Evaluating a graphical notation for modelling software development methodologies

  • Authors:

  • Kenia Sousa;Jean Vanderdonckt;Brian Henderson-Sellers;Cesar Gonzalez-Perez

  • Affiliations:

  • Louvain School of Management (LSM), Information Systems Unit (ISYS), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium;Louvain School of Management (LSM), Information Systems Unit (ISYS), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium;School of Software, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia;Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Visual Languages and Computing
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

This work aims at evaluating a graphical notation for modelling software (and other kinds of) development methodologies, thus demonstrating how useful the graphical aspects can be for sharing knowledge between the people responsible for documenting information and those responsible for understanding and putting it into practice. We acknowledge the importance of having a common set of symbols that can be used to create, use and disseminate information for a larger audience than is possible today with a variety of alternatives and lack of a common ground. Using a cognitive dimensions framework, we make a standard evaluation of the elements and diagrams of the notation proposed to support the ISO/IEC 24744 methodology metamodel standard, considering the trade-offs between different dimensions. We suggest improvements to this existing notation based on this analysis, in the context of improving communication between creators and users of methodologies.