Contextual Goal Models

In emerging computing paradigms, such as mobile, ubiquitous, and pervasive computing, the relation between context and requirements is evident. Context might be a main factor to determine the set of requirements relevant to a system, the alternatives that can be adopted to meet these requirements, and the quality of each of such alternatives. In spite of that, most requirements engineering (RE) research ignores, or presumes a uniform nature of, the context where the system operates. A RE framework specialized for systems reflecting their context is still missing. Before influencing the behavior of software, context influences the behavior of users. It influences user's goals and their choices to reach these goals. Capturing this latest influence is an essential step towards software developed to meet user's requirements in different contexts. In this report, we develop a goal-based RE modeling framework for systems operating in and reflecting varying contexts. We propose the contextual goal model that captures the relation between alternatives for goal salification and context. Moreover, it provides constructs to hierarchically analyze context and identify alternative ways to judge if a context holds. We illustrate our proposed model via a scenario of promotion mobile information system.