Enhancing and Consolidating Requirements Specification in Teaching System Design by Aligning Concepts From Heterogeneous Diagrams

Abstract

System analysis and design is a critical aspect of Information Systems, as the different courses in the field clearly demonstrate. Unified Modelling Language (UML), which comprises several structural and behavioural diagrams to formally specify the target system design, has been extensively adopted for a long time, and it is still very popular. Each diagram has a different purpose as it targets a different aspect or perspective of a given system, as well as diagrams may be used at different stages of the design process, which is not necessarily linear or prescriptive. However, the different diagrams are related and, in most cases, may be considered to be part of a seamless process. At an educational level, it is extremely important to approach system engineering in a systematic way in order to assure an effective process, which is correct and consistent. As students are not normally experienced professionals, it is important to create a learning environment that enhances the quality of experience and related learning outcomes. In this context, the alignment of concepts among the different diagrams may play a critical role as it can minimise inconsistencies in the design. In this paper, we discuss the alignment of concepts looking at a subset of UML (Use Case and Sequence diagrams) within the educational context. We analyse a simple scenario with an emphasis on interactions to highlight the relevance of the alignment of concepts from heterogeneous diagrams. Additionally, we provide future work and recommendations to explicit the seamless generation of information and its tracing from Use Case to Sequence diagrams.

Seamless transformation from use case to sequence diagrams

“…In our previous work ( Alyami, Pileggi & Hawryszkiewycz, 2021 ), we emphasized two diagrams ( i.e ., use case and sequence). We discussed an example to emphasize the importance of aligning concepts during the system design process.…”

“…1 and 2 depict the final outcome of the aligned concepts from the use case to sequence diagrams. These figures are recalled from our previous work with a minor modification to meet the implementation requirements ( Alyami, Pileggi & Hawryszkiewycz, 2021 ).…”

“…1 by following the exact alignment principles. More descriptions can be found in our previous work ( Alyami, Pileggi & Hawryszkiewycz, 2021 ), as we have generated a single sequence diagram for each use case presented in Fig. 1 .…”

“…This article is an extension of our previous work ( Alyami, Pileggi & Hawryszkiewycz, 2021 ), as we have discussed and analyzed a simple scenario of (ATM) to demonstrate the alignment of concepts between UML diagrams ( i.e ., use case and sequence diagrams) theoretically. Our research goal in this article is to use concept alignment to establish consistent system design across UML diagrams.…”