Handling conflicts in aspect-oriented requirements engineering

Abstract

Identification and resolution of aspectual conflicts should be handled at the requirements level, before major design decisions are made. Treating conflicting situations this early facilitates negotiation among stakeholders. The Aspect-Oriented Requirements Analysis (AORA) approach offers HAM (Hybrid Assessment Method), a technique for the resolution of conflicts between concerns that contribute negatively to each other and have the same importance. HAM uses a multi-criteria decision method to support the resolution of these conflicts and extends this treatment to conflicts between concerns triggered by stakeholders with contradictory interests on a set of concerns. An example taken from the Crisis Management System case study is used to illustrate HAM's potential support for treating concerns during composition.