Conceptual modelling in the hypermedia development process

• Authors: Jana Dospisil;Tony Polgar
• Venue: SIGCPR '94 Proceedings of the 1994 computer personnel research conference on Reinventing IS : managing information technology in changing organizations: managing information technology in changing organizations
• Year: 1994

This paper explores the potential of using multiple software requirements specification methods for elicitation of concepts in the development of university courseware based on the multimedia and hypermedia technology. At universities, the use of hypermedia and multimedia technology is perceived as one of the most efficient ways to enhance student access to information and improve learning interaction in the undergraduate computer science course. Such an approach will guarantee high level quality teaching whilst permitting significant reduction in lecturer-student contact hours. The process which plays the critical role in such a development environment is the concepts acquisition and requirements specification, collectively called requirements engineering.The hypermedia design and programming development process shows some peculiarities which make them different from the “classic” development activities. The main areas of interest include the user requirements engineering and removing ambiguity of natural language from software requirements specifications. There is a need to devise an integrated set of specification notations which would cater for the irregularities introduced by the differences in media while supporting commonly used development activities.In this case study, we assume a typical interactive multimedia development process in a teaching environment. The objective is to assess the role of prototyping and to establish the main characteristics of the formal requirements specification notation(s) as a means for achieving a more efficient utilisation of complex computing technologies. The horizontal design partitioning concept is used to establish clear demarcation lines between the development process phases. The vertical design partitioning is used to reduce complexity of the design by enforcing predictable structural patterns and presentation logic components. This approach allows deployment of the multiple specification notations in the design and implementation process.The paper is organized as follows: Firstly, we discuss the key characteristics of the hypermedia design process. In section two, the role of prototyping is critically evaluated. Section three provides our view of concepts acquisition and requirements management process. Remaining sections of this case study depict our proposed conceptual model for hypermedia based courseware development process.