From Process Model to Problem Frame - A Position Paper

Jackson’s Problem Frame (PF) approach presumes that some knowledge of the application domain and context has been gathered so that a Problem Frame can be determined. However, the identification of aspects of the problem, and hence, its appropriate ‘framing’ is recognized as a difficult task. One way to help describe the problem context is through process modelling. Once contextual information has been elicited, and explicitly described, an understanding of what problems need to be solved will emerge. However, this use of process models to inform requirements is often rather ad-hoc. Hence, this position paper proposes guidance for directly deriving Problem Frames from business process models. The paper presents an outline method for PF derivation, and argues why this may be useful to the developer. Finally, the authors discuss the issues involved in attempting to derive a more formal mapping between Problem Frames and business process models.