Using Ontologies for Flexibly Specifying Multi-User Processes

In the pre-requirements analysis, the analyst has to decide how to capture gathered insights. While formal modeling tools such as Microsoft Visio (e.g., with UML Stencils) support the maintenance of all ndings, they enforce their meta model which restricts the usability. Informal tools, on the other hand, allow the analyst to adjust and modify everything. However, they oer no support for managing and maintaining the ndings. In this paper, we propose an approach of using ontologies as meta models for specifying structural and behavioral aspects of a multi-user process. Using an initially incomplete ontology, we show how our approach allows the analyst to extend this ontology to model missing concepts, instead of being restricted by an inexible meta model. By being able to develop the ontology on the type level and specications relying on concepts captured therein in parallel, analysts will be able to model their ndings more exible.

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