Since its inception in 1968, software engineering has undergone numerous changes. In the early years, software development was organized using the waterfall model, where the focus of requirements engineering was on a frozen requirements document, which formed the basis of the subsequent design and implementation process. Since then, a lot has changed: software has to be developed faster, in larger and distributed teams, for pervasive as well as large-scale applications, with more flexibility, and with ongoing maintenance and quick release cycles.
What do these ongoing developments and changes imply for the future of requirements engineering and software design? Now is the time to rethink the role of requirements and design for software intensive systems in transportation, life sciences, banking, e-government and other areas. Past assumptions need to be questioned, research and education need to be rethought.
This book is based on the Design Requirements Workshop, held June 3-6, 2007, in Cleveland, OH, USA, where leading researchers met to assess the current state of affairs and define new directions. The papers included were carefully reviewed and selected to give an overview of the current state of the art as well as an outlook on probable future challenges and priorities. After a general introduction to the workshop and the related NSF-funded project, the contributions are organized in topical sections on fundamental concepts of design; evolution and the fluidity of design; quality and value-based requirements; requirements intertwining; and adapting requirements practices in different domains.
