, of a requirements specification. The benefits which design explanation offers designers (as documented in the literature) suggested an investigation with a view to understanding the potential contribution of the IBIS (Issue-Based Information System) approach. The paper reports an investigation into the use of ad hoc design explanation, in which design decisions were documented as they were made using the IBIS notation. This study finds both strengths and weaknesses in the approach. It reveals ways in which IBIS might be used more effectively and leads us to suggest a further study into the complementary use of ad hoc and post hoc design explanation approaches.

Complementary use of ad hoc and post hoc design rationale for creating and organising process knowledge

Documenting the requirements engineering (RE) process using the ad hoc notation IBIS (Issue Based Information Systems) and analysing the complexity of the requirement model revealed that the process was not smoothly evolutionary, but involved occasional crisis points at which the model was reconceptualised, simplified and restructured. The IBIS base provided essential input for the reconceptualisation, simplification and major restructuring of the model. However, the locality of arguments and the lack of context in the IBIS notation led to difficulty in searching and retrieving desirable information from the large IBIS based. In this paper we investigate the supplementary use of the post hoc notation QOC (Question-Option-Criteria).

Essential and incidental complexity in requirements models

A deep understanding of the complexity of the requirements model and its dynamics is critical in improving requirements engineering process management. Findings from an action research study an insightful explanation of how the complexity of the requirements model evolves over time. We argue that there are two different types of complexity of the model: the essential and incidental complexities. The essential complexity represents the inherent understanding of the problem space while the incidental complexity arises from the poor fit between the structure of the model and the structure of the world which the model aims to represent. We present a pattern for the dynamics of changes in the complexity of the requirements model. The evolution of the requirements model involves both the growth of the essential complexity throughout the discovery of the problem space and the growth and shrinkage of the incidental complexity, as the model undergoes a large number of changes. The new understanding of the complexity of the requirements model and its dynamics draws new directions for future research and forms a basis for a new approach to process management.

Fuzzy Concepts and Formal Methods: A Fuzzy Logic Toolkit for Z

It has been recognised that formal methods are useful as a modelling tool in requirements engineering. Specification languages such as Z permit the precise and unambiguous modelling of system properties and behaviour. However some system problems, particularly those drawn from the IS problem domain, may be difficult to model in crisp or precise terms. It may also be desirable that formal modelling should commence as early as possible, even when our understanding of parts of the problem domain is only approximate. This paper suggests fuzzy set theory as a possible representation scheme for this imprecision or approximation. We provide a summary of a toolkit that defines the operators, measures and modifiers necessary for the manipulation of fuzzy sets and relations. We also provide some examples of the laws which establishes an isomorphism between the extended notation presented here and conventional Z when applied to boolean sets and relations.

Promoting and Supporting Requirements Engineering Creativity

Requirements Engineering (RE) is a commencing phase in the systems development life cycle and concerned with understanding and specifying the customers requirements. RE has been recognized as a complex cognitive problem solving process which takes place in an unstructured and poorly understood problem .context. A recent understanding describes the RE process as inherently creative, involving cycles of incremental building followed by insight-driven econceptualization .of the problem space. This chapter relates this new understanding to various creative process models described in the creativity and psychology of problem solving literature. A review of current attempts to support problem solving in RE using various design rationale approaches suggests., that their common major wealmess lies in the lack of support for the creative and insight-driven problem solving process in RE. In addressing this weakness, the chapter suggests a new approach to promoting and supporting RE creativity using design rationale. The suggested approach involves the ad hoc recording of rationale to support the creative exploration complemented by a post hoc conceptual characterization of the problem space to support insight driven reconceptualization.

Building information systems development methods: synthesising from a basis in both theory and practice

We discuss some methodological issues associated with research into requirements engineering, and describe the benefits afforded to us by using action research to explore issues associated with requirements elicitation, modelling and validation. FOOM is a requirements engineering method which is designed to facilitate the development of high-quality, requirements-conformant information systems. In creating FOOM, an overriding concern has been to ensure both theoretic soundness and practical applicability within the target domain. We discuss the benefits of using action research as an enquiry mechanism for exploring issues associated with requirements elicitation, modelling and validation, and the way in which it formed a central part of the methods evaluation and evolution.