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Exploring how to use scenarios to discover requirements

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Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness of different uses of scenarios on requirements discovery using results from requirements processes in two projects. The first specified requirements on a new aircraft management system at a regional UK airport to reduce its environmental impact. The second specified new work-based learning tools to be adopted by a consortium of organizations. In both projects scenarios were walked through both in facilitated workshops and in the stakeholders’ workplaces using different forms of a scenario tool. In the second project, scenarios were also walked through with a software prototype and creativity prompts. Results revealed both qualitative and quantitative differences in discovered requirements that have potential implications for models of scenario-based requirements discovery and the design of scenario tools.

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Acknowledgments

Work reported in this paper was funded in part by the UK DTI-funded VANTAGE Phase-1 project and in part by the EU-funded FP6 027023 APOSDLE project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for HCI Design, City University London, London, EC1V 0HB, UK

    Neil Maiden, Kristine Karlsen & James Lockerbie

  2. Systems Engineering and Automation, Johannes Kepler University, 4040, Linz, Austria

    Norbert Seyff, Paul Grünbacher & Florian Graf

  3. Software Systems Research Centre, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK

    Cornelius Ncube

Authors
  1. Norbert Seyff
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  2. Neil Maiden
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  3. Kristine Karlsen
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  4. James Lockerbie
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  5. Paul Grünbacher
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  6. Florian Graf
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  7. Cornelius Ncube
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Correspondence to Neil Maiden.

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Seyff, N., Maiden, N., Karlsen, K. et al. Exploring how to use scenarios to discover requirements. Requirements Eng 14, 91–111 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00766-009-0077-9

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