UML for Early Requirements Elicitation: A Regulation based Approach

Early requirements of information systems are often understood in terms of the elicitation of stakeholders high-level goals to be supported by the system under discussion. Stakeholders goals are considered as the ultimate explanation of requirements. It is assumed that the notion of a high-level goal is natural and that high-level goals need no explanation with regard to their origins. We believe that these assumptions result in the definition of inadequate goals. We propose an organizational model where regulation provides an explanation for high-level goals. We will show that the goals of an organization can be seen as originating from its need to maintain its stability with regard to multiple opportunities and threats it identifies in its environment. Understanding the origins of goals enables stakeholders to change and expand the set of high-level goals envisioned for the system under discussion. In this paper we show how this framework can be used with UML in order to construct models for early requirements.