IMPROVING REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS - Rigourous Problem Analysis and Formulation with Coloured Cognitive Maps
John R. Venable
2008
Abstract
This position paper argues that methodical and rigourous attention to problem formulation should be an essential part of requirements analysis and proposes a method for modelling problems and potential solutions. Currently, most IS Development Methodologies ignore the issue of problem formulation. Furthermore, in practice, most IS development projects ignore or pay little attention to this issue. In this paper we argue that the resulting lack of proper problem analysis and formulation is a major cause of IS failures. In place of this lack of attention, this paper proposes and reports on research in progress on the development and evaluation of a new technique, Coloured Cognitive Maps (CCM), for use in problem formulation at the early stages of Information Systems Development. The notation of coloured cognitive maps and a procedure to use them for problem analysis and solution derivation are briefly described. Initial anecdotal results in employing CCM by students and practitioners are briefly described.
References
- Ackermann, F. and C. Eden, 2001. SODA - Journey Making and Mapping in Practice, Chapter 3 in Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. J. Rosenhead & J. Mingers (eds.), Wiley, Chichester, UK.
- Avison, D. E. and Wood-Harper, A. T., 1990. Multiview: An Exploration in Information Systems Development. McGraw-Hill, New York City, USA.
- Checkland, P. B., 1981. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Wiley, Chichester, UK.
- Checkland, P. B. and S. Holwell, 1998. Information, Systems, and Information Systems. Wiley, Chichester, UK.
- Checkland, P. B. and J. Scholes, 1990. Soft Systems Methodology in Action. Wiley, Chichester, UK.
- Eden, C., 1988. Cognitive Mapping, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 36, pp. 1 - 13.
- Eden, C. and F. Ackermann, 2001. SODA - The Principles, Chapter 2 in Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. J. Rosenhead & J. Mingers (eds.), Wiley, Chichester, UK.
- Mathiassen, L., Munk-Madsen, A., Nielsen, P. A., and Stage, J., 2000. Object Oriented Analysis & Design. Marko Publishing, Aalborg, Denmark, http://markopublishers.com.
- Roberts, P., 1994. Systems and the Problematique. Futures, Vol. 26, No. 7, September, pp. 730-740.
- Venable, J. R., 2005. Coloured Cognitive Maps for Modelling Decision Contexts. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Context Modeling and Decision Support, Paris, France, 5 July 2005, CEUR Workshop Proceedings, ISSN 1613-0073, online http://CEUR-WS.org/Vol-144/03_venable.pdf (accessed 30 October 2005).
- Wood-Harper, A. T., L. Antill, and D. E. Avison, 1985. Information Systems Definition: The Multiview Approach. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Ltd., Oxford, UK.
Paper Citation
in Harvard Style
R. Venable J. (2008). IMPROVING REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS - Rigourous Problem Analysis and Formulation with Coloured Cognitive Maps . In Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 6: ICEIS, ISBN 978-989-8111-38-8, pages 466-470. DOI: 10.5220/0001727204660470
in Bibtex Style
@conference{iceis08,
author={John R. Venable},
title={IMPROVING REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS - Rigourous Problem Analysis and Formulation with Coloured Cognitive Maps},
booktitle={Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 6: ICEIS,},
year={2008},
pages={466-470},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0001727204660470},
isbn={978-989-8111-38-8},
}
in EndNote Style
TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 6: ICEIS,
TI - IMPROVING REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS - Rigourous Problem Analysis and Formulation with Coloured Cognitive Maps
SN - 978-989-8111-38-8
AU - R. Venable J.
PY - 2008
SP - 466
EP - 470
DO - 10.5220/0001727204660470