Argumentative Design Rationale and the Object-Oriented Development Process: better analysis, better design

Many analysis and modeling problems done today for information technology applications lead to the solution of system problems. In the development of these solutions, reasoning is a major component. The reasoning component which is normally neglected can be captured in Rationale Models. Rationale Models represent the reasoning that lead to the system solution. This reasoning is defined as Design Rational (DR). There have been a number of research studies into DR, however, in this research, it was found that industry has neglected DR in their system analysis because of the increased time and effort required to capture and implement DR. Some of the benefits of DR are: 1) maintenance is more efficient and effective, 2) system scalability is increased, and 3) training of users and developers is easier. This paper proposes a systematic approach to the capture of argumentative DR and an integration of argumentative DR with the Object-Oriented system development lifecycle. Change is a constant in the implementation and use of systems, hence, this paper also raises the issue of “how should argumentative DR be stored and integrated with the system to maximize its utility to the system.