How To Use This Website

Begin by reading the Website Overview webpages and pay special attention to the Metamodel webpage. Once you understand the basic structure of the website and the organization of its reusable process component classes, you are ready to begin. How you use the OPEN Process Framework (OPF) and specifically this website documenting it depends naturally on your purpose in using it. For example, you usage may be related to the:

• Role You Will Play
• Task You Must Perform
• Work Product You Must Produce
• Phase of the Endeavor You Are In
• Activity That Must Be Performed

Use OPF By Role

If you have been assigned to play one or more roles on an endeavor, then you want to know what:

• Responsibilities you have
• Personal Profile (e.g., personal characteristics, expertise, training, and experience) you are expected to have
• Tasks you are expected to perform
• Teams you will be assigned to as a member
• Work Products you will be responsible for producing

You should start by learning the basics of the OPF Metamodel so that you understand the basic process components and the terminology of the site. You can do this by clicking on the OPF components link at the top of the primary navigation frame on the left of the screen.

Then you should go to and read the individual webpages describing each of the roles you will play. You can navigate to these webpages several ways, using which ever way you feel most using:

• Use The Site Map.
  Click on the Site Map link on the left of your screen to navigate to the site map webpage. Then go down that webpage to the producers table by clicking on the “Producer” link at the top of the site map webpage (because roles are a kind of producer). Then, scroll down the roles column of the producers table until you find the role in which you are interested.
• Use the Website Index.
  Click on the Search Website link on the left of your screen to navigate to a site-internal search webpage. Then scroll down the alphabetized list of webpages on he right until you find the one for the role in which you are interested. Then select it and press the “Go To Selected Webpage" button.
• Use the Website Topic Search.
  Click on the Search Website link on the left of your screen to navigate to a site-internal search webpage. Then type in the name of the role as a search criteria in the desired topic field on the left of the screen and press the “Search” button.
• Use the List of Similar Webpages.
  Once you have read the webpage about the first role you will perform on the endeavor, you can go to the bottom of that webpage and click on the link to the webpage for any other role you will play.

While reading about an individual role, you will notice that there will be many links to related topics in the text. Follow these links to learn more about the individual:

• Tasks you are expected to perform.
• Teams you will be assigned to as a member.
• Work products you will be responsible for producing.

Feel free to follow other links to clarify any terms with which you may be uncertain. However, this website has over 1100 webpages and these webpages are highly interlinked to support easy navigability. You should be careful about not getting off target and following too many links until you get lost. Remember that you can always press the back button until you are back at the webpage for the role you were interested in in the first place.

Use OPF By Task

TBD

Use OPF By Work Product

If you have been assigned to develop of evaluate a work product (e.g., a requirements specification, a design document, or a module of software), then you want to know the work product’s:

• Definition so that you produce the right work product.
• Objectives so that the work product you produce actually meets its objectives.
• Benefits so that you can ensure that you produce a work product that brings the right benefits.
• Contents so that you can ensure that you produce the entire work product.
• Stakeholders so that you can ensure that the work product you produce is acceptable to all of its legitimate stakeholder.
• Phases so that you know you are producing the product during the right time frame.
• Preconditions so that you can ensure that you are prepared to begin producing the work product.
• Inputs so that you can ensure that you have all you need to start building the work product.
• Conventions that are the relevant techniques, standards, guidelines, and templates that clarify how you are to develop the work product.
• Guidelines that provide huristics and recommendations for producing the work product.
• Examples because it is easier to produce a work product if you can see an example of a similar work product.

You should start by learning the basics of the OPF Metamodel so that you understand the basic process components and the terminology of the site. You can do this by clicking on the OPF components link at the top of the primary navigation frame on the left of the screen.

Then you should go to and read the individual webpages describing each of the work products for which you are responsibility. You can navigate to these webpages several ways, using which ever way you feel most using:

• Use The Site Map.
  Click on the Site Map link on the left of your screen to navigate to the site map webpage. Then go down that webpage to the work product table by clicking on the “Work Product” link at the top of the site map webpage. Then, scroll down the work products until you find workproducts for which you are responsibility.
• Use the Website Index.
  Click on the Search Website link on the left of your screen to navigate to a site-internal search webpage. Then scroll down the alphabetized list of webpages on he right until you find the work product for which you are responsible. Then select it and press the “Go To Selected Webpage" button.
• Use the Website Topic Search.
  Click on the Search Website link on the left of your screen to navigate to a site-internal search webpage. Then type in the name of the work product as a search criteria in the desired topic field on the left of the screen and press the “Search” button.
• Use the List of Similar Webpages.
  Once you have read the webpage about the first work product, you can go to the bottom of that webpage and click on the link to the webpage for any other relevant work product.

While reading about an individual workproduct, you will notice that there will be many links to related topics in the text. Feel free to follow other links to clarify any terms with which you may be uncertain. However, this website has over 1100 webpages and these webpages are highly interlinked to support easy navigability. You should be careful about not getting off target and following too many links until you get lost. Remember that you can always press the back button until you are back at the webpage for the role you were interested in in the first place.

Use OPF By Phase

TBD

Use OPF By Activity

You may be interested in learning about one of the default subprocesses that have been derived from the complete OPF. For example, if you have bee tasked with producing either a generic or endevor-specific subprocess containing not just work units but also work products, then click on one of the following links:

• Requirements Engineering
• TBD