Object-role Modeling as a Domain Modeling Approach

This paper focuses on the potential role of the Object-Role Modeling (ORM) approach to information modeling for the task of domain modeling. Domain modeling concerns obtaining and modeling the language (concepts, terminologies, ontologies) used by stakeholders to talk about a domain. Achieving conceptual clarity and consensus among stakeholders is an important yet often neglected part of system development, and requirements engineering in particular. This paper starts out with a brief discussion on the importance of domain modeling in system development. This is followed by an outline of the activities involved in proper domain modeling. We will then discuss why the ORM approach is, in principle, a good candidate for the tasks involved in domain modeling. This is further substantiated by a more detailed evaluation, both from a theoretical and a practical perspective.