A pattern-based approach for explaining ontology-driven conceptual models

Conceptual models—designed as means for knowledge sharing—are expected to be extensively reused within their respective domains. However, studies reveal that people often struggle to understand already existing models. Assuming that specific conceptual model views can serve as explanations for particular exploratory questions, we demonstrate how these views and questions can be systematically constructed for OntoUML models. This paper presents the results of a preliminary evaluation of the approach conducted through a questionnaire. The findings highlight that our pattern-based approach enables the construction of model views that contain fewer elements than the original model while remaining sufficient to answer the targeted questions.