FlexiView: A Magnet-Based Approach for Visualizing Requirements Artifacts

Abstract

[Context and motivation] Requirements engineers create large numbers of artifacts when eliciting and documenting requirements. They need to navigate through these artifacts and display information details at points of interest for reviewing or editing information. [Question/problem] Traditional visualization mechanisms such as scrolling and opening multiple windows lose context when navigating and can be cumbersome to use, hence. On the other hand, focus+context approaches can display details in context, but they distort the data shown (e.g., fisheye views) or result in a large display canvas which again requires scrolling (e.g., zooming in Adora). [Principal ideas/results] We are developing a novel method for displaying just the information needed to perform an intended task. Our method partitions the available screen space into regions. The boundaries of regions are simulated with a model consisting of virtual magnetic balls and springs that behaves like a physical system. This model supports the requirements engineer in selecting how the relevant information should be displayed. [Contribution] In this paper, we present preliminary results on how our conceptual solution works and what benefits are expected.