How to Write Good Use Cases for Useful Business Analysis
A use case details a flow of events that are executed in order to accomplish some business task. A use case can be as simple as documenting how a help ticket gets escalated or as complex as defining how a customer gets charged for shipping parts of an order to multiple addresses.
The term “actor” is used to define a role that a person or some object plays in executing a use case. The actor might be a Customer Service Representative who is processing a refund request, or a server that processes credit card transactions.
Writing usable use cases is an excellent way to derive functional requirements and to the software development process as a whole.
Often times new analysts, or people finding themselves in an analyst’s role with no training or experience, often wonder what should go into a good use case. Although some organizations may have strict requirements that conflict with the information presented in this article, you can safely assume that you’ll cover all of the normal essential elements if you follow these tips:
– Use Descriptive Names
The name...