From Domain Modeling to Collaborative Domain Construction

Gerhard Fischer1, Stefanie Lindstaedt1,2, Jonathan Ostwald1,2, Markus Stolze1, Tamara Sumner1, Beatrix Zimmermann2

1 Department of Computer Science and the Center for LifeLong Learning and Design University of Colorado Boulder, CO USA 80309-0430 Email: (gerhard, stefanie, ostwald, stolze, sumner}@cs.colorado.edu

2 NYNEX Science and Technology 500 Westchester Avenue White Plains, NY 10604 Email: bz@nynexst.com

Abstract

Domain-oriented systems offer many potential benefits for end-users such as more intuitive interfaces, better task support, and knowledge-based assistance. A key challenge for system developers constructing domain-oriented systems is determining what the current domain is and what the future domain should be; i.e. what entities should the system embody and how should they be represented. Determining an appropriate domain model is challenging because domains are not static entities that objectively exist, but instead they are dynamic entities that are constructed over time by a community of practice. New software development models and new computational tools are needed that support these communities to create initial models of the domain and to evolve these models over time to meet changing needs and practices. We describe a specific software development model and computational tools that enable domain practitioners to participate in domain construction processes.

Keywords

Software design, domain-oriented design environments, design, domain modeling, domain construction

Acknowledgments

We thank the designers at U S WEST Advanced Technologies and the service representatives at NYNEX for their help during this project. We thank Andreas Girgensohn for his work with Expectation Agents. We also thank the members of the Center for LifeLong Learning and Design at the University of Colorado for helpful discussions on these issues. This research was supported by NYNEX, U S WEST Advanced Technologies, ARPA under grant No. N66001-94-C-6038, and NSF and ARPA under cooperative agreement No. CDA-940860.

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