2394
Dialogue Act Modeling
uses both views, because it aims to focus on both
pragmatics and semantics of the system in WBIS
analysis. It uses the pragmatic view in dialogue
act modeling and the descriptive view in object
modeling and behavior modeling.
Part Two: Dialogue Act Modeling for
Building Dialogue Act Model for the
Web Site of WBIS
To cop e w it h t he W BIS cult u re in W BIS a nalysis,
a modeling technique is needed for capturing and
specifying the interaction pattern (i.e., interac-
tive communication) required by the user. Such
user requirements are called communicational
requirements in this approach. However, none
of current modeling approaches (Conallen, 2003)
has provided this needed technique, because they
do not focus on communicational requirements.
Although some lifecycle models for Web develop-
ment such as ones presented by Burdman (1999),
Fleming (1998), and Lynch and Horton (1999) have
DGGUHVVHG WKHVSHFL¿FQHHG RI:HE VLWHV WKH\
have limited user input to such requirements. In
terms of these approaches, Web developers only
FDQ JXHVV RU LPDJLQH ZKDW XVHUV ¿QG HDV\ RU
confusing in interactive communication, but they
cannot capture what the user actually wants. To
overcome this problem, the dialogue act model-
ing approach provides a dialogue act modeling
technique that creates a dialogue act model for

the Web site part of WBIS by WBIS analysis
(see Figure 3).
This modeling technique focuses on commu-
nicational requirements and the pragmatic aspects
of WBIS. It describes business participants as
speakers and hearers of dialogues, performers of
dialogue acts, and seekers of business information
in the dialogue act model.
(a) Communicational Requirements
In traditional IS analysis, user requirements are
either functional requirements (i.e., what the sys-
tem needs to do) or nonfunctional requirements
(i.e., what constraints are on the system, such as
performance and security constraints). However,
in WBIS analysis, users can make additional re-
quirements for the Web site part of WBIS. They
may provide their own opinions and judgments
on layout and display of a Web site and request
to develop the Web site of WBIS according to
their needs (e.g., easy-to-understand and follow)
rather than according to the developer’s need
(e.g., easy-to-implement). To distinguish them
from functional and nonfunctional requirements,
Figure 3.
Dialogue act modeling in WBIS analysis
WBIS analysis with dialogue act modelling approach

Business contexts and states





















WBIS (speaker/hearer)

WBIS developer
creates
Dialogue act modelling
WBIS user
(speaker/

hearer)
Website part

(Dialogue act model)


IS part

Web page

Dialogue
(communication)
Dialogue

act
(obligation
/
function)
Dialogue act

(responsibility/
commitment)
interact
2395
Dialogue Act Modeling
they are called communicational requirements
by this approach. Modeling communicational
requirements can draw a developer’s attention to
the user’s need for the Web site of WBIS at the
early stage of development and avoid the WBIS
FKDQJHVFDXVHGE\DGLI¿FXOWWRXVH:HEVLWHRI
WBIS after development. The following user
concerns about the WBIS Web site are considered
communicational requirements of WBIS:
• Business contexts: They are the ranges of

e-business and information resource man-
agement. In WBIS, they are initiatives and
entrances required by the user for starting
interaction with the Web site. They can be
EXVLQHVVDFWLYLWLHVVXFKDV³FDUIRUVDOH´RU
E X V L QH V V L QG H [H V V X F K D V³F D U V ´ V H H)L J X U H 
Different business contexts may cover similar
things or even another business context. For
example, the car company may want a busi-
QHVVFRQWH[W³FDUIRUVDOH´DQGLWVFXVWRP-
HUVPD\ZDQWDEXVLQHVVFRQWH[W³FDUV´WKDW
LQFOXGHV³FDUIRUVDOH´
• Dialogues: They are the conversations
preferable to the user in a business context.
The user wants to use them to communicate
with the system interactively on the Web site
and will consider them visible feedbacks
from the system in a business context. For
example, after car buyers enter into the
EXVL QHVVF RQW H [W³FDUV´WKH V\VW H PG LVSOD\V
WKHGLDORJXH³FDUOLVW´RQWKHVFUHHQDVWKH
IHHGEDFNUHVXOWRIWKHGLDORJXHDFW³RIIHU
car” demanded by car buyers (see Figure
7). Commitments of the user or the system
VXFKDV³RIIHUFDU´FDQEHLGHQWL¿HGEDVHG
on the dialogues.
7KH EHQH¿WV RI FDSWXULQJ FRPPXQLFDWLRQDO
requirements in WBIS analysis are expected to
be the following:
• The Web site of WBIS developed based

on communicational requirements should
be user-centered and not complicated
and frustrating to use: The research on
the use of the Web has found that errors
occur frequently mainly because users
GRQRWNQRZRUFDQQRW¿QGWKHULJKWZD\
to interact when communicating with the
system. Therefore, it is very important to
make the Web experience as predictable as
possible and to create a predictable Web site
that is understood quickly and easily used
by a user (Lazar & Norcio, 2000). Although
Lazar and Norico (2000) pointed out that,
in fact, the Web experience is inherently
unpredictable due to the nature of the Web
itself, we still can try to predict a user’s Web
experience by understanding the user’s way
of interacting with WBIS from the user’s
point of view. This at least can reduce er-
rors caused by a user’s misunderstanding of
interaction. A successful Web site of WBIS
must offer contents needed by users, and
the content must be found easily by inter-
active communication. Otherwise, it will
leave users frustrated and possibly unable
to achieve their goals (Preece et al., 1994).
This requires the developer to understand
communicational requirements deeply.
• Recognition of feedbacks displayed on the
computer screen as dialogue: Dix, Finlay,

Abowd, and Beale (2004) emphasize that
interactivity is at the heart of all modern
interfaces and is important at many levels.
Interaction between user and computer is
affected by social and organizational fac-
tors. Awareness of the factors can help to
limit any negative effects on the interaction.
%DU¿HOGVDLG “The system’s role in
the interaction is to provide the user with
information about the interaction. This
information, this communication between
the system and the user, is feedback and it
is what helps the user build up the model
that the designer wants to build up. …
Feedback is new media means keeping the
2396
Dialogue Act Modeling
user informed about what is going on” (p.
+HGH¿QHGWKUHHIHHGEDFNV
{ Feedback after: The user should know
that the system heard their request and
is doing it. When the request is done,
the user should be made aware of this
and see the results.
{ Feedback before: The system should
tell the user what will be going on if the
user takes a particular action. The user
must be told what actions he or she can
initiate, and it should be clear how he
or she can initiate them.

{ Feedback during: The user should
EHQRWL¿HGDERXWZKDWLVKDSSHQLQJ
when it has started happening, how it is
progressing, and when it is expected to
¿QLVKGXULQJJHQHUDWLRQRIIHHGEDFN
Capture of communicational requirements
helps to identify the feedbacks expected by the
user for the business context and decide what the
system needs to do for them. It has been known
that some modeling approaches and techniques
for traditional IS analysis, such as use case model-
ing, object modeling, and behavior modeling with
80/WKH8QL¿HG0RGHOLQJ/DQJXDJH%RRFK
et al., 2005), can be adopted in order to capture
and specify functional and nonfunctional require-
ments for the IS part of WBIS (Conallen, 2003).
However, none of them can help to capture and
specify communicational requirements for the
Web site part of WBIS. Therefore, we investigated
a wide range of approaches and found that the
Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962) in the social
science could help do this because dialogue means
speech to act. According to the theory, a dialogue
between a user and a system means one or more
dialogue acts in an e-business society. This can
help to analyze the role of the user and the system
as well as user commitments and system obliga-
tions. In WBIS design and implementation, a
system obligation may mean a function of WBIS,
and a user commitment may mean a precondi-

tion of functions. Navigation structures and user
interfaces should be designed and implemented
based on communicational requirements.
(b) Speech Act Theory and Interactive
Communication Analysis
Although there are many theoretical frameworks
developed by researchers in social science for con-
versation analysis, the language/action perspective
KDVEHHQPRVWLQÀXHQWLDOLQKXPDQFRPSXWHULQWHU-
action and applied as a social approach for analysis
and design of computer-mediated conversations
for people interacting with each other (Preece et
al., 1994). For example, Winograd (1988) showed
an approach that used this perspective to view
languages as a means by which people act. This
perspective often refers to the speech act theory
GH¿QHGLQLWLDOO\E\$XVWLQIRUGHVFULELQJ
the phenomenon in a social society that people
use speech to act; for example, demanding or
promising something. The theory was expanded
E\6HDUOHZLWKWKHGH¿QLWLRQRIDVSHHFK
act with four different subacts:
1.
Utterance acts with uttering words.
2.
Prepositional acts with referring and predi-
cating.
3.
Illocutionary acts with stating, questioning,
commanding, and promising.

4.
Perlocutionary acts with causing an effect
on hearers.
The expanded theory considers an utterance
as the speech within each turn (person A says
something, then person B says something, then
person A says something again, etc.) Often, the
utterances of the conversation can be grouped
into pairs: a question and an answer or a state-
ment and an agreement. An utterance should be
XQGHUVWDQGDEOHWRWKHOLVWHQHUDQGVKRXOGEHVXI¿-
ciently unambiguous for the listener to understand
(Dix et al., 2004). This means that the speaker
2397
Dialogue Act Modeling
should be aware of the model of understanding
the listener and vice versa.
The speech act theory explains how people in
a society use language for talking about events in
the external world as observers and also for the
communication act within the world as actors in
the society (Agerfalk & Erisson, 2004). In com-
SXWHUVRFLHW\,6ZDVHYHQGH¿QHGDVODQJXDJH
systems in general used to perform communica-
tion acts (Goldkuhl & Lyytinen, 1982). Current
modeling approaches based on this theory include
COMMODIOUS (Holm & Ljungberg, 1996), con-
version-for-action schema (Winograd & Flores,
1987), DEMO (Dietz, 2001), and action-oriented
conceptual modeling (Agerfalk & Erisson, 2004).

Application of these approaches in IS analysis has
SURYHG WKDWWKLV WKHRU\FDQ VXSSRUW VLJQL¿FDQW
understanding of the pragmatic aspects of the
system. This success has encouraged us to use
this theory in WBIS analysis, because WBIS also
uses a language on a Web site for interactive com-
munication and other things such as demanding
and promising something.
However, current modeling approaches ob-
serve interaction between users and IS in the
developer’s perspective and regard it as input/
RXWSXW RI WKH V\VWHP VXFK DV GDWD ÀRZV DQG
communication acts as data transformations
internal through different media such as a com-
SXWHUVFUHHQ6XFKREVHUYDWLRQLVQRWVXI¿FLHQWLQ
WBIS modeling because WBIS in general not only
deals with data transformations but also provides
business information and customer services. The
interactive communication between the user and
: %, 6 L VPRUH W KD Q G DW D ÀR Z V E HFD X V H LW FD Q P H D Q 
RWKHUWKLQJVVXFKDVLQIRUPDWLRQÀRZVHJFDU
OLVWRUJDQL]DWLRQÀRZVHJVDOHVGHSDUWPHQW
DQGVHUYLFHÀRZVHJEX\FDU7KHGLDORJXHDFW
modeling approach treats the interactive com-
PXQLFDWLRQDV GLDORJXHV,W GH¿QHV DVHTXHQFH
RIGLDORJXHVDVDGLDORJXHÀRZDQGDVSHHFKDFW
DVDGLDORJXHDFW,QDGGLWLRQLWGH¿QHVWKHIRXU
VXEDFWVWKDWUHIHUWRWKHRQHVGH¿QHGE\6HDUOH
(1969):
1.

Utterance act is production and commu-
nication of physical written messages such
DV ³EX\ FDU´ GLVSOD\HG RQ WKH FRPSXWHU
screen.
2.
Prepositional act is perfo r med by an object
VXFKDV³FDU´DQGLWVDWWULEXWHV
3.
Illocutionary act is performed by a business
VHUYLFHDFWLYLW\VXFKDV³VHOOFDU´
4.
Perlocutionary act VXFK DV ³EX\ FDU´ LV
performed by the hearer. It has the effect
on the business context.
The problem with the language/action per-
spective in practice is that conversations may be
vague and may result in misunderstandings and
promises failure. But Flores (1988) suggested that
people would be better at communicating with
each other if the types of commitments were made
explicit to all parties involved during conversa-
tions. This means that if the modeling approach
can make commitments of the user and the system
explicitly during interaction, misunderstanding
can be reduced. The dialogue act modeling ap-
proach thus aims to capture and specify such
commitments and make them visible on the WBIS
Web site for avoiding misunderstanding and for
increasing usability.
(c) Dialogue Act Model and Dialogue

Act Diagram
The approach provided a dialogue act diagram
(see Table 1) along with the dialogue act modeling
technique as a notation representing the dialogue
act model. In WBIS analysis, this diagram is
produced while building the dialogue act model
for the Web site part of WBIS. It provides a com-
munication medium in order for the analyst and
the user to decide communicational requirements
for the Web site of WBIS.
2398
Dialogue Act Modeling
(d) Impact of Dialogue Act Model on
User Interface Design in WBIS Design
Communication requirements have an impact on
design of WBIS user interface (Web site), which
often is regarded as a whole of the system by the
user (Dix et al., 2004). The user’s metal model
of IS has a critical impact on the user’s ability to
use systems effectively (Szewczak & Snodgrass,
2002). Different users may have different ideas
(user model) on how to reach the goal of their tasks
within a business context, and ideally, the WBIS
analyst should consider different alternatives of
communicational requirements in dialogue act
modeling. Then, the analyst should let the user
compare the alternatives and choose the ones most
appropriate for him or her. However, the problem
with system modeling is that user modeling tech-
niques have been developed in order to instantiate

user models as part of computer systems, but as
yet, there are no usable conceptual user modeling
techniques (Preece et al., 1994). Most user model-
ing relies on checklists of user characteristics but
QRWRQLGHQWL¿FDWLRQRIXVHUUHVSRQVLELOLWLHVDQG
commitments in use of the system. The dialogue
act modeling aims to support user modeling by
visualizing different scenarios of interaction
explicitly using dialogue act diagrams. The user
and the developer then can discuss the model
together in front of the diagrams.
Dialogue act modeling also intends to provide a
basis for designing user interface elements such as
dialogue boxes displayed on the computer screen.
Johnson (2000) has explored the problem with the
current graphic user interface design in his book:
³$ SDUWLFXODU DQQR\LQJ GHVLJQ HUURU RQHRIWHQ
sees in this is dialog boxes that provide no way
out other than a direction that users do not really
want to go in. Often dialog boxes only seem to
trap users and none of the choices is what the user
wants” (p. 316). Such dialog boxes force users to
stop thinking about their task and, instead, force
7DEOH1RWDWLRQDQGGH¿QLWLRQRIGLDORJXHDFWGLDJUDP
2399
Dialogue Act Modeling
XVHUVWR¿QGRXWKRZWRXVHWKHV\VWHP$ZD\
of solving this problem is to display the dialogue
act diagram on the Web site to assist the user in
building up an appropriate scenario of interaction

and dialogue box, as shown in Figure 4, when
the user does not know what they exactly want
and expect.
It has been recognized that developers need to
be aware of a user’s cognitive needs and cultural
conditioning (Preece et al., 1994). If the user in-
terface of WBIS is built based on the developer
model but not based on the user model, then the
XVHUZLOOKDYHJUHDWGLI¿FXOWLHVLQOHDUQLQJDQG
using the system, which can result in a lot of
frustration, time-wasting, and error-making. The
dialogue act modeling is to build a Web site model
acceptable to both users and developers.
Part Three: Object Modeling/
Behavior Modeling for Building
Object Model/Behavior Model for
the IS Part of WBIS
In general, WBIS is currently designed and
implemented using object-oriented technology
in WBIS development with the descriptive view
(Conallen, 2003). Therefore, in WBIS analysis,
once the dialogue act model is created as the
VSHFL¿FDWLRQRIWKHSUDJPDWLFDVSHFWVRID:%,6
it can be used as input to the object model and
WKHEHKDYLRUPRGHOWKDWDUHWKHVSHFL¿FDWLRQRI
the semantic aspects of the same system, as il-
lustrated in Figure 5.
Object modeling focuses on business entities
(business objects) involved in business contexts
and components (system objects) for design and

implementation of the system. It is to build an
object model for the IS part of WBIS that shows
the static structure of the system. A class diagram
in UML (Booch et al., 2005) is used to represent
this model through this mdoeling (see the example
in Figure 9).
Behavior modeling focuses on behavior of
business entities and components in the object
model. It is to build a behavior model for the IS
part of WBIS that shows interactions between
objects as well as object states in the system.
Sequence diagrams and statecharts in UML
(Booch et al., 2005; Harel, 1987) are used as the
notation to represent this model; the sequence
diagram shows the interactions between objects
with messages; the statechart describes the states
of individual objects in the system (see examples
in Figures 10 and 11).
Figure 4. Dialogue act modeling for the Web site part of WBIS
Dialogue act modelling
Developer model
H ow can WBIS communicate with users interactively in dialogue within a
business context?
W hat dose the user need to do in effective dialogue within a business
context?
User model
H ow can the user communicate with WBIS interactively in dialogue
within a business context?”
W hat are WBIS expected to do and what users themselves intend
to do in effective dialogue within a business context?

Website model of WBIS (dialogue act model)
W hat should WBIS do as expected by the user?”
H ow does WBIS interact with the user in the way preferred by the user?”
Developer model
• How canWBIScommunicate with users interactivelyin dialogue within
a business context?
• What does the user need to do in effective dialogue within a business
context?
User model
• Howcan theusercommunicatewithWBISinteractivelyin dialogue
within a business context?
• What areWBIS expectedtodo andwhatusers themselvesintend
to do in effective dialogue within a business context?
Web site model of WBIS (dialogue act model)
• What should
WBIS
do
as
expected by the
user?
• How does WBIS interact with the user in the way preferred by the user?
2400
Dialogue Act Modeling
Part Four: The Analysis Process
The dialogue act modeling approach provides an
analysis process for modeling WBIS in WBIS
development. The process will be demonstrated
using examples.
THE ANALYSIS PROCESS WITH
THE APPROACH

The analysis process with the dialogue act model-
ing approach consists of four stages.
Stage One: Build a Dialogue Act
Model for the Web Site of WBIS With
the Pragmatic View
This stage includes the following two steps:
• Step 1: (OLFLWEXVLQHVVFRQWH[WVVXFKDV³FDUV´
DQG ³FDU VHDUFK´ DQGVWDNHKROGHUV XVHUV
VXFKDV³FXVWRPHU´DQG³FDUFRPSDQ\´ZKR
may use the system in future. Consider the
following for identifying users and capturing
business contexts:
{ For whom is this system being devel-
oped?
{ Who are the intended users?
{ What roles do these users play? (Dif-
ferent roles imply different criteria and
needs within the business context.)
{ What are the business goals in the user
perspective?
{ What do these users expect to do with
or get within the business context?
Business contexts and users (called
actors
of the business context) and their connec-
tion are explicitly described in a business
context map provided by the approach (see
the example shown in Figure 6).
Analysis in this step focuses on the business
contexts and the user need for the Web site

of the system. It should show the business
contexts that really interest the user.
• Step 2: For each of the business contexts,
describe what dialogues with the Web site
are expected by actors when they work in
Figure 5. Object modeling and behavior modeling in WBIS analysis
WBIS analysis with dialogue act modelling approach
WBIS developer
creates
Object modelling and behaviour modelling
WBIS
in
p
ut
Object model for IS part
creates
Dialogue act
modelling
Dialogue act model for
website part
Dialogue
Dialo
g
ue act
S
p
eaker/hearer
State of business context
Business context
Behaviour mo

del for IS
part
Class/object
Operation
Attribute
Messa
g
e
Object state
Resource
State transition
2401
Dialogue Act Modeling
this business context online. A user-centered
language should be used to name dialogues
and dialogue acts in this step, as it is critical
to making an easy-to-use Web site for WBIS.
It must be the language (words and images)
that the user can understand simply and
quickly (Cato, 2001). In this case, a business
language containing business terminolo-
gies may be an appropriate user-centered
language, because business concepts (e.g.,
buy and sell) and properties (e.g., customer)
described in such language should be accept-
able and understandable to users worldwide
who speak different languages but share a
common business language in global busi-
ness.
a. Identify dialogues between the Web

site and actors by asking actors:
¾ What things/terms/phrases do they
want to see on the Web site?
¾ What conversations do they want
to take with the system?
¾ What feedbacks do they expect to
see on the Web site?
¾ What do they like or dislike in the
current way of working? What are
their preferable ways of working?
+RZVKRXOGWKH:HEVLWHEH¿WWHG
into those ways in their view?
¾ What skills and knowledge do they
have? Are they motivated to learn
and use the Web site, and how much
do they like to learn?
¾ Communication requirements
must be captured from all the ac-
tors in this step, because they can
have different points of view on
dialogues.
It is important for the company to
determine the dialogues they hope
to take with the user in the business
context and vice versa. Dialogues
DUHFRQQHFWHGE\GLDORJXHÀRZVLQ
a dialogue act diagram, as shown
in Figure 7, which was produced
IRUWKHEXVLQHVVFRQWH[W³FDUV´LQ
Figure 6. Actors are described as

the speakers/hearers of the dia-
logues.
b. Identify dialogue acts by asking ac
-
tors:
¾ What problems do they want the
system to solve?
¾ What do they want to do along the
dialogues?
¾ W h a t f e e d b a c k d o t h e y e x p e c t t o r e -
ceive when having a dialogue with
the system? What action will they
take when seeing the feedback?
Dialogue acts are recorded in the same
dialogue act diagram in connection with the
dialogues, as shown in Figure 7. Hearers of
Figure 6. Business context map
Cars Car search
Car for sale
Car for
hire
Company
services
Business context,
the start dialogue
in the dialogue act
diagram
Actor
Connection
De

p
artments
Contact
Customer
Car Hirer
Car Bu
y
er
Car
Com
p
an
y
Car Company
Car
Com
p
an
y
Customer
2402
Dialogue Act Modeling
dialogues are the performers of these dia-
logue acts. Each dialogue may be connected
with many dialogue acts if it has different
hearers in the business context.
c. Show states of the business context
(effects of performance of the dialogue
acts)
The dialogue acts have an effect on the

business context, and they can change
WKHVWDWHVRILW)RUH[DPSOHWKH³VHOO
car” dialogue act made the state of the
EXVLQHVVFRQWH[W³FDUV´FKDQJHGIURP
³RIIHUHG´WR³RUGHULQJ´DVLOOXVWUDWHG
in Figure 7.
Table 2 summarizes what Figure 7
means to the Web site of the system in
WKH³FDUV´EXVLQHVVFRQWH[W)LJXUH
is a user interface tree that shows how
this dialogue act model can be the in-
put to the design and help design user
interfaces and navigation structures in
the user’s perspective.
Figure 7. Dialogue act diagram for the business context “cars”
Car Buyer
WBIS
Cars
Offer car
Car list
Buy car
Order car
Sell car
Demand
car
Car Buyer
Car Buyer
WBIS
Order details
Order form

WBIS
WBIS
Payment
details
Payment form
Car Buyer
e-Bank
Pay
order
Demand
payment
Process
payment
Transfer
cash
Delivery
Clear payment
Payment
confirmation
WBIS
Car
Demand
deliver
y
Car Buyer
WBIS
Delivery
confirmation
Offered
Ordering

Paying
Delivering
Delivered
Or
dered
Paid
Complete
sale
Car
Supplier
Car
Supplier
Deliver
car
2403
Dialogue Act Modeling
{precondition} Dialogue
(meaning)
Speaker-Hearer Dialogue act
performed
by hearer
Resource State of
business
context
{} CarsZDQWWR¿QGDFDU Car Buyer-WBIS Offer car Offered
{Offer car} Car list (promise to
offer cars)
WBIS-Buyer Demand car
{Demand car}Buy car (want to
own a car)

Car Buyer-WBIS Sell car Ordering
{Sell car}Order form (demand
order details)
WBIS- Car Buyer Order car
{Order car} Order details
(promise to buy car)
Car Buyer-WBIS Demand
payment
Ordered
{Demand payment} Payment
form (want to get pay)
WBIS- Car Buyer Pay order Paying
{Pay order} Payment details
(promise to pay)
Car Buyer-WBIS Process
payment
{Process payment} Clear
payment (want to get cash)
WBIS-e-Bank Transfer
money
{Transfer cash} Payment
FRQ¿UPDWLRQVWDWHSD\PHQW
accepted)
e-Bank-WBIS Demand
delivery
Paid
{Demand delivery} Delivery
(want to deliver car)
WBIS-Car Supplier Deliver car
{Deliver car} Delivery

FRQ¿UPDWLRQVWDWHGHOLYHU\GRQH
WBIS Complete car
sale
Car Delivered
Table 2. The business context “cars”
Figure 8. User interface tree—hierarchy of business contexts and dialogues
x Car buyer wants to
find a car
x Car buyer wants to
buy a car
x Car buyer orders a
car
x Car buyer pays
order, e-bank
transfers cash, car
supplier delivers
car
…
User responsibility /
commitment
User action on
computer screen
Hierarchy of business contexts
with dialogues in WBIS
Cars
Car for sale
Car search
Order form
Payment form
Buy car (part of the Car for sale

business context)
Car search (nested business context)
clicks on
selects
fills
com
p
lete
s
etc.
The start dialogue in Figure 6
Dialogues in the
Cars business con-
text in Figure 7