Knowledge-based system requirements

摘要

There is a growing demand both for greater ‘ease of use’ and ‘support in use’ as existing software packages are employed for more complex tasks. End users are faced with both the intricacies of the existing software, and the increasing complexity of the application-problem domains. As a result, there are important implications for the design of support systems for the professional user. The paper describes an approach to the identification of user requirements for knowledge-based front ends to existing software systems. The development of KBFEs is a software re-use technique that involves the integration of existing systems and services to provide specific users and user groups with a tailored solution. As a result, a KBFE enables a greater number and variety of users to have access to existing software and its functionality. This has implications for the requirements-elicitation methods employed. Investigations requirements that assume the use of existing software are described, and a framework for the structuring of the user requirements obtained is presented.