Collaborative Requirements Engineering: Bridging the Gulfs Between Worlds - Intentional Perspectives on Information Systems Engineering - page 365

to simpler functionality that supported more ad hoc analysis. The concerns over
privacy and security were agreed as shared NFRs during the requirements process,
which developed common ground by using a combination of representations.

6.2 Reflections on Representations and Process

Throughout the requirements process RE techniques and representations were
adapted to both project goals and the circumstances at that time. Table 5 summarises
the appropriateness of each technique used for identifying the necessary knowledge
to drive the requirements process forward.
Early in the project, a combination of interviews, with observation of meetings
and working practices, provided rich domain knowledge, and generated ideas which
started to shape the project. However, whilst interviews and observation taught us
about the more concrete and observable aspects of work, these methods were not
effective ways to access tacit expertise about epidemiological workflows and deci-
sion making. Instead, the use of scenarios and the domain knowledge workshops
were particularly helpful in addressing this gap and understanding how our users
considered evidence and made decisions about their data. Once we began the early
design work, a combination of scenarios and storyboards worked well, with scenar-
ios proving a particularly effective way to feed users' requirements to the project
team, while storyboards and prototypes were useful for exploring designs with
users.
Open-ended interviews were effective for initiating the requirements process,
since the concept of an interview is widely understood. Interviews elicited both
concrete and abstract information, recorded in scenarios of use and lists of goals
and domain facts respectively. The stakeholders were comfortable with the pres-
ence of an observer/analyst in meetings and this also proved an effective way to get

Ta b l e 5 The effectiveness of representations in supporting development of different aspects of
common ground

Domain
knowledge
workshops Scenarios

Developing common
ground for

Observation
of work

Story-
boards Interviews Prototypes

Concrete domain
knowledge

++ ++ ++ +++ + +

Values and
stakeholder CG

++ - ++ ++ - -

User goals ++ - + ++ ++ +

Abstract concepts + - +++ - - -

Agreed solu-
tions/validated
requirements

- - - ++ +++ +++

Requirements
specification

++ - - ++ ++ ++