Declarative Specs & Information Modeling
for Socio-Technical Systems:
Simple Purchase Example
OMG Technical Meeting
March 21, 2017
Keith Butler Eric Mercer
Univ. of Washington
Brigham Young Univ.
Ali Bahrami
Medico Systems
Mohcine Madkour
Univ. of Texas
This project was supported by grant number R01HS021233 from the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not
necessarily represent the official views of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Unmet Need:
Model how Socio-Tech Systems do Conceptual Work
Approach summary1. Declarative specifications of input/output for
conceptual work that complement process models with• Classes
• State transitions
2. BPMN procedural specification that outputs the
conceptual product• Process’s tasks change attribute values
• Information dictionary tracks changes to goal state
Declarative spec of conceptual work product (CWP) : small purchase example
starting state
seller
buyer
ownership
watch
goal state
payment
seller
process
buyer
ownership
watch
payment
CWP is declarative- independent of any context, technology, or process
but context changes will force change of process or representation
Context:
face-to-face
remote, asynchronous,
with infrastructure of
postal service & trusted
systems for banking
remote, asynchronous,
web infrastructure &
trusted banking &
delivery systems.
Representation:
physical objects
paper catalog with
pictures, prices, order
form
web site with pictures,
prices, shopping cart
metaphor
Process:
cash-and-carry
Fill in order form, with
check or card#, place in
envelope to postal
service. Trusted systems
transfer payment and
deliver watch.
Place watch in
shopping cart, fill in
payment form. Trusted
systems transfer
payment and deliver
watch.
Declarative Modeling works with Process Modeling:
Example
The following 8 screen images are a very simple
example to illustrate• a declarative specification of the Purchase CWP
modeled in UML,
• used in a complementary way with BPMN that has
information modeling to reach the Purchase goal
state
CWP declarative spec of classes and states
Classes
Purchase
date-time
must-have
must-have
Buyer
Seller
buyerName
paymentOffer
sellerName
must-have
must-have
Watch
Payment
watchOwner
paymentOwener
paymentAmount
State Diagram
[watchOwner=sellerName
paymentOwner=buyerName
paymentAmount=paymentOffer]
[paymentOwner=sellerName
watchOwner=buyerName]
Purchase terms set
Ownerships switched
Purchase Process- switches values for watchOwner and paymentOwner in Purchase CWP
SellerResource
BuyerResource
Purchase
Start Purchase
Seller gives
watch
set initial
ownerships
Buyer and Seller
confirm
ownership and
set price
close
parallel
parallel
End26
Buyer gives
payment
Purchase Process- switches values for watchOwner and paymentOwner in Purchase CWP
SellerResource
BuyerResource
Purchase
Start Purchase
Seller gives
watch
set initial
ownerships
Buyer and Seller
confirm
ownership and
set price
close
parallel
parallel
End26
Buyer gives
payment
Purchase information resource in BPMN can access
UML classes of CWP spec
Purchase Process- switches values for watchOwner and paymentOwner in Purchase CWP
SellerResource
BuyerResource
Purchase
Start Purchase
Seller gives
watch
set initial
ownerships
Buyer and Seller
confirm
ownership and
set price
close
parallel
parallel
End26
Buyer gives
payment
Purchase Process- switches values for watchOwner and paymentOwner in Purchase CWP
SellerResource
BuyerResource
Purchase
Start Purchase
Seller gives
watch
set initial
ownerships
Buyer and Seller
confirm
ownership and
set price
close
parallel
parallel
End26
Buyer gives
payment
Purchase Process- switches values for watchOwner and paymentOwner in Purchase CWP
SellerResource
BuyerResource
Purchase
Start Purchase
Goal state is satisfied
Seller gives
watch
set initial
ownerships
Buyer and Seller
confirm
ownership and
set price
close
parallel
parallel
End26
Buyer gives
payment
Examples from
multiple, complex, technical domains
• Aircraft planning and scheduling system (Boeing)
• Air traffic management (John Long, U of London)
• Online technical support system (Microsoft)
• Maneuver planning system for International Space Station
(NASA/Ames)
• Patient communication system for heath care (VA)
• Case management system for multiple sclerosis (VA)
Advantages
Complex, technical systems that are effective and usable
 Makes modeling socio-tech systems much easier
 Separates fundamental purpose requirements from quality requirements
 Rigor reduces requirements drift, confusion and failure risk
 CWP can serve as criterion for model-checking to verify design effectivity
 Allows comparison of design options if they all satisfy the same CWP
 Enables identification of non-essential “overhead” activities to improve
usability by eliminating or reducing them
 Informs the information architecture, a key part of usability
Thank you
• Questions?
• Back-up slides
A product specification is a fundamental requirement for complex,
manufacturing systems that produce physical parts
Technology/
process
options
Need for
new system
Physical work
entity (product)
molding
more efficiency
business/
operations
better quality
stamping
more flexibility
greater output
more safety
. . .
sculpting
. . .
wing-spar spec
- geometry
- strength
- weight
- fatigue
resistance
OWL model for UML class diagram
Converting the composition relations of UML
Using spin:
constructor for representing the transitions rules in state diagram
Meta-model for Socio-Technical Systems
Conceptual
Work Product
changes to goal state
Work
Context
constrains
constrains
constrains
Top-level
Algorithm
Representations
User Cognitive
Architecture
Logistical
Coder
View
Legal/Organizational
constrains
User View
provides
constrains
other
Machine
Procedures
constrains
Computational
User Procedures
constrains
inheritance
aggregation