Eliciting requirements for a mammography training application

Demonstrations of a prototype were used to elicit requirements for a training system for screening mammography. The prototype allowed mentors to select cases from a distributed image database to meet the specific requirements of trainees. Trainees received automated feedback in response to attempts at interpretation. The prototype was demonstrated to radiologists and radiographers. Comments were recorded and used to elaborate requirements for a more sophisticated version.

The main classes of response were as follows: automated marking and feedback – where the trainee's interpretation did not match the experts' opinion exactly, the prototype acted is if the trainee required correction, which was not always appropriate; integrating with existing training practices – discussion between trainees and mentors is important, and suggestions for supporting such communication included providing comment facilities and the ability to bookmark cases for further discussion; and searching and browsing cases to build training sets – the provision for constructing training sets appropriate for different teaching goals is highly valued.

We are following an iterative process where requirements are gathered, and prototypes are constructed, evaluated by users and then refined until users are satisfied that their requirements have been met. A new version of the tool has been developed.