The agent at the center of the requirements engineering process - A framework for complex socio-technical systems

Adopting Requirements Engineering (RE) techniques based on the fundamental notions of the agent-oriented programming paradigm, i.e., Agent, Goal, and Intentional Dependency, has been recognized as a crucial step towards a more homogeneous and natural software engineering process for complex socio-technical systems, among which Multi Agent Systems. The availability of simple representational tools is a key factor to guarantee stakeholders' active involvement during RE, and therefore the success of the RE process itself. The paper introduces an agent-based Requirements Engineering Framework (REF), devised to deal with socio-technical systems, and support stakeholders' participation. REF is designed around the adoption of a simple, but effective, graphical notation. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the graphical language may constraint the analysis process, reducing its flexibility and efficiency. This trade-off is carefully analysed, and some extensions are proposed, which do not affect REF clarity and intuitiveness, while enhancing REF capability to support requirements engineers in planning and implementing their analysis strategies.