The Agent at the Center of the Requirements Engineering Process: A Framework for Complex Socio-technical Systems.
Paolo Bresciani, Paolo Donzelli · 2003
Adopting Requirements Engineering (RE) techniques based on the fundamental notions of the agent-oriented programming paradigm, i.e., Agent, Goal ,a ndIntentional Dependency, has been recognized as a crucial step to- wards a more homogeneous and natural software engineering process for com- plex socio-technical systems, among which Multi Agent Systems. The availabil- ity of simple representational tools is a key factor to guarantee stakeholders' ac- tive involvement during RE, and therefore the success of the RE process itself. The paper introduces an agent-based Requirements Engineering Framework (REF), devised to deal with socio-technical systems, and support stakeholders' participation. REF is designed around the adoption of a simple, but effective, graphical notation. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the graphical language may constraint the analysis process, reducing its flexibility and efficiency. This trade- off is carefully analysed, and some extensions are proposed, which do not affect REF clarity and intuitiveness, while enhancing REF capability to support require- ments engineers in planning and implementing their analysis strategies.