A framework to integrate design knowledge reuse and requirements management in engineering design

This paper presents a framework to integrate requirements management and design knowledge reuse. The research approach begins with a literature review in design reuse and requirements management to identify appropriate methods within each domain. A framework is proposed based on the identified requirements. The framework is then demonstrated using a case study example: vacuum pump design. Requirements are presented as a component of the integrated design knowledge framework. The proposed framework enables the application of requirements management as a dynamic process, including capture, analysis and recording of requirements. It takes account of the evolving requirements and the dynamic nature of the interaction between requirements and product structure through the various stages of product development.     

Operational definitions for system requirements as the basis of design automation

This paper introduces formal definitions to system requirements as the basis of design automation. Semi-formal requirements for real-time systems are expressed in the form of system verification diagrams, and the graph model of behaviour represents the design, capturing three aspects of system behaviour—control, data and interpretation. The design model is considered operational as an underlying token machine governs its actual behaviour. To achieve automatic design synthesis, the semantics of each construct in the requirement model have to be formally defined. These definitions constitute the core of a knowledge base in an automatic design synthesis tool.     

Pedestrian navigation using the sense of touch

Haptics is a feedback technology that takes advantage of the human sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to a haptic-enabled user device such as a mobile phone. Historically, human–computer interaction has been visual, data, or images on a screen. Haptic feedback can be an important modality in Mobile Location-Based Services like – knowledge discovery, pedestrian navigation and notification systems. In this paper we describe a methodology for the implementation of haptics in four distinct prototypes for pedestrian navigation. Prototypes are classified based on the user’s navigation guidance requirements, the user type (based on spatial skills), and overall system complexity. Here haptics is used to convey location, orientation, and distance information to users using pedestrian navigation applications. Initial user trials have elicited positive responses from the users who see benefit in being provided with a “heads up” approach to mobile navigation. We also tested the spatial ability of the user to navigate using haptics and landmark images based navigation. This was followed by a test of memory recall about the area. Users were able to successfully navigate from a given origin to a Destination Point without the use of a visual interface like a map. Results show the users of haptic feedback for navigation prepared better maps (better memory recall) of the region as compared to the users of landmark images based navigation.     

The brave new world of design requirements

Despite its success over the last 30 years, the field of Requirements Engineering (RE) is still experiencing fundamental problems that indicate a need for a change of focus to better ground its research on issues underpinning current practices. We posit that these practices have changed significantly in recent years. To this end we explore changes in software system operational environments, targets, and the process of RE. Our explorations include a field study, as well as two workshops that brought together experts from academia and industry. We recognize that these changes influence the nature of central RE research questions. We identify four new principles that underlie contemporary requirements processes, namely: (1) intertwining of requirements with implementation and organizational contexts, (2) dynamic evolution of requirements, (3) emergence of architectures as a critical stabilizing force, and (4) need to recognize unprecedented levels of design complexity. We recommend a re-focus of RE research based on a review and analysis of these four principles, and identify several theoretical and practical implications that flow from this analysis.     

Tracing requirements to defect reports: an application of information retrieval techniques

To support debugging, maintenance, verification and validation (V&V) and/or independent V&V (IV&V), it is necessary to understand the relationship between defect reports and their related artifacts. For example, one cannot correct a code-related defect report without being able to find the code that is affected. Information retrieval (IR) techniques have been used effectively to trace textual artifacts to each other. This has generally been applied to the problem of dynamically generating a trace between artifacts in the software document hierarchy after the fact (after development has proceeded to at least the next lifecycle phase). The same techniques can also be used to trace textual artifacts of the software engineering lifecycle to defect reports. We have applied the term frequency–inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) technique with relevance feedback, as implemented in our requirements tracing on-target (RETRO) tool, to the problem of tracing textual requirement elements to related textual defect reports. We have evaluated the technique using a dataset for a NASA scientific instrument. We found that recall of over 85% and precision of 69%, and recall of 70% and precision of 99% could be achieved, respectively, on two subsets of the dataset.     

Enhancing human indoor cognitive map development and wayfinding performance with immersive augmented reality-based navigation systems

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience where computer-generated perceptual information is superimposed into the real-world environment. Most existing research in AR-based wayfinding has focused on the technological aspects of developing AR-based software or devices to realize navigation. No previous investigations have focused on understanding the impact of immersive augmented reality (IAR)–based systems on human wayfinding performance from the cognitive perspective. Aimed at investigating the influence of IAR-based systems on people’s cognitive map development and their subsequent wayfinding performance as well as the effect of using three-dimensional (3D) layout models in IAR environments in addition to superimposed guideposts, an experiment was carried out in a building with a complex floor plan. A total of 54 university students were evenly divided into three groups: a control group with no IAR assistance, a second group using an IAR-based navigation system that includes only superimposed guideposts, and a third group using an IAR-based navigation system that includes both guideposts and a 3D layout model. Each participant was asked to conduct a spatial exploration task in the environment, sketch a floor map based on their spatial cognition, and perform a wayfinding task to find eight specific locations in the building. An analysis of the participants’ performance and responses to a number of self-evaluation questionnaires collected in the experiment indicates that IAR technology can help people develop their cognitive maps more effectively and can substantially improve their wayfinding performance with a much lower workload. A second finding is that adding a 3D layout model can enhance the effect of an IAR-based navigation system in terms of cognitive map development. The findings from this research extend the existing knowledge about IAR-based navigation and further verify that AR technology has the potential to reduce human workload for cognitive tasks. The results also could support its more effective application in various scenarios that require assisted wayfinding and cognitive map training, such as emergency evacuation drills.     

浅谈商业步行街设计中的环境与心理

随着我国城镇化建设的快速发展,商业步行街建设也逐渐成为各地的建设热点,文章从设计心理学和环境心理学两个方面简要探讨了商业步行街设计建设中所涉及的有关环境与心理的问厢。从理论和实际方面都能对提高商业步行街的设计和建设质量起到重要推动作用。     

Executive workstations: Issues and requirements

An executive workstation is an integrated hardware/ software system that can provide business executives with powerful capabilities for making and implementing decisions. In this paper, relevant and sometimes controversial, issues and workstation requirements are discussed in the context of a scenario that portrays an executive using a workstation. The scenario anticipates fifth generation computer technology and it guides a specification of features and functions. The goal is to clarify what is possible and desirable in an executive workstation design.     

Pedestrian detection and tracking at crossroads

This paper presents a system that can perform pedestrian detection and tracking using vision-based techniques. A very important issue in the field of intelligent transportation system is to prevent pedestrians from being hit by vehicles. Recently, a great number of vision-based techniques have been proposed for this purpose. In this paper, we propose a vision-based method, which combines the use of a pedestrian model as well as the walking rhythm of pedestrians to detect and track walking pedestrians. Through integrating some spatial and temporal information grabbed by a vision system, we are able to develop a reliable system that can be used to prevent traffic accidents happened at crossroads. In addition, the proposed system can deal with the occlusion problem. Experimental results obtained by executing some real world cases have demonstrated that the proposed system is indeed superb.     

An integrative approach to requirements analysis: How task models support requirements reuse in a user-centric design framework

Many software systems fail to address their intended purpose because of a lack of user involvement and requirements deficiencies. This paper discusses the elaboration of a requirements-analysis process that integrates a critical-parameter-based approach to task modeling within a user-centric design framework. On one hand, adapting task models to capture requirements bridges the gap between scenarios and critical parameters which benefits design from the standpoint of user involvement and accurate requirements. On the other hand, using task models as a reusable component leverages requirements reuse which benefits design by increasing quality while simultaneously reducing development costs and time-to-market. First, we present the establishment of both a user-centric and reuse-centric requirements process along with its implementation within an integrated design tool suite. Secondly, we report the design, procedures, and findings of two user studies aimed at assessing the feasibility for novice designers to conduct the process as well as evaluating the resulting benefits upon requirements-analysis deliverables, requirements quality, and requirements reuse.     

Pedestrian conspicuity research: a review

This review sets out to evaluate the ways in which pedestrian conspicuity has been defined and measured and to consider the various scenarios in which studies of pedestrian conspicuity have been conducted. Research from the psychological and human factors literature is reviewed, in addition to relevant studies on conspicuity that fall outside the scope of applied psychology. Methodological differences between these studies are compared and their ecological validity in terms of the real-world context of pedestrians at risk from vehicles is discussed. The authors argue that there have been many methodological differences in pedestrian conspicuity studies, but that this may not necessarily be problematic when investigating a phenomenon with multiple causal factors. However, suggestions are made for improving ecological validity and establishing a more unified framework for future research in this area.     

行人运动建模及仿真研究综述

根据行人运动建模及仿真发展历史以及已经提出的一些模型和算法,从宏观和微观两个层面对行人运动建模策略进行系统分析,包括宏观建模策略:行人动力学模型、空间交互/熵最大化模型以及微观建模策略:元胞自动机模型、磁力场模型、社会力模型、智能体模型、空间句法模型、马尔可夫模型.在建模策略分析基础上,重点研究了Legion,PAXPORT,NOMAD,STEPS以及BuildingEXODUS五种主流行人仿真系统,总结了各系统的建模思想、核心模型及优缺点.指出了未来行人系统建模及仿真的研究趋势.     

MOQARE: misuse-oriented quality requirements engineering

This work presents MOQARE (misuse-oriented quality requirements engineering), a method to explore quality requirements. The aim of MOQARE is to support intuitive and systematic identification of quality requirements. It was developed by integrating and adapting concepts from other methods (like Misuse Cases). It provides a general conceptual model of quality requirements, and a checklist-based process for deriving them in a top-down fashion. This derivation starts from business goals and vague quality requirements and delivers detailed requirements. MOQARE applies to requirements on the system to be developed requirements, but also derives requirements on the development process, including administration and maintenance. It considers normal and extreme use. The relationships among these requirements are modeled in a Misuse Tree. MOQARE has shown its merits in several case studies, one of which is presented here.     

Articulation of information requirements for personalised knowledge construction

The quality of information provision influences considerably knowledge construction driven by individual users’ needs. In the design of information systems for e-learning, personal information requirements should be incorporated to determine a selection of suitable learning content, instructive sequencing for learning content, and effective presentation of learning content. This is considered as an important part of instructional design for a personalised information package. The current research reveals that there is a lack of means by which individual users’ information requirements can be effectively incorporated to support personal knowledge construction. This paper presents a method which enables an articulation of users’ requirements based on the rooted learning theories and requirements engineering paradigms. The user’s information requirements can be systematically encapsulated in a user profile (i.e. user requirements space), and further transformed onto instructional design specifications (i.e. information space). These two spaces allow the discovering of information requirements patterns for self-maintaining and self-adapting personalisation that enhance experience in the knowledge construction process.     

Towards automated requirements prioritization and triage

Time-to-market deadlines and budgetary restrictions require stakeholders to carefully prioritize requirements and determine which ones to implement in a given product release. Unfortunately, existing prioritization techniques do not provide sufficient automation for large projects with hundreds of stakeholders and thousands of potentially conflicting requests and requirements. This paper therefore describes a new approach for automating a significant part of the prioritization process. The proposed method utilizes data-mining and machine learning techniques to prioritize requirements according to stakeholders’ interests, business goals, and cross-cutting concerns such as security or performance requirements. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated and evaluated through two case studies based on the requirements of the Ice Breaker System, and also on a set of stakeholders’ raw feature requests mined from the discussion forum of an open source product named SugarCRM.     

Computer-aided modeling and analysis techniques for determining business information systems requirements

The paper deals with the problem of determining the information requirements or needs of a business organization. Characteristics of the problem are discussed and several forms of models based on concepts in elementary matrix algebra and graph theory are described. We construct boolean matrices representing either data usage or creation by a process or function in a business organization. Products of the two matrices are represented as directed graphs to depict the flow of information. Two procedures are described for realizing the solutions obtained from the analysis. The applicability to other related areas of information systems research is discussed and an example is presented.     

Stakeholder viewpoints in requirements definition: A framework for understanding viewpoint development approaches

Requirements definition is a critical activity within information systems development. It involves many stakeholder groups: managers, various end-users and different systems development professionals. Each group is likely to have its own viewpoint representing a particular perspective or set of perceptions of the problem domain. To ensure as far as possible that the system to be implemented meets the needs and expectations of all involved stakeholders, it is necessary to understand their various viewpoints and manage any inconsistencies and conflicts. Viewpoint development during requirements definition is the process of identifying, understanding and representing different viewpoints. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for understanding and investigating viewpoint development approaches. Results of the use of the framework for a comparison of viewpoint development approaches are discussed and some important issues and directions for future research are identified.