Employing use-cases for piecewise evaluation of requirements and claims

Abstract

Motivation -- Complex design specifications must be partitioned in manageable pieces to be able to evaluate them in separate experiments. No methodology existed to deal with this task. Research approach -- Practical experience in Situated Cognitive Engineering and the Mission Execution Crew Assistant is combined with a theoretical perspective on the relation between use-cases, requirements and claims. Findings/design -- Hierarchical clustering is an effective method for partitioning a design specification. Use-cases provide a good criterion based on which to cluster the requirements and claims. Originality/Value -- A new method and tool are presented for organising requirements and for systematising the evaluation of a complex design specification. Take away message -- Piecewise evaluation benefits from a use-case-based partitioning of the design specification combined with an experimental stance on requirements and claims.