language: en

A Facilitator Method for Upstream Design Activities with Diverse Stakeholders

Regina M. Gonzales and Alexander L. Wolf
Software Engineering Research Laboratory Department of Computer Science University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309 USA
fregina.gonzales,alwg@cs.colorado.edu

Abstract This paper presents a method that can be used for the elicitation and specification of requirements and high-level design. It supports stakeholder-based modeling, rapid feasibility feedback to marketing, and the interpersonal dynamics that are necessary to develop a product. The method centers on the role of the facilitator, an independent agent whose purpose is to build the Integrated System Model (ISM). The ISM is the result of merging the independent system views from all stakeholders at any given abstraction level. Formulation of this method was based on the real-world experience of developing a complex, high-technology medical product with critical time-to-market pressures. It has proven to be a practical approach to the evolution of requirements definition and provides a necessary link to the marketing aspect of a product.

1 Introduction