The Modelling Journey

Part 1: Introduction to Systems Modelling

Introductions

Dr. David MillardSenior Lecturer of Computer Science University of Southampton dem@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Dr. Yvonne HowardSenior Research Fellow University of Southampton ymh@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Part of the JISC Community Support Team

Objectives

“Model (noun): A simplified or idealized description or conception of a particular system, situation, or process, often in mathematical terms, that is put forward as a basis for theoretical or empirical understanding, or for calculations, predictions, etc.; a conceptual or mental representation of something.”

Oxford English Dictionary

• To widen the perception of what modelling is

• To demonstrate modelling techniques with a common example

• To illustrate the affordances of those modelling approaches, and how they connect together

Why a Journey?

Modelling is a spectrum of activity

• The soft• Portfolios of evidence• Scenarios and Personas• Systems Theory (SSM etc.)

• The hard• Universal Modelling Language• Business Process Modelling• EA Modelling

Why a Journey?

Modelling is a spectrum of activity

• The soft• Portfolios of evidence• Scenarios and Personas• Systems Theory (SSM etc.)

• The hard• Universal Modelling Language• Business Process Modelling• EA Modelling

CommunicationDecision Support

Technical SpecificationBusiness Intelligence

Evidence Gathering

• The first stage of modelling is to gather evidence

• This portfolio of evidence is itself a lightweight model• Used to communicate problems• As evidence for potential solutions• Useful to others as context

Evidence Gathering

• Documentation

• Stakeholder Analysis• Surveys• Interviews

• Ethnography

• Related Studies

Induction Policy

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Example: Induction Process

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Mission Statement

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Evidence Gathering

• Documentation

• Stakeholder Analysis• Surveys• Interviews

• Ethnography

• Related Studies

Induction Policy

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Example: Induction Process

SSLC Minutes--------------------

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Mission Statement

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Q1: what?Q2: why?Q3: when?Stakeholders

Primary: - - - - - - -

- - - - Secondary: - - - - - -

- - - Key: - - - - - - - - - - -

- - -

Evidence Gathering

• Documentation

• Stakeholder Analysis• Surveys• Interviews

• Ethnography

• Related Studies

Induction Policy

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Example: Induction Process

SSLC Minutes--------------------

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Mission Statement

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Q1: what?Q2: why?Q3: when?

Observation

Notes

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Stakeholders

Primary: - - - - - - -

- - - - Secondary: - - - - - -

- - - Key: - - - - - - - - - - -

- - -

Evidence Gathering

• Documentation

• Stakeholder Analysis• Surveys• Interviews

• Ethnography

• Related Studies

Induction Policy

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Example: Induction Process

SSLC Minutes--------------------

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Mission Statement

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Q1: what?Q2: why?Q3: when?

Observation

Notes

0900 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

1000 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

1100 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

1200 - - - - - - - - - -

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Stakeholders

Primary: - - - - - - -

- - - - Secondary: - - - - - -

- - - Key: - - - - - - - - - - -

- - -

Induction at KCL

Induction at

Bolton

Scenarios and Personas

• Written Scenarios capture a person interacting with a system during a particular activity

• Accompanying Personas can capture the context of that interaction (motivations, concerns, priorities, etc.)

• Together they can help give insight into how different individuals experience a system

Scenarios and Personas

Induction Scenario

After students have registered at the centre the School of Arts and Media holds a welcome event where they are introduced to the course, given core materials and receive a welcome from library staff. The School then runs a two day induction workshop. During this time students are given a tour of the facilities by staff, and are introduced to their peers and personal tutor (one of the lecturing staff) at an icebreaking event. Their tutor then helps them to get to know one another a bit better by producing and sharing a professional CV. They also attend WebCT training and have talks and discussions on lifelong learning. After the workshop they engage in ongoing tutorials on topics such as diversity, personal planning and numeracy.

• A scenario is a narrative account of how a particular interaction unfolds• Easy to understand• But can be ambiguous

• A Persona helps to highlight key issues for imaginary (but realistic) participants

Scenarios and Personas

Persona: Louise

Louise is a new full-time student in the School of Arts and Media at Bolton University. She is confident of her own abilities, and excited about the new course. Louise took a few years out after college and is concerned about fitting in with younger students. Her accommodation is a few miles from campus, so she is worried about making friends and getting involved in social activities.

Induction Scenario

After students have registered at the centre the School of Arts and Media holds a welcome event where they are introduced to the course, given core materials and receive a welcome from library staff. The School then runs a two day induction workshop. During this time students are given a tour of the facilities by staff, and are introduced to their peers and personal tutor (one of the lecturing staff) at an icebreaking event. Their tutor then helps them to get to know one another a bit better by producing and sharing a professional CV. They also attend WebCT training and have talks and discussions on lifelong learning. After the workshop they engage in ongoing tutorials on topics such as diversity, personal planning and numeracy.

Scenarios and Personas

Persona: Tom

Tom is a Lecturer in the School of Arts and Media at Bolton University. He has worked at the University for over ten years, and is proud of their courses and facilities. Tom’s teaching load is very high, particularly in the first semester, and he is concerned that more pastoral activities (such as tutoring, skills training or induction) will have a negative impact on his time and workload.

Induction Scenario

After students have registered at the centre the School of Arts and Media holds a welcome event where they are introduced to the course, given core materials and receive a welcome from library staff. The School then runs a two day induction workshop. During this time students are given a tour of the facilities by staff, and are introduced to their peers and personal tutor (one of the lecturing staff) at an icebreaking event. Their tutor then helps them to get to know one another a bit better by producing and sharing a professional CV. They also attend WebCT training and have talks and discussions on lifelong learning. After the workshop they engage in ongoing tutorials on topics such as diversity, personal planning and numeracy.

Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking

The structure of the system (components, relationships) creates its behaviour, the emergent properties

Components with no structure have individual behaviour but no emergent properties

The system as a whole displays behaviour or properties that the individual components do not

Soft Systems Methodology

Systems Dynamics

Critical Systems Heuristics

Soft Systems Method: 7 stage

description

Construct conceptual

problem

Compare models with

problem situation

Get informationDraw pictures

Analyse problem situation

Conceive logical system

CATWOE

Debate with

actors

Actions for

change

Real world

Conceptual world

• a system• owned by Owner• to do What by Actor• by means of a Transformation

• (given the constraints of some Environment)

• in order to achieve X for Customer• Used when formulating definitions for a desired

system: • called a root definition because it describes the root or core

of the activity to be modelled• helpful when exploring the problem situation as a basis

for change

Soft Systems Method:

CATWOECustomers/clientsActorsTransformationWorld viewOwnersEnvironment

Soft Systems Diagram

Critical Systems Heuristics

• Heuristics – because it uses a framework to discover ‘boundary’ judgements • To build a reference diagram (Soft Systems Diagram) which

can provide a narrative for the evidence that is collected • Shows where evidence and information is missing or

unsupported

• Critical – because the framework encourages critical questioning of:• Legitimacy• Ownership• Assumptions• Motivations

Soft Systems Diagram:

name, boundary and ownerStudent Induction System

System owner ???

System Boundary

Student Induction System

System owner ???

New Students

Students prepared for learning

Beneficiaries & victims

Manager/Supervisor

Soft Systems Diagram:

inputs, outputs, beneficiaries and

victims

Student Induction System

System owner ???

New Students

Students prepared for learning

Beneficiaries & victims

Intro to Student Services

School Welcome

School Inductio

n Activitie

s

University Welcome

Programme

Induction

Soft Systems Diagram:

actors and processes

Student Induction System

System owner ???

New Students

Students prepared for learning

Beneficiaries & victims

Intro to Student Services

School Welcome

School Inductio

n Activitie

s

University Welcome

Standards ???

????

Student feedback

Retention rates

Manager/Supervisor

measurements

Corrective action

Programme

Induction

Soft Systems Diagram:

control sub-systems

Student Induction System

System owner ???

New Students

Students prepared for learning

Beneficiaries & victims

Intro to Student Services

School Welcome

School Inductio

n Activitie

s

University Welcome

Standards ???

????

Student feedback

Retention rates

Manager/Supervisor

measurements

Corrective action

webCt, Lifelong learning

resources

Health & safety

Legislation

Student sense of

belongingCohort identityStudent retention

Programme

Induction

Soft Systems Diagram:

resources, authorities, emergent

properties

Student Induction System

System owner ???

New Students

Students prepared for learning

Beneficiaries & victims

Intro to Student Services

School Welcome

School Inductio

n Activitie

s

University Welcome

Standards ???

????

Student feedback

Retention rates

Manager/Supervisor

measurements

Corrective action

webCt, Lifelong learning

resources

Health & safety

Legislation

alliances

conflicts

BeliefsValuesAttitudesMotivation

How can I increase student retention ? Everyone we lose

costs £££

Student sense of

belongingCohort identityStudent retention

Programme

Induction

I have so much to do already and now thaey want me to blog and measure

student satisfaction

Soft Systems Diagram:

alliances, conflicts, beliefs, values, attitudes,

motivations

Uni bid review

process

Soft Systems Activity

Scenario: Successfully responding to a JISC Call, and setting up a new project in a University context

Evidence:

Activity:

• Drawing on both the evidence and your own experiences create a Soft Systems Diagram of this process

JISC Call JISC GuideJISC Conditions

Uni Mission

Statement

Uni Best Practise Guide

The Modelling JourneyPart 2: Tools and Methods

Why a Journey?

Modelling is a spectrum of activity

• The soft• Portfolios of evidence• Scenarios and Personas• Systems Theory (SSM etc.)

• The hard• Universal Modelling Language• Business Process Modelling• EA Modelling

CommunicationDecision Support

Technical SpecificationBusiness Intelligence

UML

• Unified Modelling Language – created in the 1990’s by

• Is a visual language for developing software systems• it has syntax and semantics• It is not a programming language

• Two types of model• Structural

• What is in the system and their relationships• Behavioural

• Captures interactions in the system

• 13 types of diagram

Grady Booch Ivar Jacobsen

And othersJames Rumbaugh

Identifying Key Areas

• Use your systems diagram to help you to focus in on an area ( decomposition: breaking the problem into manageable chunks)

• You can choose to start:• At the beginning• Where the most need for change is• The biggest opportunity for improvement is

• Use noun and verb analysis to identify Objects ( nouns) and processes

Use Case Analysis

• Use cases model:• What the system should do• Who uses (benefits from) the system

• From the user’s point of view

• A Use Case captures a contract with the stakeholders of a system about its behaviour:• The Use Case describes how the system reacts to a request from a

primary actor in order to achieve a goal

• Use cases are essentially textual but have visual diagrams:• For each use case• A collection of use cases in a scenario (system)

• Use case analysis gathers different requests together

Use Case Analysis for Induction Tours

The use case Sign up for Tours will execute Display Tours

The use case Record Completed tours will execute Display Tours

Use Case Analysis for Induction Tours

The use case Sign up for Tours will execute Display Tours

The use case Record Completed tours will execute Display Tours

Both the Student and the School administrator will be able to Display tours

If a student’s results fall below a threshold mark, the school administrator will set up a literacy course for the student

Activity and Sequence

• UML includes other notations for describing how use cases relate to one another • (Or what is inside a use case)

• Activity Diagrams (workflow) • Show order and dependency

• Sequence Diagrams (communication) • Show interaction and communication

Activity Diagram

• Describes workflow• Start and End

states• Choice• Concurrency• Iteration

• Logical partitions• To aid clarity

Introduction Course

Need Librar

y Cours

e?

Library Course

[Yes]

[No]

Tutorials

Ice Breakers

CVs

Intro to WebCT

Activity Diagram

• Describes workflow• Start and End

states• Choice• Concurrency• Iteration

• Logical partitions• To aid clarity

Introduction Course

Need Librar

y Cours

e?

Library Course

[Yes]

[No]

Tutorials

Ice Breakers

CVs

Intro to WebCT

Introduction Induction

Sequence Diagram

• Describe interaction• Objects• Object Lifelines• Activation Boxes• Messages

• Often describe one scenario of interaction• UML notes for

clarity

Student SchoolStudentServices

Start of Year Enroll

Confirm

true

Student id

Sequence Diagram

• Describe interaction• Objects• Object Lifelines• Activation Boxes• Messages

• Often describe one scenario of interaction• UML notes for

clarity

Student School LibraryStudentServices

Start of Year Enroll

Confirm

true

Student id

Request Induction Schedule

Check Library

requirement

true

Induction Schedule

Student requires id for interactions with School

Interaction for Enrollment: Success Scenario

BPMN

• Business Process Modelling Notation• 2001 – Version 1, 2009 version 2 • Simple but expressive set of shapes for ease of

understanding

• For modelling workflows of objects triggered by events or messages

• Very similar to UML Activity Diagrams

• But unlike UML, BPMN can produce code that can be executed through a workflow engine• Either by its own transformation• Or by translation into Business Process Execution

Language (not yet a simple transformation)

BPMN

Enterprise Architecture

• A model of how a whole business fits together• Potentially broad and shallow• But capable of drilling down into areas of

interest

• Enterprise Architecture enables us to connect together models of parts of a business despite different:• Business areas• Modelling approaches• Complexity• Completeness

Student InductionWelcome NewStudents

Example: Archimate

Introduction Course

Workshop

LibraryCourse

Course Handbook

CVs

Tutorials

Ice Breakers

Intro toWebCT

Student InductionWelcome NewStudents

Example: Archimate

Introduction Course

Workshop

LibraryCourse

Course Handbook

CVs

Tutorials

Ice Breakers

Intro toWebCT

Start of new academic year

Student CV

Student InductionWelcome NewStudents

Example: Archimate

Introduction Course

Workshop

LibraryCourse

Course Handbook

CVs

Tutorials

Ice Breakers

Intro toWebCT

Start of new academic year

WebCT

Student CV

Student InductionWelcome NewStudents

Example: Archimate

Introduction Course

Workshop

LibraryCourse

Course Handbook

CVs

Tutorials

Ice Breakers

Intro toWebCT

Start of new academic year

WebCT

Student CV

Head ofSchool

Academic

Tutor

Academic

Student Librarian

Conclusion

• There is a broad spectrum of modelling• From simple to complex• From ambiguous to precise

• Many tools and methodologies• E.g. Stakeholder analysis, Personas and Scenarios,

Soft Systems Diagrams, UML, BPMN, Archimate

• Model for a purpose• Choose appropriate Formality, Complexity and

Completeness for your task

Next StepsObjectives:

• To widen the perception of what modelling is

• To demonstrate modelling techniques with a common example

• To illustrate the affordances of those modelling approaches, and how they connect together

InnovationBase.net

Mission Statement

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Thank YouDavid Millard and Yvonne Howard

{dem, ymh}@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Stakeholders

Primary: - - - - - - -

- - - - Secondary: - - - - - -

- - - Key: - - - - - - - - - - -

- - -

Persona: Louise

Louise is a new full-time student in the School of Arts and Media at Bolton University. She is confident of her own abilities, and excited about the new course. Louise took a few years out after college and is concerned about fitting in with younger students. Her accommodation is a few miles from campus, so she is worried about making friends and getting involved in social activities.

Induction at BoltonObservation

Notes

0900 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

1000 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

1100 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

1200 - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -