Acquiring software requirements as conceptual graphs

Eliciting and acquiring requirements is a key aspect in developing effective requirements for software systems. This paper describes a knowledge-based approach to requirements elicitation and acquisition, whereby "requirements patterns" are used to guide the process. The result of the acquisition process is a set of conceptual graphs, a knowledge formalism that is used for the specification, analysis and documentation of software systems. The requirements engineer plays the role of a knowledge engineer in establishing requirements for a software system. We therefore consider knowledge acquisition to be a crucial supporting technology for software requirements. We describe a general knowledge acquisition technique that employs direct interaction with a stakeholder. The result of the interaction is a set of conceptual graphs that are suitable for integration and analysis by a variety of existing methods, among which is formal concept analysis. The Troika process exploits the advantages of three key technologies in acquiring requirements knowledge: conceptual graphs for requirements knowledge representation; repertory grids for requirements knowledge acquisition; and formal concept analysis for requirements concept formation