Abstract
This paper describes the rationale behind a user interface requirements management notation and a supporting tool suite. The notation is being developed to facilitate the design of interactions based on an account of non-functional requirements (NFRs), thus the acronym NfRn for the technique. NfRn is a graphical notation which is used to specify an interactive system’s global execution context (GEC). The resulting depiction is referred to as the Global Execution Context graph (GECg). The GECg is a visual construction, which consists of nodes, representing interaction scenarios, and directed links representing scenario relationships designating alternate execution, concurrency, ordering, and set-oriented relationships between two scenario nodes. The technique is particularly useful for specifying certain NFRs - such as adaptability, adaptivity, scalability and portability - which are especially relevant for anytime, anywhere access. In the paper, we demonstrate the application of the technique in the context of an on-going research project aiming to build an ‘electronic village’ of local interest in the region of Crete.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Card, S.K., Moran, T.P., Newell, A.: The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale (1983)
Diaper, D., Johnson, P.: Task analysis for knowledge descriptions: theory and applications in training. In: Long, J., Whitefield, A. (eds.) Cognitive ergonomics and human-computer interaction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1989)
Hartson, H.R., et al.: The UAN: A User-oriented Representation for Direct Manipulation Interface designs. ACM Transactions on Information Systems 8(3), 181–203 (1990)
Pinheiro da Silva, P.: User Interface Declarative Models and Development Environments: A Survey. In: Palanque, P., Paternó, F. (eds.) DSV-IS 2000. LNCS, vol. 1946, pp. 207–226. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)
Pinheiro da Silva, P., Paton, W.N.: User interface modelling in UMLi. IEEE Software, 62–69 (2003)
Blankenhorn, K.: A UML Profile for GUI Layout. Master’s Thesis, University of Applied Sciences Furtwangen, Department of Digital Media (2004)
Mori, G., Paterno, F., Santoro, C.: CTTE: Support for Developing and Analyzing Task models for interactive system design. IEEE Transactions on S.E. 28(9), 1–17 (2002)
Mori, G., Paterno, F., Santoro, C.: Design and Development of Multidevice user interfaces through multiple logical descriptions. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 30(8), 1–14 (2004)
UsiXML: http://www.usixml.org/
Mylopoulos, J., Chung, L., Nixon, B.: Representing and using non-functional requirements: a process-oriented approach. IEEE Trans. Software Engineering 18(6), 483–497 (1992)
Cysneiros, L.-M., Leite, J.C.S.P.: Using UML to reflect non-functional requirements. In: Proceedings of the 2001 conference of the Centre for Advanced Studies on Collaborative research (CASCON), pp. 202–216. IBM Press, Toronto (2001)
Wirsing, M., et al.: UML for Global Computing. In: Priami, C. (ed.) GC 2003. LNCS, vol. 2874, pp. 1–24. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Limbourg, Q., Vanderdonckt, J.: Addressing the Mapping Problem in User Interface Design with USIXML. In: Proc. TAMODIA, Prague, pp. 155–164 (2004)
Castro, J., Kolp, M., Mylopoulos, J.: Towards requirements-driven information systems engineering: the Tropos project. Information Systems 27, 365–389 (2002)
Akoumianakis, D., Pachoulakis, I.: Scenario Networks: Specifying User Interfaces with Extended Use Cases. In: Bozanis, P., Houstis, E.N. (eds.) PCI 2005. LNCS, vol. 3746, pp. 491–501. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
Akoumianakis, D., Savidis, A., Stephanidis, C.: Encapsulating intelligent interaction behaviour in unified user interface artefacts. Interacting with Computers 12, 383–408 (2000)
Sutcliffe, A.: Scenario-based requirements analysis. Requirements Engineering 3, 48–65 (1998)
Sutcliffe, A.G., Ryan, M.: Experience with SCRAM, a Scenario Requirements Analysis Method. In: International Conference on Requirement Engineering, pp. 164–171 (1998)
Leite, J.C.S.P., et al.: A scenario construction process. Requirements Engineering 5(1), 38–61 (2000)
Maiden, N., et al.: CREWS SAVRE: Systematic scenario generation and use. In: ICRE ’98: Third International Conference on Requirements Engineering, pp. 148–155 (1998)
Breitman, K.-K., Leite, J., Berry, D.M.: Supporting scenario evolution. Requirements Engineering 10, 112–131 (2005)
Chung, L., et al.: Non-Functional Requirements in Software Engineering. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (2000)
Leite, J.C.S.P., et al.: Scenario inspections. Requirements Engineering 10, 1–21 (2005)
Olson, J.S., Moran, T.P.: Mapping the method muddle: Guidance in using methods for user interface design. In: Rudisill, M., et al. (eds.) HCI design: Success stories, emerging methods, and real-world context, pp. 101–121. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco (1996)
Carroll, J.M., Rosson, M.B.: Getting around the task-artifact cycle: How to make claims and design by scenario. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 10(2), 181–212 (1992)
MacLean, A., et al.: Questions, options, and criteria: elements of design space analysis. Human-Computer Interaction 6(3-4), 201–250 (1991)
Nielsen, J.: Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (1993)
Yakemovic, B., Conklin, J.: Report on a development project use of an issue-based information system. In: Proceedings of the 1990 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work, Los Angeles, California, October 7-10, 1990, pp. 105–118 (1990)
Beynon-Davies, P., Holmes, S.: Design breakdowns, scenarios and rapid application development. Information and Software Technology 44, 579–592 (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Akoumianakis, D., Katsis, A., Vidakis, N. (2007). Non-functional User Interface Requirements Notation (NfRn) for Modeling the Global Execution Context of Tasks. In: Coninx, K., Luyten, K., Schneider, K.A. (eds) Task Models and Diagrams for Users Interface Design. TAMODIA 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4385. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70816-2_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70816-2_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-70815-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-70816-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)