Home NEMO 2017 Lectures Domain Story Telling: A Modelling Approach for Business Processes

Domain Story Telling: A Modelling Approach for Business Processes

Prof. Dr. Heinz Züllighoven

Prof. Dr. Heinz Züllighoven

University of Hamburg, Germany

Mr. Holger Breitling

Mr. Holger Breitling

University of Hamburg,Germany

Understanding and describing requirements is probably the greatest challenge in a software development project. Only well-known and well-understood requirements can be successfully implemented. Even if we select a standard software to support our customers, the right requirements are significant. Requirements engineering is a learning and communication process for us. A precondition for this is feedback – whether in direct dialogue or by informative requirements documents. The field application experts need to validate the requirements documentation so that it is possible to detect mistakes and misunderstandings. With Domain Storytelling we use the principles of learning a new human language. Let experts tell their domain stories. While listening, we record the domain stories using a pictographic language. The domain experts can see immediately whether we understand their story correctly. After very few stories, we are able to talk about the people, tasks, tools, work items, and events in a domain. Domain Storytelling is an example-based approach for modeling selected business processes and their IT-support. The models are easy to understand for people in different departments, business organization and its specialists alike. The method aims at common understanding and communication about the processes which are modelled. Characteristics of the eGPM method are: (a) cooperative business processes are modelled as “cooperation pictures” based on selected scenarios, (b) simple pictograms make models easy to comprehend, (c) processes are structured along the lines of “who makes what with whom”. The initial lecture will present the conceptual basis of Domain Storytelling, putting business process modelling into the context of application-oriented software development. It will characterize software development as a learning and communication process with a strong need for feedback among all parties concerned. The basic principles and concepts of Domain Storytelling will be explained. The tutorial will provide hands-on experience with the modelling tool. Examples from different application domains and usage contexts will show the usability of the approach in many professional contexts.

Lecture at NEMO2017

Date/Time: Friday, July 21, 2017 at 11:30