Learning the first step in requirements specification

Abstract

Learning about the domain into which an information system will fit is an essential part of the system development process. In this paper it is argued that the first stage of the development process should be learning undertaken by the designers in order to come to an understanding of the domain into which the information system is intended to fit. More specifically it is argued that this understanding must be an understanding of the "intended information system's user's" own view of the domain. Based on this contention a suggested sequence of foci to be adopted during the specification of information requirements is proposed.