Page 156 - Software and Systems Requirements Engineering in Practice

122 S o f t w a r e & S y s t e m s R e q u i r e m e n t s E n g i n e e r i n g : I n P r a c t i c e

Visual techniques that combine and improve on traditional modeling
and text-based requirements elicitation and analysis techniques have
been successfully piloted at Siemens, resulting in work products
with consistent high quality and uniformity. While modeling skills
are important when using MDRE, it is often possible to use an
incremental approach to process and methodology improvement.
We suggest experimenting with “lightweight” modeling techniques
initially on small projects, and as confidence increases, gradually
moving from a natural language approach to a more formal, model-
driven process.

4.14 Discussion Questions

1. What are some of the advantages of using models to describe
requirements over text-based approaches?
2. What types of tests can be automatically performed on
requirements models to help find errors?
3. What are some of the skills required for those who lead
requirements elicitation sessions?

References
Alexander, I., “Capturing Use Cases with DOORS,” Fifth IEEE International
Symposium on Requirements Engineering (RE ’01), Toronto, Canada, August
2001, p. 264.
Ambler, S., The Elements of UML 2.0 Style, Cambridge University Press, New York,
NY, 2005.
Babin, G. and Lustman, F., “Formal Data and Behavior Requirements Engineering:
a Scenario-Based Approach,” Proceedings of SEA ’99: 3rd Annual IASTED
International Conference on Software Engineering and Applications, N.C. Debnath
and R.Y. Lee, eds., Scottsdale, AZ, USA, 1999, pp. 119–125.
Berenbach, B., “The Automated Extraction of Requirements from UML Models,”
Eleventh IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering (RE ’03),
Monterey Bay, CA, September 2003, pp. 287–288.
Berenbach, B., “The Evaluation of Large, Complex UML Analysis and Design
Models,” Twenty-Sixth International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE
2004), Edinburgh, Scotland, May 2004.
Berenbach, B. and Borotto, G., “Metrics for Model-Driven Requirements
Development,” Proceeding of the 28th International Conference on Software
Engineering, Shanghai, 2006, pp. 445–451.
Berenbach, B. and Gall, M., “Toward a Unified Model for Requirements Engineering,”
Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering,
Munich, 2006, pp. 237–238.
Bradley, D.A., Dawson, D., Burd, N.C., and Loader, A.J., Mechatronics: Electronics in
Products and Processes, Chapman and Hall, London, 1991.
Breu, R., Hinkel, U., Hofmann, C., Klein, C., Paech, B., Rumpe, B., and Thurner, V.,
“Towards a Formalization of the Unified Modeling Language,” Proceedings of
ECOOP ’97, Springer Verlag, LNCS, 1997.
Cheng, B. and Campbell, L., “Integrating Informal and Formal Approaches to
Requirements Modeling and Analysis,” Fifth IEEE International Symposium on
Requirements Engineering (RE ’01), Toronto, ON, August 2001, pp. 294–295.