The role of cognitive psychological processes in software requirements elicitation

Abstract

Studies have consistently reported failures associated with requirements definition arising from poor communication between developers and users during software development projects. Software users have needs and expectations formulated in the form of mental models that are usually difficult to express. Knowing the actual users of a software product and understanding their needs therefore requires knowledge of the human context within which a system operates and cognitive processes of individuals. This is achieved by establishing effective channels of communication
between users and developers based on shared cognitive representations of the application domain to obtain users cognitive needs. This study adapted cognitive psychological constructs to assist users to express their ‘inner needs’ during the requirements elicitation activity of software development. The results showed that using a mediational event, users can be stimulated to produce useful mental models consistent with their needs in a proposed system. These mental models can be captured using think- aloud protocol (a verbalization technique) and analyzed to represent users’ cognitive needs.