Visual Models for Software Requirements: New from Microsoft Press

Joy Beatty, Vice President of Research and Development at Seilevel, and Anthony Chen, President of Seilevel, have co-authored a book on visual requirements models. The book, published by Microsoft Press, is the result of years of their own experience applying Seilevel’s methodology to hundreds of projects throughout the last decade. It also reflects input from a circle of advisers that includes Karl Wiegers, Ian Alexander, Ellen Gottesdiener, and many others.

The book opens with an introduction to visual models in software requirements. It explains what the authors mean by “models,” what the requirements modeling language (RML®) is, and why models are so important. The authors detail a categorization they apply to models called Objectives, People, Systems, Data (OPSD). To learn more, visit Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Models-Software-Requirements-Beatty/dp/0735667721/

Each model is given its own chapter, where the authors explain the model in context of real world cases, give you a template and an example from a real project, tell you how to create the model and how to use the model, and give you an exercise from a mock project to practice. This consistent format makes it easy to learn when and how to use the model described.

In the last section of the book, the authors describe how to select which models to use based on project phase, project characteristics, and intended audience. They also provide an explanation of Requirements Architecture and how the models are most commonly used together.

The RML models covered in the book are:

Objectives Models
Business Objectives Models
Objective Chains
Key Performance Indicator Models
Requirements Mapping Matrices
Feature Trees

People Models
Org Charts
Use Cases
Roles and Permissions Matrices
Process Flows

Systems Models
Ecosystem Maps
System Flows
User Interface Flows
Display-Action-Response Models
Decision Tables
Decision Trees
System Interface Tables

Data Models
Business Data Diagrams
Data Flow Diagrams
Data Dictionaries
State Tables
State Diagrams
Report Tables

Order it on Amazon now (and if you do read it, please share a review – good or bad, we want to hear from you.)
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Models-Software-Requirements-Beatty/dp/0735667721/