Agent-Oriented Goal Models in Developing Information Systems Supporting Physical Activity Among Adolescents: Literature Review and Expert Interviews

Abstract

Background Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are becoming increasingly popular in supporting the fight against low physical activity (PA) levels among adolescents. However, several ICT solutions lack evidence-based content. Therefore, there is a need to identify important features that have the potential to efficiently and consistently support the PA of adolescents using ICT solutions. Objective This study aims to create evidence-based models of requirements for ICT solutions supporting PA by combining scientific evidence from literature and health experts. In addition, we test the suitability of agent-oriented goal models in this type of modeling process. Methods A literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases was conducted to identify evidence-based functional, quality, and emotional goals that have previously been proven to be relevant in supporting PAs among youth using ICT solutions. The identified goals were presented in the form of goal models. These models were used to collaborate with health experts to receive their input on the topic and suggestions for improvement. The initial goal models were improved based on the feedback from the experts. Results The results indicated that agent-oriented goal modeling is a suitable method for merging information from the literature and experts. One strength of agent-oriented goal models is that they present emotional requirements together with quality and functional requirements. Another strength is the possibility of presenting results from a literature review in a systematic manner and using them thereafter in the communication process with stakeholders. Agent-oriented goal models that were created were easy to understand for health experts without previous experience in requirements engineering, which facilitates and supports collaboration with nontechnical stakeholders. Conclusions The proposed agent-oriented goal models effectively merged information from scientific literature and experts in the field and presented early functional, quality, and emotional requirements in a holistic and coherent manner. We believe that the created models have high potential to help requirements engineers and developers to provide more efficient ICT solutions that support PA among adolescents in the future.

Involving Older Adults During COVID-19 Restrictions in Developing an Ecosystem Supporting Active Aging: Overview of Alternative Elicitation Methods and Common Requirements From Five European Countries

“…Literature review is very common in research communities when, for example, an intervention is being planned ( Mooses et al, 2021 ) or a research model is being developed ( Zimmerman et al, 2007 ). In the research literature, the requirements elicitation process is often insufficiently described, and to the best of our knowledge, only a few studies have used findings from literature or previous projects in the context of requirements elicitation ( Latulippe et al, 2019 ; Mooses and Taveter, 2021 ). This method complements other requirements elicitation methods.…”

“…In particular, motivational goal modeling explicitly addresses emotional requirements, rooted in the theory of constructed emotion ( Taveter and Iqbal, 2021 ), which is of utmost importance for older adults ( Miller et al, 2015 ; Taveter et al, 2019 ). Another advantage of motivational goal modelling is that it has been previously demonstrated to be a suitable and comfortable method for supporting the communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders ( Sterling and Taveter, 2009 ; Shvartsman et al, 2010 ; Shvartsman and Taveter, 2011 ; Miller et al, 2015 ; Taveter et al, 2019 ; Mooses and Taveter, 2021 ). Additionally, the elicited goals can be easily turned into more concrete requirements in the form of user stories ( Tenso et al, 2017 ) or prioritized lists of requirements ( D’Onofrio et al, 2019 ; Fiorini et al, 2021 ).…”

Sustaining human health: A requirements engineering perspective

“…Design Thinking (DT) can also help to elicit the requirements about the current processes and create new ideas and the way to limit existing needs (Hehn and Uebernickel 2018). An example of a requirements elicitation approach inspired by DT is the do/be/feel™ method of co-design (Lorca, Burrows, and Sterling 2018), which has been successfully applied in several healthrelated case studies, e.g., (Miller et al 2015) (Taveter et al 2019) (Mooses and Taveter 2021), as well as the PHArA-ON research project **** (Mooses et al 2022). Such approaches function as frameworks to efficiently incorporate qualitative, experimental, and other methods into the requirements elicitation.…”