Use of an ontology-based note-taking tool to improve communication between analysts and their clients

Every systems design project starts with a conversation between clients and systems analysts/developers. Eliciting knowledge via communication is fraught with difficulty; yet it is required if requirements are to be discerned. When the success of the project rests on a wildcard like communication, it is no surprise that many IT projects go over schedule and budget and are replete with errors. By deliberately examining clients' natural language expressions of the problem space and then classifying knowledge contained therein, it was possible to create an ontology-based note-taking tool. This paper investigates and demonstrates success in the tool's ability to aid analysts in aligning their views of the problem space with their clients' views. Although the reliability of the tool requires further investigation, the raw numbers suggested that consistency of use is possible. Furthermore, the tool was considered to provide complete coverage of concepts by those who used it. It has potential and further work is needed