A domain framework for representation of Web system impacts Norazlin Yusop, David Lowe, Didar Zowghi University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123 Broadway NSW 2007, Australia {norazlin, didar}@it.uts.edu.au, david.lowe@uts.edu.au Abstract. In web systems development, the business environment, processes and the related Web systems are interdependent. The business domain not only drives the identification of system needs, but the business is fundamentally changed by the introduction or evolution of the system. This results in Web systems that are highly volatile with complex inter-dependencies with the business domain. In this paper we describe a framework which allows us to describe and structure these interdependencies, particularly focusing on the concept of mutual constitution. The result is a consistent terminology and a basis for more effective reasoning about the business consequences of introducing and changing Web systems. 1 Introduction A key characteristic of many Web systems 1 (as well as various other software systems) is that the introduction of the system has a fundamental impact on the nature of the business processes and business models which are being supported by the system. In other words, the business environment and processes not only drive the definition of the system needs, but are in turn fundamentally changed by the system. In effect, the business “problem” defines the nature of the technical system “solution” that is desired, but the solution itself changes the characteristics of the problem space, resulting in systems and business processes which co-evolve. This can be described as solutions and problems being mutually constituted - a concept well understood in the area of social informatics [1] and requirements engineering [2]. Whilst this concept of mutual constitution - or its expression as a technical solution leading to substantial changes in the problem space - is typical of almost all systems development, it is particularly significant with Web systems. This is due in large part to the scale and immediacy of the impacts that web systems can have on their domain. 1 Whilst we use the term Web system throughout this paper, we recognise that this terminology is still somewhat ill-defined within the literature (which includes terms such as Web applications, web-based systems, online systems, as well as a host of domain specific terms such as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), etc.). In this paper we use the term Web system to refer to those system which utilise web technologies as an integral element of a functionally complex system which typically incorporates interfaces beyond the organisational boundaries.