Modelling Information Systems Using Nomis
A Practical View of Its Aplication and Its Insights to Business Processes
José Cordeiro
E.S.T. Setúbal, I.P.S, Campus do IPS, Setúbal, Portugal
Keywords: Information Systems, Information Systems Modelling, Human-Centred Information Systems, Human
Relativism, Organisational Semiotics, Theory of Organized Activity, Enterprise Ontology, NOMIS.
Abstract: NOMIS – NOrmative Modelling of Information Systems presents a new way of think, model and develop
information systems. This new approach has its foundation in a simple and specific ontology known as
Human Relativism (HR). HR philosophical stance acknowledges the human element central role within any
information system (IS) leading us to use observable human actions as the IS kernel modelling element.
Using observable human actions is claimed as a step towards achieving the desired modelling objectivity
and precision that most natural sciences and engineering have. NOMIS has also its roots on three IS socio-
technical approaches, namely Organisational Semiotics, the Theory of Organised Activity and Enterprise
Ontology from where its specific vision and views of IS are inspired. Modelling IS with NOMIS can be
done by representing NOMIS Vision with the NOMIS Models - a set of diagrams and tables using the
NOMIS provided notation or, otherwise, a set of UML profiles created for it. In this paper we provide an
overview of NOMIS and some modelling application examples that intend to highlight some new and
important concepts introduced by NOMIS. Our focus will be in the most innovative aspects and their
relevance to business systems understanding and modelling.
1 INTRODUCTION
Information systems failure was a popular research
topic two decades ago (e.g. Sauer, 1997). Nowadays,
computerized systems (CS) have evolved, people got
familiarized with them and, many issues now go
unnoticed. Some of them are revealed when we want
do something with a CS and we find out that that
particular action is not available, or when we don’t
know how to do it because there is no information to
help us and many other common situations. Also
Information System Development (ISD) and, in
particular, computer programming is still lacking a
solid theoretical foundation. Requirements are
gathered with no solid rules; programs are developed
based mostly on practice guided by experience and
established software patterns, programming
structures and data models have many different
flavours depending on the implementation.
NOMIS – NOrmative Modelling of Information
Systems presents a new way of think, model and
develop information systems (IS) that intends to
improve modelling objectivity and precision. This is
accomplished by: (1) adopting a new ontology
named Human Relativism that recognizes the central
role of the human element within an IS, the
unpredictability factor it introduces, and a way of
reduce this unpredictability; (2) proposing a new
vision of IS composed by different views inspired
by the ideas of three known socio-technical
approaches namely Organisational Semiotics (Liu,
2000), the Theory of Organized Activity (Holt,
1997) and Enterprise Ontology (Dietz, 2006); (3)
defining a modelling notation and a set of diagrams
to represent NOMIS Vision and views.
In this paper NOMIS Foundations, including HR,
NOMIS Vision and NOMIS Models, will be briefly
presented. The focus and contribution, however, will
be in the most innovative aspects of NOMIS
approach and its effects on modelling of business
systems. This will be shown using a simple case
study that will be modelled using NOMIS Models
where some key concepts will be highlighted. The
examples will highlight some issues of current
business modelling and some neglected and new
aspects of it.
125
Cordeiro J.
Modelling Information Systems Using NomisA Practical View of Its Aplication and Its Insights to Business Processes.
DOI: 10.5220/0005425001250134
In Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design (BMSD 2014), pages 125-134
ISBN: 978-989-758-032-1
Copyright
c
 2014 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

2 N
O
2.1
H
Human
R
p
hiloso
p
recogni
z
This ex
p
existenc
e
not adh
e
the ob
s
importa
n
first ce
n
that eac
h
is groun
d
understa
to acq
u
accurate
l
solution
s
informa
t
example
depende
n
Fro
m
p
lay a s
e
a human
HR
observa
b
unpredi
c
on the
informa
t
step of
p
the hu
m
interpre
t
meanin
g
first ste
p
should
b
objectiv
e
assumpt
i
O
MIS FO
U
H
uman Rel
R
elativism (
H
p
hical stance
t
z
ing a realit
y
p
erienced re
a
e
of a single
o
e
re to
s
ubjec
t
s
erver or h
u
n
ce for infor
m
n
tral piece is
h
person has
a
d
ed in her ex
p
a
nding, values
u
ire the ne
c
l
y understan
d
s
. A seco
n
t
ion, a mis
u
, Falkenber
g
n
t on the hu
m
m
this view co
e
condary sup
p
system.
introduces
b
ility seek
i
c
tability origi
n
subject. F
t
ion is obtain
e
p
erception,
w
m
an sensitive
t
ation, an
g
making. Ac
c
p
determine
s
b
e free from
i
e
. Therefore,
i
on:
Figure 1
U
NDATI
O
ativism
H
R) (Cordeir
o
t
hat differs fr
o
y
dependent
a
lity in HR
d
o
bjective real
i
t
ivism as wel
l
u
man subje
c
m
ation syste
m
the human e
l
a
different vie
w
p
erience, em
o
, knowledge,
c
essary prec
i
d
, model, desi
g
n
d central
p
u
nderstood c
o
g
et al, 199
6
m
an element.
mputers and
c
p
ortive role.
T
the impor
t
i
ng to d
e
n
ated from a
rom a hu
m
e
d by an indi
v
w
here reality i
s
system and
inte
r
-
s
ubject
i
c
o
r
ding to H
R
s
the observ
a
i
nterpretation
HR makes t
h
:
NOMIS Visi
o
O
NS
o
et al, 2009)
o
m objectivis
m
on the obse
r
oes not den
y
i
ty, therefore
d
l
. Dependenc
y
c
t is of ut
m
m
s (IS) wher
e
l
emen
t
. Reali
w
of the IS
w
o
tions, percep
t
etc. is a first
i
sion neede
d
g
n and devel
o
p
iece of I
S
o
ncept (see,
6
) that is
c
omputer sys
t
T
he essential
I
t
ant notion
e
al with
reality depe
n
m
an perspec
t
v
idual after a
s
aquired thr
o
a second ste
p
i
ve process
R
, the result o
f
a
ble reality,
and can be
m
h
e following
o
n – its views a
n
is a
m
by
r
ver.
y
the
d
oes
y
on
m
ost
e
the
i
zing
w
hich
t
ion,
step
d
to
o
p IS
S
is
for
also
t
ems
I
S is
of
the
n
dent
tive,
first
o
ugh
p
of
of
f
the
that
m
ade
key
co
n
to
b
un
p
co
n
act
i
de
p
b
u
s
on
an
d
p
ar
t
un
p
asp
ex
c
jud
g
an
d
att
e
ob
s
inf
o
ac
q
2.
2
NO
dif
f
Th
e
En
t
Or
g
the
s
of
p
er
f
co
m
tog
e
act
i
of
t
n
d foundationa
l
A
nything th
a
n
sensual, pre
c
b
e used by sci
e
Within IS, t
h
p
redictability
n
cepts and th
e
i
ons and pro
c
p
ends on indi
v
s
iness actions
The corollar
y
observable
e
d
unpredicta
b
t
icular. As t
h
p
redictability,
ects namely
c
lude inte
r
-s
u
g
ements, val
u
d
subjective p
a
e
ntion and dis
t
s
ervable
p
art,
o
rmation an
q
uisition.
2
NOMI
S
O
MIS theoret
i
f
erent IS soci
e
ory of Orga
n
t
erprise Ont
o
g
anisational
S
s
e theories a
p
the business
f
ormance of
m
munications
e
ther with th
e
i
ons (OS).
NO
t
hese views i
n
l
theories.
a
t is obser
v
ise and, ther
ef
e
ntific metho
d
h
e human el
e
that constrai
n
e
correct and
c
esses. In fa
c
v
idual interpr
e
d
epend on hu
m
y
obtained fro
m
e
lements will
b
ility of IS
h
e human ele
m
we should
fo
observable
h
u
bjective act
i
u
es or decisio
n
a
rts. Also, de
a
t
inction shoul
d
the physical
d
, the me
n
S
Vision
i
cal foundati
o
o
-technical a
p
n
ized Activit
y
o
logy (EO)
emiotics (OS
p
lied a speci
f
domain foc
u
(human) a
c
(EO) and
e
dependenc
y
O
MIS takes
s
n
its own visi
o
v
able will
b
ef
ore more a
pp
d
s.
e
ment is the
n
ts the unive
adequate ga
t
ct, in IS, in
f
e
tation, also
p
u
man perform
e
o
m HR is that
reduce the
a
and IS mo
d
e
ment is the
s
f
ocus in its o
b
h
uman actio
n
t
ions, like i
n
n
s, at least th
e
a
ling with in
fo
d be made be
t
l
things that
nt
al aspects
o
ns came fr
o
p
proaches, n
a
y
(TOA) (Ho
(Dietz, 2
0
S
) (Liu, 2000)
f
ic view and
m
u
sing in acti
v
c
tions (TOA
)
context fo
r
y
between co
n
s
ome essenti
a
o
n and expan
d
b
e more
p
ropriate
s
ource of
rsality of
t
hering of
f
ormation
p
erformed
e
rs.
the focus
a
mbiguity
d
elling in
s
ource of
b
servable
n
s. These
n
tentions,
e
ir hidden
fo
rmation,
t
ween the
carry the
of its
o
m three
a
mely the
lt, 1997),
0
06) and
. Each of
m
odelling
v
ities and
)
, human
r
actions
n
text and
a
l aspects
d
s them in
Fourth International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design
126

a more realistic, comprehensive and concise view of
the IS reality.
NOMIS foundational theories share a key
common element – the human action – as the driver
of information systems. Actually, all things done or
to be done within any IS are driven by human
actions. Motivated and supported by HR, and central
in the foundational theories, NOMIS central element
is the observable human action. It is shown at the
centre in the NOMIS vision presented in Figure 1.
NOMIS Vision, besides the observable human
action central element and, the three views inspired
by NOMIS foundational theories adds a fourth view
– the information view – acknowledging the
importance of information. The remaining elements
from figure 1 are the human performer behind each
action and Norms. Norms or social norms are a
concept inherited from OS that is used to regulate
human actions and provide a way to model expected
behaviour.
Each view and the norms concept will be briefly
described and explained in the next sub-sections. A
deeper discussion on the presentation and analysis of
the foundational theories of NOMIS and its vision
can be found in Cordeiro et al, 2010.
2.2.1 The Interaction View
The Interaction View covers the communicational
dimension of human action. All (human) interactions
involve communication and communication itself is
a form of interaction. Any business or organisation
is driven by a network of people performing actions
coordinated by communication; interactions link
people. This perspective draws a special attention in
how people interact and, in particular, communicate.
This view covers the IS modelling perspective of
EO and extends it. It is not restricted by the single
interaction pattern – the business transaction pattern
– used in EO to model organisations.
In this view the different aspects involving
interaction, such as who are the communicating
actors, what interactions they perform, what
communication links or channels connect them, and
other observable aspects may be addressed and
represented.
2.2.2 The State View
The state view looks into environmental conditions
or states and their dependencies that enable a human
agent to act. It is concerned with context, state and
state dependencies related to human actions. This is
an essential perspective behind OS. The
environment, including the appropriate elements,
enables or affords the human agent the ability to
execute a certain action. These states are called in
NOMIS environmental states (ES). ES usually
represents essential business states that are related
by existence dependencies to other ES. An ES can
be composed by a single physical element (a body),
or a single information element (an information
item), or a group of different bodies and information
elements in a particular state. The elements
composing an ES have some observable form that
may include information by referring to its physical
representation.
2.2.3 The Physical View
The physical view is focused on the material and
observable aspects related to human actions. This
view covers the material dimension of human action
expressed by TOA and addresses actions and their
relationships to bodies: how bodies are affected and
carried by actions. A particular representation under
this view is the representation of business processes
showing action sequences and activities. It is
important to note that in NOMIS, business process
models show different elements and follow different
rules. As an example, in NOMIS vision, only human
actions should be included, action sequence relates
to expected human behaviour regulated by norms
and the initial activity before entering an action and
the final activity after leaving it represent states of
the environment.
The physical context is another aspect of the
physical view that can be specified, for example, by
locations (space and time) used for a group of
actions.
2.2.4 The Information View
The Information view covers the information
dimension of human action. The importance of
information is recognised by all information system
theories and its significance to human action should
be emphasised. Most of human actions depend or
rely on information in different ways. Some of them
cannot even be performed without it. Therefore the
identification of the important information required
for each action must take special attention. There are
some assumptions NOMIS makes in alignment with
HR and its foundational theories: (1) information
does not exist without a material support: a body or
a human actor and, (2) information is created by
humans or special bodies known, in NOMIS, as
instruments and can only be consumed by humans.
From a human action perspective there is a focus on
what information is required or consumed by the
Modelling Information Systems Using Nomis - A Practical View of Its Aplication and Its Insights to Business Processes
127

human performer, what information he/her has
access and what information he/her produces. From
a design perspective, it is useful to identify and
model all information useful for a human action.
This means, an awareness system.
Information is also used by norms where it is
related to agents and human actions. This is another
responsibility assigned to the information view - to
identify and represent the information needed by
norms.
2.2.5 Norms
NOMIS views previously described provide a
coherent and comprehensive view of IS centred in
human action and information. Each of them offers a
different perspective, however they are related in a
coherent and consistent model of the IS. The
elements shown and represented in each of them
should be the same. A coordination act from the
interaction view is a human action and can be used
in all other views, the same should happen for any
other human action, body, human performer and
information item depicted in any view. Besides
those connection points NOMIS uses also the OS
norm concept to regulate human actions and provide
a way to model expected behaviour. In this case,
behavioural norms, which are related to human
actions, are used. Behavioural norms are represented
analytically in a semi-formal way as defined in OS
as follows:
IF condition THEN agent
ADOPTS attitude TOWARD something
This form includes the key components of NOMIS:
human performers as agents, human actions as
attitudes and environmental states as conditions.
Besides regulating human behaviour, groups of
norms are used to establish another kernel concept
of NOMIS that is imported from OS - information
fields (IF) – where specific terms and behaviours are
understood in a similar way by the members of a
community under those IF. This notion is used in
NOMIS to define the boundaries of the terminology
used in a particular IS.
2.3 NOMIS Models
Models, and modelling artefacts, are used to show
simplified views of the reality, capturing its essential
elements according to a particular ontology. This
representation of the reality may be seen as a
specific language and, as any language, determine
the way world is perceived, the way plans are
established and the way world is acted upon.
Following these ideas, NOMIS Models define a new
notation that includes a set of tables and diagrams to
represent the different NOMIS views according to
its Vision. Although there is a pre-set of
representation artefacts suggested for each view
these should not be seen as the only ones that can be
used for that view and purpose. Besides the NOMIS
notation also the Unified Modelling Language
(UML) was extended with a set of dedicated profiles
and can be used to represent NOMIS (Cordeiro and
Liu, 2007; Cordeiro and Liu, 2008).
Because of space restrictions NOMIS model
notation will not be described here, nevertheless
examples will be given in the next section using
UML profiles that will be fully explained.
3 MODELLING INFORMATION
SYSTEMS WITH NOMIS
NOMIS Vision provided in the previous section
establishes a new way of understanding and
analysing IS. This Vision has consequences on the
way we model the IS, some of these consequences
are issues found in current modelling approaches,
some other relate to innovative aspects not currently
addressed. These innovative aspects will be the
focus of this paper. In order to illustrate these
aspects a simple use case of a library system will be
used. A few parts of this use case will be modelled
using NOMIS Models applying its UML profiles.
3.1 The Library System Use Case
The library system use case is described and
proposed in Dietz, 2006 as a basis for modelling
using the EO theory. It is enough for this paper to
know the general idea behind it. It is just a library
that lends books to their clients requiring, in this
case, a membership. There are processes for lending
and returning books, for applying for membership,
including a special applying process for a reduced
membership fee. The actors and the action and
activities locations are also identified.
3.2 Applying NOMIS – Preliminary
Steps
NOMIS Modelling approach does not propose a
modelling methodology. Therefore, a preliminary
step will be to analyse the problem and to extract its
key elements according to NOMIS Vision and
Fourth International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design
128

modelli
n
are also
actions
together
collecte
d
Action
T
their rel
a
that acti
o
and als
o
element
s
Using
H
of busi
n
NOMIS
there is
registeri
n
library
m
of NO
M
that acti
o
b
e alw
a
actions
c
from w
h
human
assigne
d
other i
m
Focusin
g
determi
n
them. E
f
human
a
n
g views. In t
h
at the kerne
l
and their
with some
d
using a s
p
T
able (HAT).
ated human
a
o
n and the a
d
o
related acti
o
s
(bodies), in
f
H
AT element
s
n
ess processe
s
action seque
n
an exampl
e
n
g process re
q
m
ember in ou
r
M
IS vision an
d
o
ns addresse
d
a
ys human
c
learly distin
c
h
at is done
b
actions, thr
o
d
responsibili
t
m
portant h
u
g
on human
n
istic nature
f
fectively, ac
a
ctions are re
g
Figure 2: An
A
h
is case two
k
l
of NOMIS
performers.
other info
r
p
ecial artefac
HAT registe
r
a
ctors, name
l
d
dressee in c
o
n elements
f
ormation ite
m
s
will facilita
t
s
that may b
e
n
ce diagram (
A
e
of an AS
D
q
uired by a p
e
r
case study.
A
d
other model
l
d
and shown
observable
c
t what is d
o
b
y people.
A
o
ugh their
p
t
y, intention,
u
man and
b
actions also
of the rela
t
tion sequenc
e
g
ulated by no
r
A
ction Sequen
c
k
ey elements
views are h
u
These ele
m
r
mation will
t named H
u
r
s human act
i
y the initiat
o
ase he/her e
x
such as phy
s
m
s and locat
i
t
e the descri
p
e
depicted w
i
A
SD). In fig
u
D
describing
e
rson to beco
m
A
first distin
c
l
ing approach
e
by NOMIS
m
actions; H
u
o
ne by comp
u
A
dditionally,
o
p
erformers,
h
commitment,
b
usiness asp
e
reveals the
n
t
ionship bet
w
e
s determine
d
r
ms dependin
g
c
e Diagram of
t
that
u
man
m
ents
l
be
u
man
i
ons,
o
r of
x
ists,
s
ical
i
ons.
p
tion
i
th a
u
re 2
the
m
e a
c
tion
es is
m
ust
u
man
u
ters
only
h
ave
and
ects.
n
on-
w
een
d
by
g on
p
e
o
no
r
3.
3
Th
e
ap
p
wa
y
rel
a
co
n
p
o
s
ne
e
im
p
the
len
t
reg
i
wil
l
the
dia
g
me
a
ca
n
inf
o
si
m
“le
n
lab
e
b
y
inf
o
Hu
m
t
he library regi
s
o
ple expected
ms may deci
d
3
States,
E
the Sta
t
e
notion of a
p
roaches but
y
. We will s
a
tes to a phys
n
dition. An e
x
s
sible states fi
l
e
d to be addr
e
p
ortant body
w
book. A libr
a
t
or, otherwis
e
i
stered in the
l
allow differ
e
book state
g
ram). In thi
s
a
ns an infor
m
n
not be extr
a
o
rmation reco
r
m
ple detail it
n
t” informati
o
e
l or somethi
n
anyone or a
n
o
rmation. T
h
m
an Relativi
s
s
tering process.
behaviour.
A
d
e to break th
e
E
nvironm
e
t
e View
state is pres
e
NOMIS def
i
t
art with a s
i
cal element
t
x
ample coul
d
l
led and unfil
l
e
ssed. From
o
w
ith some rel
e
a
ry book ma
y
e
, not availab
l
library syste
m
e
nt human ac
diagram (si
m
s
figure the
l
m
ational sta
t
a
cted directl
y
r
ded elsewhe
r
is important
.
o
n is record
e
n
g else this s
t
n
y physical t
o
h
e notion o
f
s
m applied h
e
A
nyone follo
w
e
se rules.
e
ntal State
s
e
nt in other
m
i
nes it in a
p
s
imple body
s
t
hat exhibits
a
d
be a form
l
ed. Not all b
o
o
ur library us
l
evant specifi
c
y
be available
l
e for lend as
i
m
. Each diff
e
c
tions. Figur
e
m
ilar to a U
M
l
etter I insid
e
t
e. This type
y
as it is d
e
r
e. Although
i
t
. For examp
l
e
d in a boo
k
t
ate could be
o
ol as it is o
b
f observabi
l
e
re is acting
w
ing these
s
and
m
odelling
p
articular
s
tate that
a
specific
with two
o
dy states
e
case an
c
states is
for lend,
i
t was not
e
rent state
e
3 shows
M
L state
e
a circle
of state
e
fined by
it
seems a
l
e, if the
k
using a
extracted
b
servable
l
ity from
as a step
Modelling Information Systems Using Nomis - A Practical View of Its Aplication and Its Insights to Business Processes
129

toward
t
also def
i
acknowl
human
b
N
O
M
the Env
i
gathers
a
human
a
should
b
b
odies,
We thi
n
innovati
v
underst
o
originat
e
(BP). A
n
p
otentia
l
analogy
p
roblem
s
to chan
g
trajector
y
p
rovide
d
p
ossible
variety
o
stay mo
s
there ar
e
for len
d
These E
S
b
ook f
o
member
s
Figure
4
b
etween
Figure 4
library s
y
t
he desired I
S
i
nes human r
o
edging the
p
b
eings.
M
IS uses a
b
r
o
i
ronmental S
t
a
ll the necess
a
a
ction to occ
u
b
e defined us
information
i
n
k the idea
b
v
e ones creat
e
o
od as definin
g
e
d an
d
end t
o
n
analogy wi
l
energy an
d
may be us
e
s
that we hav
e
g
e, like tryi
n
y
of a proje
c
d
by the star
t
a
p
rojectile
t
o
f ways (BP)
b
s
tly s
t
able. I
n
e
four import
a
d
, membersh
i
S
depend on
e
o
r lend and
s
hip needs a
l
4
shows thos
e
them represe
n
: An Existent
i
y
stem.
Fi
g
S
modelling
p
o
les as speci
f
p
hysical (or
o
ade
r
notion
o
t
ate (ES). A
n
a
ry pre-condit
u
r. These co
n
ing NOMIS
i
tems and h
u
b
ehind ES is
e
d by NOMI
S
g
a place fro
m
o
. Paths are b
th physics w
o
d
BP to kin
e
e
d to highlig
e
modelling
B
n
g to model
c
tile compar
e
t
ing and tar
g
t
o reach the t
a
b
ut the target
p
n
the library s
y
a
nt ES, namel
y
i
p and paid
e
ach other: a
a valid me
m
l
i
b
rary memb
e
e
ES together
n
ted with das
h
i
al Dependen
c
g
ure 3: A Bod
y
p
recision. NO
M
f
ic (human) s
t
body) natur
e
o
f a state as
w
n
ES in NO
M
i
ons for a spe
c
n
ditions or s
t
e
lements, na
m
u
man perfor
m
one of the
m
S
. An ES ma
y
m
where path
s
usiness proc
e
o
uld relate E
e
tic energy.
T
h
t the insta
b
B
P. BP are su
b
or determine
d to the sta
b
g
et position.
I
a
rget from a
w
p
osition (ES)
y
stem case st
u
y
book len
t
,
b
membership
lent book ne
e
m
bership; a
v
e
r with a paid
the depende
n
h
ed arrows.
c
y Diagram o
f
y
State Diagra
m
MIS
t
ates
e
of
w
ell:
MIS
cific
t
ates
m
ely
m
ers.
m
ost
y
be
s
are
e
sses
E
S to
This
b
ility
b
ject
the
b
ility
It is
w
ide
will
t
udy,
b
oo
k
fee.
e
ds a
v
alid
d
fee.
n
cies
f
the
co
m
me
n
lib
r
me
m
fee
at
t
cor
r
me
m
reg
i
the
rea
c
p
ro
wit
h
the
3.
4
NO
in
h
on
e
for
m
act
i
all
mo
d
usi
n
act
i
tha
t
ha
v
Th
e
ap
p
abi
l
te
m
use
tha
t
cas
e
inc
l
rol
e
obj
e
int
e
Int
e
p
er
m
m
of a library b
o
ES in NOM
m
pletely def
i
n
tioned. A
m
r
ary membe
r
m
ber contact
s
information.
t
he identifie
d
r
esponds to
m
bership ES
i
ster” proces
s
“to lend a
b
c
hed by an
cess and so o
n
h
time althou
g
library syste
m
4
Librar
y
O
MIS interact
i
h
uman actio
n
e
deals with
m
s of inter
a
i
ons and parti
c
type of act
i
d
elled using
A
n
g activities
i
ons. Some
g
t
can also be
d
v
e placeholde
r
e
se last aspe
c
p
roaches. One
l
ity to show
m
plates.
Both the ph
y
similar diag
r
t
are similar
e
of the p
h
l
ude the rep
r
e
s as
s
wimla
e
ct nodes.
The interac
t
e
ractions
b
et
w
e
raction Dia
g
m
it us to ac
k
o
ok.
I
S are not j
u
i
ned using
N
m
embership E
S
, an inform
s
, name, legal
I
t is relevant
t
d
states, BPs
main libr
a
is reached
s
, the book l
e
b
ook” proces
s
o
rdering and
n
. Any of the
s
g
h most state
m
.
y
Action Vi
i
on and phys
i
n
s and their
c
human com
m
a
ctions and
t
c
ipating bodi
e
i
ons and th
e
A
SD. Action
s
that are, i
n
roups of acti
o
d
efined in N
O
r
s in the pla
c
t
s can be fo
u
interesting a
s
action and
a
y
sical view a
n
r
ams to repr
e
to UML act
i
h
ysical view
r
esentation o
f
n
es, and bo
d
t
ion view al
w
een actors
g
ram (HID).
U
k
nowledge th
e
u
st concepts;
N
OMIS ele
m
S is compos
e
m
ation item
information
a
t
o observe th
a
s
used to re
a
a
ry system
by followin
g
e
nt ES is rea
c
s
, the book
fo
d
registering
se BP may b
e
e
s will remain
i
ews
i
cal views ar
e
components.
m
munication
a
t
he second
o
e
s. Within th
e
e
ir sequence
s
s can also b
e
n
NOMIS,
c
i
ons can for
m
O
MIS. Patter
n
c
e of specifi
c
u
nd in other
m
s
pect of NO
M
a
ctivity
p
atte
r
n
d the interac
t
e
sent action
s
i
vity diagra
m
these diagr
a
f locations
a
d
ies and its
l
so allows
p
by using
a
Using these
e
different ac
t
hey are
m
ents as
e
d by the
with the
a
nd a paid
a
t looking
a
ch them
BPs. A
g
the “to
c
hed with
fo
r lent is
the book
e
changed
valid for
e
focused
The first
a
nd other
o
ne with
e
se views
s
can be
e
g
r
ouped
c
omposite
m
patterns
n
s usually
c
actions.
m
odelling
M
IS is the
r
ns using
t
ion view
s
equences
m
s. In the
a
ms also
a
nd actor
states as
p
resenting
a
Human
diagrams
tions and
Fourth International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design
130

activitie
s
figure 5
diagram
arrow o
n
group o
f
have a
s
This vi
e
commu
n
missing
approac
h
The
represen
Diagra
m
together
p
erform
e
items. T
h
focus o
n
support
t
those di
r
on why,
importa
n
b
eing d
e
constitu
t
3.5 I
n
N
OMIS
informa
t
p
rincipl
e
note ab
o
seen in
d
informa
t
or body;
observa
b
Informa
t
s
where more
a HID of
t
shows differ
e
n
top) related
f
actions or
i
s
pecial symb
o
e
w highlight
s
n
ication an
d
or not em
p
h
es.
physical
n
tation artefa
c
m
that is use
d
all related e
l
e
r, involved
b
h
is last elem
e
n
human ac
t
t
hese actions
a
r
ectly used in
when, how
n
t action help
e
e
veloped thes
t
e a dedicated
n
formatio
n
information
t
ion analysi
e
s of HR, th
e
o
ut informati
o
d
ependent fr
t
ion is alway
s
and 3) infor
m
b
le. Regard
i
t
ion Connec
t
Figure
5
than one per
s
t
he library i
s
e
nt interactio
n
to a single
h
i
nteraction a
c
o
l inside, see
(
s
the import
a
d
collabora
t
p
hasized in
view has
c
t, namely t
h
d
to show i
n
l
ements spec
i
b
odies and n
e
e
nt has a spec
i
t
ions reveals
a
nd, informat
i
the action, s
u
to perform t
h
e
rs. For the i
n
e helpers m
a
awareness s
y
n
and Nor
m
view goes
a
s. Followi
n
e
re are at lea
o
n: 1) infor
m
om a huma
n
s
carried by a
m
ation about
a
i
ng 1) N
O
t
ion Diagra
m
5
: A Human Int
e
s
on is involve
d
s
presented.
T
n
s (with a do
h
uman action
tivities (acti
v
(
5) in the fig
u
a
nt dimensio
n
t
ion somet
i
other mode
l
also an
o
h
e Action
V
n
dividual ac
t
i
fically its h
u
e
eded inform
a
i
al relevance.
us the nee
d
i
on items, be
s
u
ch as inform
a
h
e action bec
n
formation sy
s
y also be pa
r
y
stem.
m
s
a
step furth
e
n
g the ge
n
s
t three thin
g
m
ation canno
t
n
interpreter
;
physical ele
m
a
body may n
o
O
MIS has
m
(ICD)
w
e
raction Diagr
a
d
. In
This
o
uble
or a
v
ities
u
re).
n
of
i
mes
l
ling
o
ther
V
iew
t
ions
u
man
a
tion
The
d
to
s
ides
a
tion
c
ome
s
tem
r
t or
e
r in
n
eral
g
s to
t be
; 2)
m
ent
o
t be
an
w
he
r
e
act
i
b
o
d
to
b
o
d
reg
i
reg
i
me
m
lib
r
fun
int
r
ap
p
mo
v
the
du
r
mi
s
lib
r
tra
n
ha
v
Fin
b
e
fo
s
ta
t
ex
a
Th
i
if i
t
ob
s
im
p
en
v
p
er
f
no
r
1.
2.
a
m of the librar
y
i
ons, inform
a
d
ies are repre
s
show the i
n
d
ies. An in
t
i
stering pro
c
i
stration dat
a
m
ber to the
r
ary system.
F
damental dif
f
r
oduce the i
n
p
licant. In t
h
v
es from the
a
library syst
e
ing the trans
f
s
understandin
g
r
arian. The I
n
sfer clearly.
v
e different b
o
ally, 3) may
fo
re of some
t
es meaning
t
a
mple a book
i
s informatio
n
t
is not obser
v
s
ervable and
n
p
ortant diffe
r
e
N
OMIS
N
v
ironmental
s
f
ormers. Bus
i
ms. NOMIS
c
Requiremen
execution
Tri
gg
er No
r
information
m
y
system.
a
tion items
s
ented. In the
s
n
formation
t
t
eresting ex
a
c
ess. Durin
g
a
is commu
n
librarian tha
t
F
rom the IS p
f
erence betwe
e
n
formation i
n
e fi
r
st case
a
pplicant to t
h
e
m. This ma
y
f
er process, a
n
g
of a particu
l
C
D would
s
In 2) the hig
o
dies carrying
be related
t
bodies havin
g
t
ha
t
they are
n
in the librar
y
n
cannot be e
x
v
able. To disti
n
n
ot observabl
e
e
nce.
N
orms relat
e
tates to acti
o
n
ess rules un
d
c
lassifies Nor
m
t
Norms: n
e
r
ms: action
t
m
ade availabl
e
and their s
u
s
e diagrams i
s
t
ransferences
a
mple is th
e
g
this pro
c
n
icated by t
h
t introduces
p
oint of view
e
en being the
n
the syste
m
the informa
t
h
e librarian a
n
a
y lead to d
a
n
example w
o
l
ar data elem
e
s
how this in
f
g
hlight is the
g
the same in
fo
t
o the issue
g specific in
f
not observab
y
may not be
x
tracted from
n
guish betwe
e
e
information
es inform
a
ons and the
i
d
er NOMIS
a
m
s as:
eeded for t
h
triggered gi
v
e
.
u
pporting
s
possible
between
e
library
c
ess the
h
e future
it in the
there is a
library to
m
or the
t
ion item
n
d then to
a
ta errors
o
uld be a
e
nt by the
f
ormation
ability to
fo
rmation.
i
dentified
f
ormation
le. As an
for lend.
the book
e
n a body
makes an
t
ion or
i
r human
a
re mostly
h
e action
v
en some
Modelling Information Systems Using Nomis - A Practical View of Its Aplication and Its Insights to Business Processes
131

Table 1: Results of applying the CQF to the selected modelling techniques.
NOMIS DFD EM UML RAD BPMN
Organisational
(Who)
(Human) Actor ---- ---- Actor Role Participant
Functional
(What)
Activity
Process
diagrams
---- Use case Process and roles
Process maps and
descriptions
Behavioural
(How)
Action Processes ---- Action
Action
interaction
Activities
Temporal
(When)
Existential
dependency
---- ----
State
event
State event Events
Contextual
(Where)
Environmental state /
Information field
Context
diagram
---- ---- ---- Pools and lanes
Motivational
(Why)
---- ---- ---- ----
State description
(goal)
----
Resource
(With)
Body
Data flow,
data store
Entities Object ---- Data Object
Conceptual
(Which)
Information Item ----
Entity
type
Classifier ---- ----
3. Information Norms: as helpers or just
informative for individual actions
Most norms are implicit and only those relevant
to the system should be modelled.
As a final remark related to norms is that norms
regulate expected human behaviour. They are a form
of having some system stability although peopl
behave according to different system of norms. As
an example in our homes with our family we have a
particular behaviour, surely not the same behaviour
we adopt in our work organization. The same
happens with different fields of knowledge; the
terms and ontologies defined for libraries are
different from those of medicine for example. Each
system of norms defines a specific Information Field
(IF). This notion used by NOMIS has its origin in
Organisational Semiotics. The importance for
modelling the library system is that we will find at
least two different and simultaneous IF: the first one
is the librarians that have their own terms and field
knowledge and the second one is the public in
general that lends books. NOMIS Vision calls our
attention to these differences that should be taken
care in IS modelling.
4 DISCUSSION AND RELATED
WORK
In order to evaluate NOMIS modelling innovative
aspects it will be useful to compare its key notions
with other modelling approaches. First, it is
important to know and understand how information
systems development (ISD) uses or relies on
modelling. In practice, modelling is commonly
applied in ISD through visual representation
techniques being diagrams the most common one. It
is also common to differentiate between process
modelling techniques and IS modelling techniques
where process analysis and modelling is studied
under the separate and related field of business
process management and, data analysis and
modelling together with object-oriented analysis and
modelling remain within the information systems
field. George
Giaglis (2001), for example, propose a
taxonomy of business process modelling and
information systems modelling techniques where he
studies and compares commonly used modelling
techniques of both perspectives.
Typical dimensions for comparing modelling
techniques are the functional, behavioural,
informational and organisational perspectives (e.g.
Giaglis, 2001; de Cesare and Serrano, 2006).
However, for this comparison, it seems a better
choice to use the Common Questions Framework
(Cordeiro and Filipe, 2005) that covers all
dimensions mentioned before and adds a few
important ones. To stress the modelling differences
between NOMIS and other modelling approaches
we choose to select just a small group of well-known
modelling techniques commonly used, namely:
• IS modelling techniques: Data Flow Diagrams
(DFD), Entity Modelling (see Avison and
Fitzgerald, 2006) and Unified Modelling
Language (UML) (OMG UML, 2014)
Fourth International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design
132

• Business process modelling techniques: Role
Activity Diagrams (RAD) (
Ould, 1995; Ould,
2005)
, Business Process Modelling Notation
(BPMN) (OMG BPMN, 2014).
The results of applying the CQF to these modelling
techniques is shown in table 1. This table helps to
have a broader view of the main aspects covered by
each technique. In this case NOMIS furnishes a
better coverage of the analysed dimensions together
with UML and BPMN, although BPMN is more
specific. It should be noted that many methodologies
use more than one modelling technique (for example
EM and DFD) to help them representing better the
organisational domain. Nevertheless, this broader
view does not really emphasize the benefits of using
NOMIS, in this case it is necessary to look into a
few particular aspects of NOMIS. To start with, the
human centeredness of NOMIS realized by its
exclusive modelling of human observable actions is
one of the most important differences to other
approaches. Anything done in a business or
organisation is always done by humans through
human actions. Any action performed by a machine
becomes part of its technical implementation and at
most, may only be judged and accepted in the
business domain. Also, this focus on human action
allows some key social aspects to be correctly
addressed, such as responsibility, commitment,
interests and intentions that have a strong emphasis
in NOMIS foundational theories. The next
difference is the use of context in NOMIS. In
NOMIS context is addressed in different ways:
firstly through the use of environmental states which
are necessary conditions for a group of actions to be
performed, secondly regarding each individual
action by covering all elements, including
information items related to that action and, thirdly,
through information fields that provide a field of
shared understanding for each IS used element. The
analysed modelling techniques do not restrict actions
to human actions mixing technical details with
organisational elements and making difficult to
understand and establish properly the organisational-
technical boundary. Also these techniques do not
make a proper context for understanding each model
element. NOMIS does this by allowing each element
to be perceived under an information field (IF) scope
allowing for a similar element be understood
differently under different IFs also represented in
NOMIS models. Another difference is coherence
and consistency as any NOMIS views sees the same
reality where an element of one view is always
related to the same element in another view. This
cannot be done when a methodology chooses to use
different modelling techniques for representing the
same organisational reality. In this case UML may
overcome this difficulty, however UML was not
thought to model the business domain which results
in having many problems to represent it besides
mixing technical details and using an object-oriented
paradigm (Avison and Fitzgerald, 2006). Another
differentiating aspect of NOMIS is human
communication that is not addressed by other
modelling techniques despite its importance in
organisations. In this case BMPN is an exception
having a conversation diagram and recognizing the
important of this organisational view. A last major
distinct aspect in NOMIS is the notion,
representation and use of norms. All analysed
modelling techniques use a sequential or parallel
flow for actions, but they do not recognise it as
being human dependent and possibly not followed
(also, because they use the same flow for machine
actions). In NOMIS the use of norms recognizes
properly the human dependent nature of human
action process flows.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper briefly presented NOMIS – a new
modelling approach for information systems that
integrates the theories of Organisational Semiotics,
Enterprise Ontology and the Theory of Organized
Activity. NOMIS is strongly founded in the
philosophical stance of Human Relativism that is
expected to provide the necessary modelling
precision. NOMIS is fully described in (Cordeiro,
2011).
The focus of this paper was to show some
important innovative modelling aspects of NOMIS
that may be useful for a better understanding of IS
and business systems. These aspects were also
compared within different dimensions with similar
concepts used by a small set of other well-known
modelling techniques.
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