Improving reviews of conceptual models by extended traceability to captured system usage

When specifying change for an existing system, the history and functionalit y of the system to be replaced has to be considered. This avoids neglecting important system functionality and repeating errors. The properties and th e rationale behind the existing system can be elicited by analysing concret e system-usage scenarios [Pohl, K., Weidenhaupt, K., Domges, R., Haumer, P. , Jarke, M., Klamma, R., 1999. Process-integrated (modelling) environments (PRIME): foundation and implementation framework. ACM Transactions on Softw are Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 343-410]. The r esults of the analysis of the existing system are then typically represente d using conceptual models. To establish conceptual models of high quality r eviewing the models is common practice. The problem faced with when reviewi ng conceptual models, is that the reviewer cannot assess and therefore unde rstand the basis (concrete system usage) on which the conceptual models wer e built. In this paper, we present an approach to overcome this problem. We establis h Extended Traceability, by recording concrete system-usage scenarios using rich media (e.g. video, speech, graphic) and interrelating the recorded ob servations with the conceptual models. We discuss the main improvements for review processes and illustrate the advantages with excerpts from a case s tudy performed in a mechanical engineering company. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.