Live Trace Explorer GUI for Requirements Traceability

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing requirements management tools face challenges in efficiently navigating and addressing suspect relationships among hundreds of thousands of dynamic data items, leading to information gaps, defects, and significant manual effort in requirements management, traceability, validation, verification, and compliance.

Innovation Solution

The live trace explorer engine provides an interactive graphical user interface that displays hierarchical data items and relationships, allowing users to easily identify and modify suspect relationships by grouping requirements and test containers with annotated edges indicating suspect relationships, enabling early detection and correction of misalignments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If traditional requirements management tools are used to track hundreds of thousands of data items and relationships, then complete traceability information is maintained, but the system becomes difficult to navigate and requires significant manual effort to identify and address suspect relationships

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveEase of navigating requirements and test casesVSAvoidNumber of data items and relationships to manage

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the large set of data items and relationships into hierarchical groups organized by container types (requirement containers, test case containers). Each container holds a subset of related data items, making the overwhelming quantity manageable through progressive disclosure and grouped navigation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system adds visual spatial dimensions to the navigation interface by displaying containers as graphical elements arranged in a two-dimensional space. This visual layout allows users to perceive relationships and navigate through hundreds of thousands of items by spatial positioning rather than linear browsing, fundamentally changing how the data volume is experienced.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If all data items and relationships are displayed in traditional reports, then complete information is provided, but users cannot easily identify which relationships need to be addressed

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveDifficulty of identifying suspect relationshipsVSAvoidInformation about data items and relationships

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses color coding to visually distinguish relationship statuses. Edges representing suspect relationships are displayed in red, while satisfied relationships appear in green. This color differentiation allows users to immediately detect suspect relationships without sifting through all relationship data, reducing detection difficulty while preserving complete information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies different visual properties to different parts of the visualization based on their relationship status. Suspect relationships receive prominent visual treatment (red color, potentially thicker lines) while satisfied relationships have subdued visual properties. This local differentiation helps users focus on problem areas without losing information about the overall system state.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Reliability

If manual inspection of suspect relationships is performed to determine if items satisfy relationships, then accurate traceability is maintained, but significant time is required to clear suspect flags

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAccuracy of relationship validationVSAvoidTime to inspect and clear suspect relationships

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by automatically detecting and flagging suspect relationships based on changes in data items. This preliminary identification of potential issues allows users to focus their manual inspection only on flagged relationships rather than all relationships, maintaining reliability while reducing the time investment required.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides immediate visual feedback when relationships become suspect due to data item changes. The red-colored edges and suspect flags give users real-time information about which relationships need attention, enabling them to prioritize and efficiently clear flags based on current system state rather than performing comprehensive manual inspections.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS20240061763A1Live trace explorer

Publication Date: 2024.02.22 JAMA SOFTWARE INC

AI summary

An interactive GUI is disclosed for viewing and navigating among sets of hierarchical data items displayed on a client device of a user. The GUI displays containers representing and containing respective groups of the hierarchical data items. The containers are displayed in at least two sets, such as rows or columns, where a first set comprises requirement containers representing requirement items, and a second set comprises test containers representing test case items. Annotated edges are displayed between pairs of the containers, where each of the annotated edges indicating a type of relationship between the hierarchical data items in a respective pair of the containers and a percentage of the hierarchical data items in the pair of the containers that have suspect relationships.