System Development as a Rational Communicative Process

Gert Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Stijn Hoppenbrouwers, Erik Proper

System development is a process in which communication plays an important role. Requirements must be elicited from various stakeholders. But stakeholders also make decisions and must understand the consequences thereof. Different viewpoints must be reconciled, and agreements reached. An important assumption we make is that all actions in the development process are (or should be) based on rational decisions. The quest for rationality is a driving force behind the communication that takes place within the development process, because it raises issues that may otherwise have remained in the subconsciousness of stakeholders. We zoom in on the role of vagueness in communication, and argue that there are good reasons not to try and formalize things too soon in the development process. The purpose of this paper is to position our ongoing research, encourage discussion about the assumptions we make, and inspire novel approaches to system development. We work towards a comprehensive theory of rational system development, in which due attention is paid to development processes, communication, and the representations used therein.

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