Domain Driven Design and Soft Systems Methodology for Information Systems in Tourism Industry
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The document discusses the integration of Domain Driven Design (DDD) and Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to enhance information systems development in the tourism industry, recognizing the complex interplay of stakeholders involved. It highlights the importance of collaboration between technical experts and domain specialists to navigate the intricacies of stakeholder perspectives. The study aims to provide a practical guide for employing these methodologies to foster effective information system solutions tailored to the tourism sector.
Domain Driven Design and Soft Systems Methodology for Information Systems in Tourism Industry
- 1. Domain Driven Design and Soft Systems Methodology for Information Systems in Tourism Industry Panagiotis Papaioannou University of Piraeus, CSAP Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies (HSSS) p.papaioannou@gmail.com HSSS 14th HSSS National & International Conference Sept. 14-15, 2018, Kalamata, Greece The tourism industry is characterized by the large number of stakeholders. When developing or adopting a new Information System the variety of interests or perspectives form a complex situation which is a typical case of a complex system. Indeed, even in the case of a small business, the views of the owners, employees, customers and the local community can create a tangle of relationships and perspectives. All these must be taken into consideration in order to ensure the operational success of the system, the acceptance by the users and the impact on business results. The above paradigm is a typical case in systems of any type and of any size like the company’s ERP or the company’s web site. Domain Driven Design (DDD) is a software development approach intended for complex projects where complexity refers to the requirements as well as the interactions between designers, developers and users of the product. It was introduced by Eric Evans (2004) in his book of the same title. The idea is based on the following principles: (a) Start focusing on the core domain and domain logic, (b) Base the design on model(s) of the domain, (c) Initiate a creative collaboration between technical and domain experts and (d) Iteratively refine a conceptual model of the domain and the related problems. On the other hand, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is an approach to the management of change that has been developed primarily by Peter Checkland and his colleagues as an action research program. It can be employed to manage the “mess” in soft problems like business and environment requirements, customer’s expectations, employee’s perspective and many other complexity factors. SSM is implemented through 7 stages one of which is the “root definitions” through the CATWOE statement. CATWOE stands for Customers, Actors, Transformation, Worldview, Owner and Environmental constraints that describe the change that will be implemented. Since both DDD and SSM are based on models, a modeling approach is needed. Design and Control Systemic Methodology (DCSYM) offers a means to create models in a systemic context and to use them as a basis for the collaboration between the interested parties. DCSYM can be used to facilitate a creative dialog between stakeholders in a transformation process or in a new project. The purpose of this study is to extract ideas and lessons from DDD and apply them to Information Systems Development in tourism industry through the SSM approach. The result is a practical guide that implements the ideas of DDD in the systemic context of SSM using DCSYM as a modeling approach. This practical guide aims at facilitating the collaboration between tourism domain experts and IT technicians in information systems development.