Description of a process development methodology

The creation of a development process is a challenging task. The most-widely published process models, such as the Waterfall model, are very generic, and their application and customization to a specific problem domain requires major effort. Additionally, their refinement into fine-grained process steps demands a lot of dedicated work. There is definitely a lack of aid for the customization of processes to specific domains and projects. This article first reviews a generic framework for Requirements Engineering (RE) as well as a domain-specific framework. It then outlines a methodology and tool called (Process Development Assistant) PDA that helps the process engineer develop a process model in an iterative manner. The methodology requires as input from the developer items of major concern, constraints and priorities specific to a certain domain and a particular project. It uses mathematical definitions to generate an initial process model that is then iteratively refined using the feedback of the process designer. The PDA methodology and tool can also be used for more general systems engineering process modeling. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.