BPM2DDD: identicando domínios a partir de processos de negócio

Abstract

Domain-Driven Design (DDD) is increasingly adopted as a particular way of modeling systems. Among DDD’s strategic design patterns is the context map, a powerful tool that helps development teams understand the business domain. Context maps are usually created from the analysis of existing systems, initial requirements or based on the experience of the team, which can lead to the construction of domain models that do not reflect the reality of the organization. In this sense, the analysis of business process models is presented as an alternative to extract domain information and create context maps, since these models capture the logic of organizations’ operations, providing a comprehensive and high-level view of the business. However, approaches for creating context maps from domain knowledge extracted from business process models are lacking. Thus, this research aims to propose the BPM2DDD technique, an approach to support the identification of information domains and the creation of context maps, which can be used in the stages of analysis and modeling of systems, even serving as an alternative for identifying possible software services. The technique allows the identification of domains, subdomains and limited contexts, based on the analysis of BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) models. The technique was developed and applied in real business processes of the Urban Mobility Secretariat of the city of Natal (STTU), using the action research methodology, during the years 2019 and 2020, in the context of the development of new urban mobility systems. To evaluate the technique, multiple applications were carried out by business and systems analysts, using one of the STTU business processes, in addition to validations by the domain experts of the generated context map. The results indicate that the technique is applicable to software processes adopted by the industry, allowing the discovery of information that enables the creation of a context map more aligned to the organization’s domain.