Actor relationship analysis for the i* framework

Abstract

The i* framework is a goal-oriented approach that addresses organizational IT requirements engineering concerns, and is considered an effective technique for analyzing dependencies between actors. However, the effectiveness and limitations of i* are unclear. When we modelled an industrial case with a large number of actors using i*, we discovered difficulties in (1) validating the completeness of the model, and (2) managing change. To solve these problems, we propose an actor relationship matrix analysis method (ARM) as a precursor to i* modeling, which we found aided in addressing the above two issues. This paper defines our method and demonstrates it with a case study. ARM enables requirements engineers to better ensure completeness of requirements in a repeatable and systematic manner that does not currently exist in the i* framework.