Visualizing the Dynamics of Conceptual Behavior Models : The Vivid OPM Scene Player

Modeling plays an increasingly important role in the lifecycle of systems. Complex dynamic systems are difficult to model, preventing users from deeply understanding their intricate behavior. Existing conceptual modeling languages contain behavioral diagrams aimed to describe how the modeled system changes over time. However, most of these diagram types are static and do not directly reflect the system’s behavior in space and time in a manner that is close to conceived reality. Models that are inherently visual and dynamic can potentially provide system architects and designers, as well as prospective customers, with profound understanding of the behavior of the system under development without requiring knowledge of any specific modeling language. Based on this conjecture, which is supported by cognitive neuroscience, we present Vivid OPM, a software module that generates and plays a “video clip” of the system under development from its OPM conceptual model. While requiring relatively little effort on the side of the modeler, this option explicates how the system behaves over time, providing a powerful tool for understanding and communicating complex systems dynamics. Index Terms – Object-Process Methodology (OPM), simulation, visualization, dynamic models, spatiotemporal models