UML diagrams are mostly for communicating software architecture, but has many uses related to the design of information systems. For more domain-specific context, for systems engineering including hardware the UML dialect (SysML) is sometimes used, and for Automation another UML dialect has been advocated for use in the manufacturing industry (AutomationML).
How to find a common language and share understanding across domains? There are modeling languages for that, OWL, and the semantic web..... and more work to be done!
More on UML - and details of UML and on model-based communication around system development (from Wikipedia):
"Due to their simplistic nature, use case diagrams can be a good communication tool for stakeholders. The drawings attempt to mimic the real world and provide a view for thestakeholderto understand how the system is going to be designed. Siau and Lee conducted research to determine if there was a valid situation for use case diagrams at all or if they were unnecessary. What was found was that the use case diagrams conveyed the intent of the system in a more simplified manner tostakeholdersand that they were "interpreted more completely than class diagrams".[4]"
3 Comments
Niels Peter Østbø
01.07.2022UML diagrams are mostly for communicating software architecture, but has many uses related to the design of information systems. For more domain-specific context, for systems engineering including hardware the UML dialect (SysML) is sometimes used, and for Automation another UML dialect has been advocated for use in the manufacturing industry (AutomationML).
How to find a common language and share understanding across domains? There are modeling languages for that, OWL, and the semantic web..... and more work to be done!
Niels Peter Østbø
02.07.2024Good overview of useful information modeling examples, use-cases including Automation ML: https://www.automationml.org/industrial-application/domain-model/
Niels Peter Østbø
23.06.2026More on UML - and details of UML and on model-based communication around system development (from Wikipedia):