Software architecture canvas: ferramenta de suporte à comunicação em análise e projeto de arquitetura de software

Abstract

The Software Architecture (SA) analysis and design activities imposes to the software architect many challenges and endeavors related stakeholder communication, a solution about this can be considered with the Business Model Canvas (BMC) tool, which provides abstraction and communication elements and that helps the business model development. Seeking the same effects of BMC, this research had as its main goal to develop a communication and visual tool, based on BMC applied to SA analysis and design activities. This tool was developed from bibliographic research and a conceptual map, leading to a study case with direct observation and survey applied in an assay involving software development professionals. The developed tool established similar elements of BMC as: a common abstraction (of software architecture metamodel) a shared language between stakeholders, in a way to establish a up to par communi- cation in participants perception. It was also possible to check a certain level of acceptability from the participants about SA analysis and design activities stakeholders objectives. However, it identified limitations in tool elements representation, leading to considerations about biblio- graphic research improvements as in the conceptual model, for an improved representation of these elements.