The grant's research objectives are to develop the foundations for a science of value-based design of software-intensive systems. It is based on the PI's stakeholder win-win Theory W, which emphasizes that "value" includes not only monetary factors, but also any non-monetary factors that strongly motivate or demotivate a project or organization's success-critical stakeholders.
Phase I of the research will use value considerations to parse and better understand the design space. It will focus on two areas, COTS-based design and design to achieve quality attributes. Phase I will also consider other areas such as transformational design, modular and agile design, and cost/schedule constrained design.
Phase II will test the hypotheses formulated in Phase I by experimentally applying, evaluating, and iterating value-based design capabilities in two areas -- COTS-based design and design to achieve quality attributes -- using both small and large project testbeds.
Phase III will develop working abstractions and composability relations based on Phase II results. The abstractions will include composable process patterns for value-based software design, tested for composability across the focus areas.
Research benefits will include a tested framework with principles, processes, methods, and tools for better performing value-based software design.
