Attachment_0.pdf

WP3 – Database and Portal (Re-)Design
DELIVERABLE 3.1
User stories (use cases)
Project acronym: MERIL-2
Project name: Mapping of the European Research
Infrastructure Landscape
Project ID: 654296
Lead author(s): Vasilis Bonis, EKT-NHRF
Due date of deliverable: 30/06/2016
Actual submission date: 28/06/2016
Ref. Ares(2016)2990425 - 28/06/2016

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 2 / 36
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Partner Acronym Partner Name Name of the contact
1
ESF European Science Foundation Ana Helman
1
ESF European Science Foundation Emily DeYoung Becker
1
ESF European Science Foundation Julija Baginskaite
2
EKT-NHRF National Documentation Centre Vasilis Bonis
2
EKT-NHRF National Documentation Centre Dimitris Karaiskos
2
EKT-NHRF National Documentation Centre Iraklis Agiovlasitis

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 3 / 36
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction: Identifying User Needs ................................................................................................ 5
2. Background ........................................................................................................................................ 5
3. Methodology...................................................................................................................................... 6
4. Results and discussion ....................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 Type of Users ............................................................................................................................. 8
4.2 Epics ........................................................................................................................................... 8
4.3 User Stories................................................................................................................................ 8
4.4 User Map.................................................................................................................................. 27
4.5 Use Case Diagrams................................................................................................................... 29
5. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 35
Appendix A. Questionnaire...................................................................................................................... 36

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 4 / 36
ABSTRACT
Creating an accurate, up to date and relevant depiction of the European research infrastructure
landscape through the cataloguing of research infrastructures and the dissemination of the collected
information is the main goal of the MERIL-2 project. Moving towards this goal is mostly served by
providing online services to related stakeholders and to end users that need to be informed accordingly.
Facilitating the needs of these user groups is a crucial aspect for the success of the MERIL-2 project. In
order to identify the user activities and to translate them into system functionality, the MERIL-2 team
has collected and documented a broad set of user stories, i.e. simple descriptions of user needs related
to functions and to information. The current deliverable contains a comprehensive list of user stories
accompanied by relevant information and structured according to specific rules dictated by software
engineering principles. This collection is used as the basis for designing the MERIL-2 web platform and
as a means to check if the system in hand conforms to the documented specifications. In terms of system
implementation, the information provided in the current deliverable constitutes the initial phase of the
software’s life cycle.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 5 / 36
1. Introduction: Identifying User Needs
The MERIL-2 web portal will be comprised by two distinct functional parts, the Portal itself (front end)
and the Back Office (back end). These two facets of the MERIL-2 web platform will provide the processing
components and information outlets to the broad community of users that the system will serve. The
scope of the project dictates the diversity of users’ groups and their role in the workflows that the system
implements and the services it provides. These user groups have been already reported and their roles
analyzed in the MERIL-2 deliverable D1.21
. Following the description of the user groups, the
identification and the cataloguing of the user needs is the next crucial step for document the functional
aspects of the MERIL-2 web platform. For this purpose the MERIL-2 team has chosen to describe the
functionality at the business level with the usage of a collection of User Stories.
A User Story is a short informal description of a very specific user need in business terms, using non-
technical language. Each User Story is produced by analyzing the business goals of the project in
conjunction with the various characteristics of the user groups and the restrictions and requirements
that the project’s business context poses. In this deliverable the MERIL-2 team has collected and
organized accordingly a number of User Stories as an initial step for the full description of the MERIL-2
web platform. Based on the Agile software development paradigm the User Stories are used to form a
structured depiction of MERIL-2 web platform and to produce a basis that the implementation iterations
will rely on and the implementation results will be checked against.
The deliverable is structured as follows. First we introduce the formal terms and the structure of the
core analysis based on the Agile software development paradigm. The next chapter describes the
methodology and the information sources used. The main body of the document is dealing with the
presentation of the user stories and their usage in order to produce a description framework for the
MERIL-2 web platform. The deliverable concludes with the conclusions that were drawn by the process
of documenting the user stories.
2. Background
The Agile software development paradigm is a set of non-strict principles for software development that
emphasize on and promote collaboration between the various teams that are involved throughout the
development of a piece of software. These principles are described in the so called Agile Manifesto2
and
highlight the importance of:
 Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
 Working software over comprehensive documentation
 Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
 Responding to change over following a plan
Describing and document the functional requirements and drawing important insight from this
collection remains an important activity in the Agile paradigm. One of the tools used for doing so is the
identification of the User Stories. A user story is a short informal description of a very specific user need
in business terms, using non-technical language. Each user story is produced by analyzing the business
goals of the project in conjunction with the various characteristics of the user groups and the restrictions
and requirements that the project’s business context poses. User stories promote the communication
between the business stakeholders and the development team early in the project’s life cycle and
emphasize on attaining a clear but not necessarily complete understanding of the goals and features as
1
D1.2 Management Agreement (29-04-2016)
2
https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/the-agile-manifesto/

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 6 / 36
soon as possible. The evolution of user stories is initiated through the Description of the various user
stories, matures through the motivation of Conversation between the project’s stakeholders and it
concludes with the Confirmation that the objectives agreed through conversation have been achieved.
In order to confirm if what a user story describes has become a part of the software, all user stories are
accompanied by a set of Acceptance Criteria. An acceptance criterion is a feature the system must
provide that satisfies the need expressed in the user story. Similarly, an acceptance criterion doesn’t
have to be expressed with technical terms. Each user story can have a number of acceptance criteria but
not too many because this is an indicator that the user story is broader than it should and must be
broken down to smaller distinct user stories. Acceptance criteria should be compiled taken into
consideration quality attributes, system efficiency and constraints, e.g. if the criterion is the prefilling of
a web form then the form should be prefilled by the system in a reasonable amount of time.
Also, each user story should be accompanied by an importance indicator and flagged as critical or not.
The importance indicator can be whatever is dimmed appropriate e.g. a numerical value between 1 and
5 or a simple label like “very important”. This information is used by the implementation teams to
prioritize the implementation tasks.
User stories can be grouped under a broader scope which is called an Epic. An Epic is a User Activity or
Task which needs to be accomplished to do the work of the product, the large discrete sets of
functionality which need to be delivered so as to be able to say we have solved the problem in hand.
Examples of epics are Authenticate user, Create an RI entry, etc. Epics can be determined prior to the
collection of the user stories by identifying high level business goals and/or after by organizing (cluster)
the before unorganized user stories.
All user stories can be organized under each epic ranked by their importance indicator. Each epic with
its user stories can be laid out in a single row showing the logical sequence and handoffs between the
steps in the process or the order in which someone would describe activities to explain the behaviour
of the system. This structure forms the Story Map, a 2D structure that horizontally describes the
sequence of actions and vertically the importance of user stories. The sequence of epics does not have
to be strict; epics that run in parallel can be put next to each other. The story map can be used to
determine the set of user stories that if satisfied according to their acceptance criteria can form a fully
functional system, but not a final one. This set is called the Minimum Viable Product.
Based on the aforementioned terms and tools, this deliverable documents various user stories,
organizes them accordingly and provides a story map. This is done by first identifying the user groups of
MERIL-2 web platform.
3. Methodology
Usually the documentation of user stories is a process that is initiated through consultations with
stakeholders and a dialogue with the implementing team. In the case of MERIL-2 there are also other
sources of information such as the MERIL advisory committee and experiences gathered during the
previous phases of MERIL. We have divided these to four categories, existing documentation, hands-on
experience, meetings and online questionnaires.
As MERIL-2 is the evolution of the previous MERIL project, some of the documents that describe its
functionality were available. The document that was used from MERIL is the Book of Specifications
(BoS)3
created by Avendas AG (currently Thomson Reuters) which was the company that was assigned
3
Book-of-Specification for MERIL (BoS) (05-112-2011)

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 7 / 36
the contract for the implementation of the MERIL portal and back office. The document has been revised
critically so as to identify the functionalities that are also going to be implemented in the MERIL-2 web
platform.
A second document was the MERIL-2 deliverable D1.24
. In this deliverable ESF has documented, among
others, the basic workflows for submitting information to the MERIL-2 web platform. These workflows
describe the processes from the different perspectives of the various user groups that are responsible
for providing, checking and publishing content. The same workflows were used for the identification of
the main user groups.
As part of the preparation for the documentation of MERIL-2’s data model, ESF created an early
description of the data model by cataloguing the data fields that the current estimation regarding data
concluded that are needed. This document was also used to collect information for user stories.
Although the data model is not by itself a prime source of user stories since it focuses on the specification
of data and not on user activities, one can derive information that can be used for envisioning possible
functionalities. This is especially true for data fields that are new compared to the previous MERIL web
platform.
Since the previous MERIL web platform is still an on-line production system, EKT was granted system
configuration access. The team of developers of EKT has reviewed the various facets of the system by
actually using and browsing the available tools and web pages. MERIL-2 will also share some features
that the MERIL web platform already provides so by actually using these features one can draw useful
conclusions regarding user needs.
Another source of information was the various meetings between the project’s stakeholders. The most
influential and the one that was actually organized for the purpose of collecting information and gain a
better understanding regarding the current needs of the main user groups, was the MERIL National Data
intermediaries Workshop that was held in Paris on May 11th
and 12th
. Through the various sessions and
the diverse conversations that took place, the MERIL team documented a plethora of information some
of which were used to produce user stories. Three group sessions were held, one related to MERIL’s
data needs in terms of what data are expected to be available for the end user, one related to the
eligibility criteria for new RIs and the quality of information and one related to the functionalities of the
new web portal. All three groups contributed on drawing solid conclusions regarding the business
features of the provided services.
The NDI Meeting concluded with the MERIL Partner Meeting (on May 12th
) where all MERIL partners
participated. The discussion provided insight regarding some new features of MERIL-2 web platform and
various ideas were suggested. Adopting a more pragmatic approach, the features that were discussed
were analyzed in more detail taking into consideration feasibility in terms of data collection, time
constraints and implementation difficulties.
An online questionnaire was also deployed5
with the purpose of collecting information on specific
questions mostly targeted to NDIs so as to let NDIs express their own needs and expectations regarding
the new web platform. In Appendix A the reader can review the questions in the questionnaire. This
survey is available until July 15th
.
All previous information sources were used to compile an unstructured set of user stories. To better
organize them and according to the Agile paradigm, the user groups were identified, the various epics
4
D1.2 Management Agreement (29-04-2016)
5
http://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?sid=88543

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 8 / 36
were established, acceptance criteria were assigned to all user stories along with importance indicators
and a story map was created. Finally in order to obtain a high level of abstraction depiction of the user
groups and main user activities, a UML Use Case diagram was created.
4. Results and discussion
The following chapters provide all information mentioned in the Methodology chapter.
4.1Type of Users
MERIL-2 web platform will be used by the following user groups.
1. Simple User (not logged in user)
2. Policy Maker (Mac members, ESFRI, EC, Project Officers)
3. RI Coordinator
4. Researcher (Scientists)
5. System Administrator
6. NDIs
7. MERIL Data Manager (MERIL Coordinator)
Hereafter the term All Users will refer to the union of Simple Users and logged in users, regardless the
role.
4.2Epics
Each epic is accompanied by an ID that is also used to identify each user story. These IDs are also going
to be used in the story map. The following epics have been identified:
1. Search RIs (Id: SRI)
2. Browse RIs (Id: BRI)
3. Provide help (Id: PH)
4. Review specific RI (Id: RSRI)
5. System tools (Id: ST)
6. Produce visualizations/reports (Id: PVR)
7. Data Curation (Id: DC)
8. Data Input (Id: DI)
9. Registration of new users (Id: RNU)
10. Export data (Id: ED)
11. Networking through social media (Id: NSM)
4.3User Stories
All user stories are presented in a card like form, a description with an ID, an importance indicator, a flag
for signify if the user story is critical or not and finally list of acceptance criteria. Also all user stories are
grouped under the epic they belong to.
Search RIs (Id: SRI)
All users can do a text based search available throughout the application so as to
be able to find RIs of his/her interest.
Id: SRI1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
Acceptance criteria:

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 9 / 36
1. Given the fact that the search should be available throughout the
application, a text field with an adjacent search button should be available in
all pages.
2. Given the need to retrieve relevant RIs, when a user uses the search field, a
page with a list of RIs that the system can correlate with the search terms is
returned.
3. Given the fact that all users should have access to the search feature, when
a user logs in this functionality should not change and should remain
available throughout.
All users can refine the text based query for search to be able to express more
complex queries.
1. Given a more complex query for a search, when the user needs to retrieve
data based on this query he/she should be able to use logical expressions in
the search text.
All users can do a category based search so as to be able to find RIs of his/her
interest.
1. Given a set of different categorizations, when a user needs to reduce the
number of results he/she can use any combination of the aforementioned
categories with the search term.
2. Given the fact that any combination of categories can be used for searching,
when a user needs a subset of categories he/she can choose the generic
term “All” for the categories that will be not used.
3. Given the fact that a user might be only interested in searching by using only
categories, the search term (text) should not be compulsory.
4. Given the fact that the full set of search features cannot be available
throughout the application, there should be a specific page that contains all
features. Other pages will only provide simple text based search.
All users can filter the results of a search (any kind of search) by using various
filters in order to reduce the size of the result set and to increase the accuracy of
the result.
1. Given the need for facet browsing of the search results, the result page
should provide to the user a set of filters appropriately displayed.
2. Given the fact that RIs belong to certain categories and have information
that can be grouped, the filters in the result page should be structured
accordingly.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 10 / 36
3. Given the fact that a user will need to combine filters to further reduce the
results, if the filters are categorized and provided in groups, the user should
be able to choose filters from different categories at the same time.
4. Given the fact that the user might need to generalize his search, if a set of
filters are chosen the user should be able to remove one or more filters
from the set.
All users can sort the search results according to predefined criteria because a
sorted list is easier to use and can provide added comparative information.
1. Given the need for sorting the results of a search, the page should provide a
set of sorting criteria to the user.
2. Given the fact that the user can filter the result set, when he/she sorts the
results the filters should continue to apply.
All users can search for RIs and view the search results on a map in order to obtain
a better understanding of the geographical distribution of the specific set of RIs.
1. Given a search result, the page will provide a link to a different page where
the RIs of the result are displayed on a map.
Browse RIs (Id: BRI)
All users can find the latest additions to the system (new RIs or updated RIs)
because he/she needs to be informed about new RIs.
Id: BRI1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that the user will need to know the date of the last update,
the page that provides latest additions information should also provide the
actual dates.
2. Since the list of additions includes dates, the list should be sorted by date
from newest to oldest.
NDI users can access a full list of RIs with entries from their countries (completed
and draft RI entries) so as to obtain an overview of the stored information and to
estimate the degree of completeness of the information in MERIL.
1. Given the fact that this list is intended for NDI type users, when a user logs
in and he/she is a NDI, then the appropriate UI component that leads to the
aforementioned list will be displayed.

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2. Given the fact that a NDI has one country declared in his profile, when
he/she accesses this list only the RIs of that country are going to be
displayed.
3. Given the fact that all users can search RIs based on country, the
aforementioned list differs in that it also contains draft RI entries.
A MERIL Data Manager can access a list of all RIs that he/she has created so as to
have in his/her disposal a tool to overview the related work that he/she has done.
1. Given the fact that this list is intended for MERIL Data Manager users, when
a user logs in and he/she happens to be a MERIL Data Manager, then the
appropriate UI component that leads to the aforementioned list will be
displayed.
2. Given the fact that the RIs that the MERIL Data Manager has created can be
in any state through the RI’s record life cycle, all entries related to the user
should be displayed in the list accompanied by an appropriate identification
referring to the state of the entry (draft, finalized, published or archived).
A MERIL Data Manager can access a list of all RIs that are archived in order to
obtain a separate overview of the archived information in MERIL.
displayed.
Logged in users can access a list of all RI entries (completed and draft RI entries) in
order to obtain a comprehensive overview of data in MERIL.
1. Given the fact that this list is intended mostly for Policy Makers users, when
a user logs in and he/she happens to be a Policy Maker, then the
displayed.
All users that have access to the various RI lists in the MERIL portal can sort the
entries of the list according to predefined criteria because a sorted list is easier to
use and can provide added comparative information
Id: BRI6 Importance: Medium Critical: Yes

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 12 / 36
1. Given the need for sorting the entries of a list, the page should provide a set
of sorting criteria to the user.
NDI and MAC members have access to a list that contains their assigned RIs (entry
points) in order to verify the RIs status and to obtain an overview of the data
completion level of RIs.
1. Given the fact that this list is provided only to NDIs and MAC Members,
when a user logs in then if his/her role is NDI or MAC Member an
appropriate UI component that leads to the list will be displayed.
2. Given the fact that this list contains only the RIs assigned to the user, when
the user logs in then the system will retrieve only the RIs that are assigned
to the user.
3. Given the fact that the list contains only RIs that are not yet published, when
the user logs in the system will retrieve only the draft entries.
A MERIL Data Manager can access lists with all available data and all available fields
in order to obtain a full depiction of information in MERIL.
appropriate UI component that leads to the aforementioned lists will be
displayed.
NDI’s can access a list that contains the RIs of his/her country that were recently
updated in order to review his/her recent work on data.
1. Given the fact that this list is intended for NDI users, when a user logs in and
he/she happens to be a NDI, then the appropriate UI component that leads
to the aforementioned lists will be displayed.
2. Given the fact that a NDI has one country declared in his profile, when
he/she accesses this list only the RIs of that country are going to be
displayed.
3. Given the fact that the list will contain only recently updated entries, it
should contain draft entries that were edited in a specific recent time
period.
NDIs can sign up for email alerts about changes to the RIs of their country because
he/she would need to stay informed about recent updates

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1. Given the fact that these alerts are related to countries, signing up should be
done on pages that display RIs lists at the country level.
2. Given the fact that these alerts are addressed to NDIs, when a user logs in
the system and happens to be an NDI, the appropriate UI component will be
displayed.
Provide help (Id: PH)
Help pages for system functionality should be provided to all users to help them
with the interaction with the system and promote usage.
Id: PH1 Importance: Medium Critical: No
1. If the user browses a page that contains elements that the user can interact
with, the page should also provide information on how these elements can
be used.
All users can be informed of the email address that they can use to send questions
about the system or whatever is related to the MERIL-2 project so as to be
informed accordingly.
Id: PH2 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. The designated email address and the needed informational text should be
displayed on an appropriate part on the available content area.
All users can be informed about the system and the MERIL-2 project in general
through a separate Frequently Asked Questions page and User Guide document.
Id: PH3 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Frequently Asked Questions page should be available to all users.
2. A user guide document with detailed information should be available on the
portal.
Review specific RI (Id: RSRI)
All users can review all publicly available information of a RI in order to be
Id: RSRI1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Since publicly available information will have been already identified, when
a simple user browses an RI’s page only the appropriate pieces of
information will be displayed.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 14 / 36
A logged in user, depending on granted rights, can access specific pre-defined
information about a RI that is not publicly available in order to be informed
accordingly.
Id: RSRI2 Importance: Medium Critical: Yes
1. Since publicly available information will have been already identified, when
a logged in user browses an RI’s page only the pieces of information
corresponding to his/her role will be displayed.
2. Since different types of users might have been granted access to different
types of information, when a user logs in, the system will provide only the
information that is related to the user’s role.
All users can access information regarding an RI that is organized and grouped
thematically (i.e. the page is segmented into distinct parts based on grouping the
available information) to facilitate his/her informational needs.
1. Since groups of information will have been already identified, when a user
browses an RI’s page the information should be structured and presented
accordingly.
Pre-defined categories (semantics) e.g. type, legal status, scientific domain, etc.
that characterize an RI can be provided to all users to create a better
understanding regarding the features of the RI in question.
1. Since the various categories under which the RIs will be grouped will have
been identified and thus RIs will have been characterized accordingly, when
a user browses an RI’s page these categories should be displayed separately.
2. Since some semantics will not be displayed to all users, when a user log in
and depending on his/her role only the allowed semantics will be displayed.
All users can have access to geographical information about an RI since this kind of
information is crucial in the context of MERIL.
Id: RSRI5 Importance: Medium Critical: No
1. Spatial information should be provided in a form that is usable, useful and
informative.
2. Since spatial information is a distinct category, the view page of the RI
should provide this information in a distinct part of the available content
area.
3. Since spatial information can be visualized if the data for the RI currently in
display can pinpoint a place on a map, then a map should be also provided
to the user.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 15 / 36
The date of last update of an RI’s data can be provided to all users so as to know if
the data are up to date or not.
1. Since the date of last update is a distinct piece of information, the view page
of the RI should provide this information in a distinct part of the available
content area.
All logged in users can sign up for email alerts about changes to the RIs because
he/she would need to stay informed about RIs of his/her choosing.
1. Given the fact that a user will want to stay informed about specific RIs, when
he/she is presented with a list of RIs he/she should be able to choose from
the list the RIs he/she wants to be informed about through email alerts.
2. Given the fact that a user will want to stay informed about specific RIs, when
he/she is presented with a specific RI view page, he/she should be able to
sign up for email alerts for this specific RI.
All logged in users can be informed of the latest updates regarding the RIs he/she
has signed up for email alerts in a distinct section on a personal page. The user can
choose if he/she wants to turn off email alerts and only be informed by this section
by logging in.
1. Given the fact that this information is going to be available only after log in,
this page will only be available after login.
2. Given the fact that the user should be able to turn off email alerts and still
be informed through this section, a suitable UI component for the disabling
of email alerts should be available in this section (alongside with an
explanatory text).
Similarly to the email alerts, all logged in users can choose to be informed about
the latest updates of RIs through RSS feeds.
1. Given the fact that this feature is related to RIs, an appropriate UI
component will be available to users on the view pages of RIs.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 16 / 36
All users can retrieve available the RI’s access information because he/she would
want to request access for that specific RI.
1. Since access information is represented by a distinct set of data fields, when
the user browses the view page of an RI, the access information should be
presented in a distinct part of the available content area.
All users can export the publicly available information of individual RIs in a PDF file
in order to have an offline hard copy and/or a file.
1. All RI view pages should have an “Export to PDF” functionality provided to
all users.
All logged in users can access forms of various types referring to a specific RI
depending on the user role.
1. Given the fact that this functionality is closely related to the type of user,
when a user is logged in the appropriate UI component (e.g. edit button,
delete button, etc) should be displayed in the RI’s view page.
2. Given the fact that this functionality is closely related to the type of user,
when a user is logged in and he/she opens the RI’s form, the appropriate
data related to the RI and the user role should be prefilled.
An NDI can provide feedback regarding an RI back to the MERIL back office in order
to inform the MERIL team about issues that are related to a specific RI.
1. Given the fact that it is not possible to foresee exactly what is the nature of
the information that the NDI will want to provide, each RI view page should
have a free text field that the NDI can use for providing feedback.
2. This UI component should be available only to NDIs after log in.
3. Given the fact that a NDI can provide feedback at any given time, whenever
he/she uses this feature an automated email alert will be send back to the
MERIL Data Manager.
A MERIL Data Manager and an NDI can review the previous values of changed
fields of a specific RI in order to review the RI entry in its previous form.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 17 / 36
1. Given the fact that the user should be able to differentiate the previous to
the current values of fields, both values should be displayed appropriately.
System tools (Id: ST)
System Administrator users and the MERIL Data Manager have access to the full
list of MERIL’s users in order to have an overview of the users and their data.
Id: ST1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that users can be different in a variety of ways (e.g. user,
name, country, etc) the full list should provide some of the data to the
System Administrator.
System Administrator users and the MERIL Data Manager have access to users
view pages in order to have a complete overview of each user’s data.
1. The system should provide all user data in a single view page.
System Administrator users and the MERIL Data Manager have access to users web
forms in order to be able to edit/delete user data or user records altogether.
1. The system should provide a form prefilled with all available user data.
System Administrator users and the MERIL Data Manager can create a new user.
1. The system should provide a suitable form for the creation of a new user.
2. Given the fact that NDI users represent their own countries, when the
System Administrator or the MERIL Data Manager creates a new NDI user,
he/she can choose the NDI’s provider country.
3. Given the fact that RI Coordinator users represent one or more RIs, when
the System Administrator or the MERIL Data Manager create a new RI
Coordinator user, he/she can choose the RI(s) and “attach” it/them to the RI
Coordinator profile.
System Administrator users and the MERIL Data Manager are provided with usage
statistics (e.g. how often certain objects are viewed, how often certain
functionality is used, etc) in order to form a better understanding regarding the
actual usage of the system.
Id: ST5 Importance: Medium Critical: No

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 18 / 36
1. Given the fact that there might be a number of relevant and interesting user
statistics, the system should provide this information on a separate page.
2. Given the fact that this feature should be available only to system
administrators, when a system administrator is logged in a link to the users
statistics page should be available to the user.
System Administrator users can use various system tools e.g. indexing search
database, changing system parameters, changing UI components, etc.
1. The system should provide all system tools to System Administrators only.
System Administrator users and the MERIL Data Manager can import data in bulk
per country depending on the availability, format and structure of the data that
each country can provide.
Id: ST7 Importance: Medium Critical: No
1. Given the fact that the system will provide an import functionality that is
specific to a certain type of data file (e.g. XML), if the file that is being used is
not suitable for importing, the system should alert the user for this fact.
2. Given the fact that data in the source file can be erroneous or can be already
stored in the database, during import all appropriate checks should take
place and after the import process completes a suitable report should be
provided to the user.
3. Given the fact that the provided data should be checked prior of being
published, all new entries should be set to draft mode.
A MERIL Data manager can assign RIs (entry points) to Policy Makers and RI
Coordinators so as the latter will have access to lists with assigned RIs.
1. Given the fact that the assignment of RIs will be done on the user’s profile
edit page, the page should provide a list with all available RIs.
2. Given the fact that the assignment of RIs is intended for Policy Makers and
RI Coordinators, when the MERIL Data Manager chooses these roles for the
user, the list of RIs should appear on the form.
3. Given the fact that each Policy Maker can be interested in multiple RIs, the
MERIL Data Manager should be able to choose multiple RIs for assignment.
4. Given the fact that each RI Coordinator is related to a single RI, the MERIL
Data Manager should be able to choose a single RI for assignment.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 19 / 36
A MERIL Data manager can assign countries to NDIs so as the latter will have access
to lists with assigned RIs.
1. Given the fact that the assignment of countries will be done on the user’s
profile edit page, the page should provide a list with all countries.
2. Given the fact that the assignment of countries is intended for NDIs, when
the MERIL Data Manager chooses this role for the user, the list of countries
should appear on the form.
3. Given the fact that each NDI is related to a country, the MERIL Data
Manager should be able to choose a single country for assignment.
4. Given the fact that country assignment corresponds to the country’s RIs to
the user, when the MERIL Data Manager chooses a country all RIs related to
this country should be assigned to the user.
A MERIL Data manager and System Administrator can change the static text of
predefined parts in predefined pages so as to change partly the content of these
pages.
1. Given the fact that these changes should be done in the back office, suitable
web forms should be available to the MERIL Data Manager.
A MERIL Data manager can monitor the progress of completion of all RI entries by
means of a progress bar (0-100% completion, 100% completion = finalized).
1. MERIL data manager should be able to have an overview of the data
completion level in in % for each RI data as to monitor the progress and
visualise which entries are close to be completed.
Produce visualizations/reports (Id: PVR)
When a logged in user has in mind a specific question regarding structured
information about RIs, he/she can create a visualization that depicts the answer of
this question.
Id: PVR1 Importance: Medium Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that logged in user may have complex informational needs,
the system should provide a processing unit (UI components) that can be
used to express complex queries.
2. Given the fact that the result of the queries will be visualized, the result data
should be structured in a form that can support visualizations.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 20 / 36
3. Given the fact that each user will have access to a specific subset of data
based on data permissions, the provided visualizations should also reflect
these restrictions.
When a logged in user has in mind a specific question regarding structured
information about RIs, he/she can create a report that contains the answer of this
question in an organized form and export it as a spreadsheet file or PDF file.
Id: PVR2 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that policy makers can have complex informational needs, the
system should provide a processing unit (UI components) that can be used
to express complex queries.
2. Given the fact that the result of the queries will be provided as a report, the
result data should be structured in a form that can support reports.
3. Given the fact that each user will have access to a specific subset of data
based on data permissions, the provided reports should also reflect these
restrictions.
All users have access to pre-defined visualizations with publicly available
information.
1. Given the fact that visualizations occupy a significant amount of page space,
they should be displayed on appropriate pages and taking into consideration
aesthetics and page usability.
2. Given the fact that data will change frequently, all visualizations should be
produced dynamically whenever the user browses the page that displays
them.
Logged in users may have access to additional visualizations with information that
is provided to registered users according to their role.
1. Given the fact that visualizations occupy a significant amount of page space,
they should be displayed on appropriate pages and taking into consideration
aesthetics and page usability.
2. Given the fact that some visualizations should be available to logged in users
only, when a user logs in and if he/she has the appropriate role, specific UI
components that provide access to these visualizations will be displayed.
3. Given the fact that data will change frequently, all visualizations should be
produced dynamically whenever the user browses the page that displays
them.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 21 / 36
Data Curation (Id: DC)
A MERIL Data Manager is able to review data entered by users through free text
fields prior to making this information publicly available because free text
information cannot be semantically checked by the system.
Id: DC1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that there will be various free text fields throughout MERIL
online forms, when new data are entered the MERIL Data Manager should
be informed for this fact and review before it is published.
2. Given the fact that free text fields can be used in tandem with controlled
vocabularies, when new data are entered the MERIL Data Manager should
be able to separate between data produced through free text fields and
data that came from a controlled vocabulary.
3. Given the fact that information produced by free text fields can be
erroneous, the MERIL Data Manager should be able to make corrections or
discard the information altogether.
A MERIL Data Manager is able to update the list of National Roadmaps in order for
the system to provide up-to-date relative information to users.
Id: DC2 Importance: Medium Critical: Yes
1. Given a specific source of information for national roadmaps, the system
should provide to the MERIL Data Manager an appropriate form to CRUD
(create, read, update and delete) information about national roadmaps.
A MERIL Data Manager is able to review and edit all available information of RIs so
as to make corrections and additions whenever is deemed necessary.
1. Given the fact that an RI can be edited through its web form, a MERIL Data
Manager should have access to these forms.
A MERIL Data Manager is able to access a list that contains registration applications
and grant access to users that comply with the criteria for a MERIL user.
1. Given the fact that the registration form that candidate users will use, will
include a set of fields, this information should be available through a
dedicated web page to the MERIL Data Manager.
2. Given the fact that a user should have login credentials (user name and
password), the MERIL Data Manager should be able to chose the credentials
and store them along with the user’s data.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 22 / 36
3. Given the fact that upon approval of a user’s registration application the
user should be informed for the fact, the system should send an email
containing the login credentials to the appropriate email address.
Data Input (Id: DI)
A NDI can inform the MERIL team (MERIL Data manager) that an RI should be
entered into the database, providing at the same time the name and email address
of a contact person.
Id: DI1 Importance: High Critical: No
1. Given the fact that this communication must be supported by the portal, the
appropriate web form must be available.
2. Given the fact that this action is the initial step for the creation of a RI entry,
the aforementioned from should provide all necessary fields with a small
number of them being compulsory.
3. Given the fact that this feature is intended only for NDIs, the corresponding
web form should only be available to these user roles through the
appropriate UI component for logged NDIs.
A MERIL Data Manager is able to create an RI entry with minimum information
required since the MERIL Data Manager user can have at any time the needed
information for the creation of a new RI entry.
Id: DI2 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that the MERIL Data Manager may not have an extended set
of information about an RI, when he/she uses the RI web form, the creation
of the entry can be done even without providing all otherwise compulsory
fields.
2. Given the fact that the information stored may not be sufficient for
publishing an entry, a new entry is flagged as draft on creation and the
MERIL Data Manager should be able to flag an entry as draft.
A MERIL Data Manager can send an invitation to the designated –for a new RI-
contact person (RI Coordinator) to connect to the back office in order to fill in the
data of the new RI.
1. The system should offer the appropriate notification management
functionality.
2. Given the fact that this action is related to a contact person, the appropriate
functionality should be available only if the RI record has contact person
data. Otherwise the MERIL Data Manager should be informed accordingly.
3. Given the fact that this notification is related with a specific RI, it should
contain clear identification information regarding the RI and/or a link to its
MERIL view page.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 23 / 36
4. Given the fact that this notification is related to a specific action, it should
contain an adequate explanation regarding the purpose of the message.
An RI Coordinator can edit the RI record for which he has access rights and set it to
‘finalized’ when done.
1. Given the fact that this process should be done on the RI’s form, when an RI
Coordinator wants to edit an entry he/she should have access to the entry’s
web form.
2. Given the fact that this action is user role based, only users designated to
edit RI entries will have access to the UI component that will allow this
action.
3. Given the fact that an entry is not finalized until indicated otherwise, the
entry is created in draft mode and is maintained as draft until indicated
otherwise by the user.
4. Given the fact that data regarding an RI should be checked by the MERIL
Office (MERIL Data Manager), whenever data are edited and new data are
entered the MERIL Office should be notified accordingly.
Only the MERIL Data manager or system Administrator can set an RI record to
“published” state if the information is correct and complete.
1. Given the fact that this process should be done on the RI’s form, when the
MERIL Data manager wants to publish an entry he/she should have access to
the entry’s web form.
2. Given the fact that this action is user role based, only users designated to
publish RI entries will have access to the UI component that will allow this
action.
A MERIL Data manager should be able to delete an RI record because there is
always the chance that a record is erroneous and/or outdated.
Id: DI6 Importance: Medium Critical: No
3. Given the fact that this is a user role based action, only the MERIL Data
Manager should have access to the UI components that allow such an
action.
4. Given the fact that all data in MERIL are archived, when a user deletes an RI
then the corresponding record is not deleted but flagged as “Archived”.
All users can complete a self-assessment form and contact the MERIL Data
Manager via e-mail with a request to include an RI on the MERIL portal

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 24 / 36
1. The form will be provided as MS Word file and OpenOffice Writer file.
2. Given the fact that the user should be able to download the file and should
be informed about the e-mail address for sending the form, the download
link, e-mail address and guidelines for filling the form should be available in
a separate web page.
3. Given the fact that the self-assessment form should be available to all users,
the aforementioned page should be also available for all users.
A MERIL Data Manager can notify a NDI and/or a MAC member that their input is
needed concerning a set or an individual RI as part of the workflow for publishing
an RI.
functionality.
MERIL view page.
3. Given the fact that this notification is indented for NDIs and MAC Members,
the MERIL Data Manager should have a list with all appropriate NDIs and
MAC Members in order to choose to whom this notification is sent.
NDIs and MAC Members can evaluate candidate RI entries that have submitted
their application only via a self assessment form.
1. Given the fact that this functionality is related to the user role, it should be
available only if the current user has the appropriate access rights.
2. Given the fact that this action can be performed while the user reviews the
RI’s data, the actual system functionality should be available in the RI’s view
page and in the RI’s web form.
3. Given the fact that entries which are created by using the data in the self
assessment form are distinct because of their corresponding status label
(under evaluation), only these entries are going to be provided to the users.
A MERIL Data Manager can notify an RI Coordinator regarding the publication state
of his/her RI entry (accepted/rejected) in order to keep RI Coordinators up to date
regarding the representation of his/her RI in MERIL.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 25 / 36
functionality in the back-end.
2. Given the fact that this action is related to an RI Coordinator, the
appropriate functionality should be available only if the RI record is related
to an RI Coordinator. Otherwise the MERIL Data Manager should be
MERIL view page.
5. Given the fact that an RI can be rejected, the notification should also contain
an explanation regarding the reasons for the rejection.
A MERIL Data manager can review a draft/finalized RI entry and notify its RI
Coordinator in order to complete or correct the available information.
functionality.
MERIL view page.
5. Given the fact that the RI Coordinator should be aware of what is needed to
be done in order to complete the RI entry, when the MERIL Data Manager
wants to send a notification of this type he/she should be able to indicate
what data fields need to be completed or corrected.
A MERIL Data manager can send periodic requests by email to RI Coordinators for
the update of their designated RI entries in order to keep MERIL’s data up to date.
functionality.
MERIL view page.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 26 / 36
5. Given the fact that the update of RI records is time related, the notification
sent should contain the entry’s date of last update.
6. The system back-end system should allow to select the mailing list of RI
coordinators and include a “email all” function.
Registration of new users (Id: RNU)
Not logged in users can apply for registration through a web form in order to be
granted authenticated access to the system.
Id: RNU1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that the system should be able to identify the user, he/she
will be asked to provide a set of basic information.
2. Given the fact that this form will be publicly available it should be protected
by Denial of Service attacks.
3. Given the fact that the user’s data will be checked first and then he/she will
be provided with credentials, he/she will be informed via email for his/her
registration and the login credentials.
Export data (Id: ED)
Logged in users can export the available to their user group lists of RIs to a
spreadsheet file so as to obtain a file with information that they have choose and
to be able to process data outside the system.
Id: ED1 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that a user should be able to export data from a list, all
available lists should have an appropriate UI component that allows users to
obtain the exported Excel file.
2. Given the fact that there are different lists available, each exported file
should contain relevant information.
3. Given the fact that the MERIL Data Manager has access to lists providing
data from all informational entities, he/she should be able to export these
lists too.
All users can export the publicly available lists of RIs to a spreadsheet file so as to
obtain a file with information that they have choose and to be able to process data
outside the system.
Id: ED2 Importance: High Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that a user should be able to export data from a list, all
available lists should have an appropriate UI component that allows users to
obtain the exported Excel file.
2. Given the fact that there are different lists available, each exported file
should contain relevant information.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 27 / 36
Networking through social media (Id: NSM)
All users can be informed about MERIL activities through popular social media
feeds.
Id: NSM1 Importance: Medium Critical: Yes
1. Given the fact that MERIL will have a presence in popular social media (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, etc), the MERIL portal should provide a feed with all
latest posts from all its accounts.
2. Given the fact that this feed will contain mostly social media posts regarding
news and updates, the feed should be sorted by date descending.
3. Given the fact that the social media feed will be available to all users, the UI
components displaying this feed should be available in a page that is publicly
available, e.g. the front page.
4.4User Map
The epics as described in the previous chapters do not imply a certain flow of information or a specific
series of actions. One can loosely correlate the searching of RIs to the browsing and to the reviewing
although depending on the user role one can skip the searching feature and use the provided lists to
choose a specific RI. So, searching, browsing and reviewing are put in adjacent positions in the story
map. The rest of the epics can be considered as independent so their position in the story map does not
imply a correlation.
In total we have documented in the current deliverable 68 user stories. They are categorized based on
the combination of their Importance factor and their Critical indicator. For the Importance factor we use
a simple High/Medium scale and for the Critical indicator a Yes/No flag. This means that there are 4
different categories, the High/Yes (ranked first), the High/No (ranked second), the Medium/Yes (ranked
third) and the Medium/No (ranked fourth). In the User Map the aforementioned categories are
differentiated by using different colours (see table legend). A Minimum Viable Product is considered a
system that fulfils the acceptance criteria of the High/Yes user stories, 48 in total.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 28 / 36
Search RIs Browse RIs Review
specific RI
Provide
help
Produce
visualizations
/reports
Data
Curation
Data Input Registration
of new users
Export
data
System
tools
Networking
through
social
media
SR1 BRI1 RSRI1 PH2 PVR2 DC1 DI2 RNU1 ED1 ST1 NSM1
SR2 BRI2 RSRI3 PH3 PVR3 DC3 DI3 ED2 ST2
SR3 BRI3 RSRI4 PH1 PVR4 DC4 DI4 ST3
SR4 BRI4 RSRI6 PVR1 DC2 DI5 ST4
SR5 BRI5 RSRI12 DI10 ST6
SR6 BRI6 RSRI2 DI11 ST8
BRI7 RSRI13 DI12 ST9
BRI8 RSRI14 DI1 ST10
BRI9 RSRI5 DI6 ST11
BRI10 RSRI7 DI7 ST5
RSRI8 DI8 ST7
RSRI9 DI9
RSRI10
RSRI11
High/Yes
High/No
Medium/Yes
Medium/No
Table 1. The User Map

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 29 / 36
4.5Use Case Diagrams
From the provided list of user stories one can derive a set of user cases. For this deliverable the term
use case describes a simple label that corresponds to a specific user action, to an interaction between
the system and the user. These labels are used in a UML Use Case Diagram in order to depict the various
features offered by the system to the different user groups. These diagrams are presented per user type.
Each user story is represented by a small description and all user stories are organized under epics.
Image 1. Use case diagram for All Users type in the MERIL platform.
The diagram depicted in Image 1 is composed by those user stories that apply to all users, logged in or
otherwise.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 30 / 36
Image 2. Use case diagram for Policy Maker type in the MERIL platform.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 31 / 36
Image 3. Use case diagram for RI Coordinator type in the MERIL platform.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 32 / 36
Image 4. Use case diagram for NDI type in the MERIL platform.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 33 / 36
Image 5. Use case diagram for Researcher type in the MERIL platform.
Image 6. Use case diagram for Simple User and System Administrator types in the MERIL platform.
The diagram depicted in Image 8 does not imply that these users can only have access to these
functionalities but rather it describes two exceptions. A Simple User (who also belongs to the user type
All Users) can access the registration form whereas logged in users cannot (they also belong to the user
type All Users). A System administrator has access to all system functionalities that other users have.
Access to system tools is only granted to System Administrators.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 34 / 36
Image 7. Use case diagram for MERIL Data Manager type in the MERIL platform.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 35 / 36
5. Conclusions
The implementation of the MERIL web platform constitutes a very important milestone for the
completion of the project. As a first step towards that goal the current deliverable catalogues the needed
functionality through the listing of user stories. The identification of the presented user stories was done
through a business level description of the web platform and by taking into consideration the project’s
business needs. Thus, the current document provides a high level of abstraction specifications that can
be and will be used for a first iteration of the implementation process. These user stories and the early
versions of the system will also provide the needed information for the completion of the D3.2
deliverable (Book of Specification for MERIL 2). By comparing the business description of the platform
in the current document and the functionalities of the previous MERIL portal one can conclude that the
scope of the new MERIL project is not only wider but it also includes a diverse set of distinct features.
From a total of 68 user stories, a 70% are considered of high importance and critical for the system.
These user stories describe the functionality of the project’s minimum viable product. This means that
the current description will lead to a number of heavily front-loaded implementation iterations.

MERIL-2 D3.1 28 June 2016 36 / 36
Appendix A. Questionnaire
The following questions have been used for the on line survey created for collecting feedback from the
NDIs. Contact information questions (1 and 2) are not included.
3. Have you used the MERIL portal in the past?
4. What do you see as the main drawbacks of the current MERIL portal and data structure? Is the
information such as presented at http://portal.meril.eu/ clearly structured and useful to your
purposes?
5. What improvements could be made in terms of the data collected and functionalities available on
the MERIL portal http://portal.meril.eu/ ?
6. What critical (essential) features and new functionalities should be included in the next upgrade of
the MERIL-2 portal?
7. What optional features would you like to have in the next version of the MERIL portal and why?
8. What do you perceive as main challenges for MERIL? Please comment on any aspects that may be
related to the specific RI context in your country, data availability, data collection, data usage or any
other issue.
9. From your perspective, what is the main added value of MERIL?
10. Do you have any further comments or suggestions?

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