The Missing Link between Requirements Engineering and Architecture Design for Information Systems

Methodologies for the design of software architectures based on identified system requirements differ in procedure, phases, and artifacts. Furthermore, the consideration of functional and quality requirements during the design process leads to diverse software architecture models varying in their capability regarding adaptivity to new or changed user or quality requirements. The paper discusses a novel methodology for the design of software architecture for information systems based on user and quality requirements. The distinctiveness from methodologies discussed in the literature is given in the comprehensible and traceable deduction of a domain model for the software system architecture from user requirements. The methodology was evaluated and adapted iteratively in many R&D projects.