<s>
i*	B-Language
(	O
pronounced	O
"	O
i	B-Language
star	I-Language
"	O
)	O
or	O
i*	B-Language
framework	O
is	O
a	O
modeling	B-Language
language	I-Language
suitable	O
for	O
an	O
early	O
phase	O
of	O
system	O
modeling	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
understand	O
the	O
problem	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
modeling	B-Language
language	I-Language
allows	O
to	O
model	O
both	O
as-is	O
and	O
to-be	O
situations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
i*	B-Language
refers	O
to	O
the	O
notion	O
of	O
distributed	O
intentionality	O
which	O
underlines	O
the	O
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
models	O
answer	O
the	O
question	O
WHO	O
and	O
WHY	O
,	O
not	O
what	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
,	O
the	O
UML	B-Language
Use	B-Architecture
case	I-Architecture
approach	O
covers	O
only	O
functional	O
goals	O
,	O
with	O
actors	O
directly	O
involved	O
in	O
operations	O
(	O
typically	O
with	O
software	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
four	O
elements	O
to	O
describe	O
them	O
:	O
goal	O
,	O
soft	O
goal	O
,	O
task	O
and	O
resource	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
central	O
concept	O
in	O
i*	B-Language
is	O
in	O
fact	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
intentional	O
actor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
framework	O
consists	O
of	O
two	O
main	O
modeling	O
components	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
means-end	O
links	O
provide	O
understanding	O
about	O
why	O
an	O
actor	O
would	O
engage	O
in	O
some	O
tasks	O
,	O
pursue	O
a	O
goal	O
,	O
need	O
a	O
resource	B-General_Concept
,	O
or	O
want	O
a	O
soft	O
goal	O
;	O
the	O
task-decomposition	O
links	O
provide	O
a	O
hierarchical	O
description	O
of	O
intentional	O
elements	O
that	O
make	O
up	O
a	O
routine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
provides	O
the	O
possibility	O
to	O
achieve	O
information	O
in	O
an	O
early	O
phase	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
engineering	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
former	O
days	O
UML	B-Language
was	O
used	O
to	O
make	O
information	O
visible	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
UML	B-Language
often	O
focuses	O
on	O
organisational	O
objects	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
not	O
so	O
important	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
phase	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
emphasis	O
should	O
be	O
on	O
helping	O
stakeholders	O
gain	O
better	O
understanding	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
possibilities	O
for	O
using	O
information	O
systems	O
in	O
their	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
models	O
offer	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
levels	O
of	O
analysis	O
,	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
ability	O
,	O
workability	O
,	O
viability	O
and	O
believability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
provides	O
an	O
early	O
understanding	O
of	O
the	O
organizational	O
relationships	O
in	O
a	O
business	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Use	B-Architecture
Case	I-Architecture
development	O
from	O
organizational	O
modeling	O
using	O
i*	B-Language
allows	O
requirement	O
engineers	O
to	O
establish	O
a	O
relationship	O
between	O
the	O
functional	O
requirements	O
of	O
the	O
intended	O
system	O
and	O
the	O
organizational	O
goals	O
previously	O
defined	O
in	O
the	O
organization	O
modeling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
can	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
requirements	O
engineering	O
to	O
understand	O
the	O
problem	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SD	O
models	O
and	O
SR	O
models	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
develop	O
use	B-Architecture
cases	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
i*	B-Language
is	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
early	O
requirements	O
and	O
UML	B-Language
for	O
late	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
one	O
has	O
to	O
transform	O
the	O
i*	B-Language
model	O
into	O
a	O
UML	B-Language
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
:	O
a	O
task	O
between	O
a	O
dependent	O
actor	O
and	O
a	O
dependence	O
in	O
the	O
SD	O
model	O
corresponds	O
to	O
a	O
public	O
operation	O
in	O
the	O
dependence	O
UML	B-Language
class	O
,	O
</s>
