Use Cases for Business Analysts

Use cases are a set of actions or event steps typically defining the interactions between a role (known in the Unified Modelling Language as an "actor") and a system to achieve a goal. They are more detailed than user stories and often represent a complete functional requirement.

Structure: Use cases are often written in a narrative form and include a lot of detail, which can include the main success scenario, extensions (or alternative flows), preconditions, and postconditions.

Focus: They concentrate on the interaction between the user and the system, describing the sequence of events that need to happen to deliver value.

Traceability: Use cases are excellent for tracing requirements through to the design, implementation, and testing phases because they are more detailed.

User Interaction: They help in understanding how the user will interact with the system to

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BA Perspective

From a BA’s perspective, both user stories and use cases are about understanding and documenting requirements in a way that is clear, concise, and accessible to all stakeholders, including developers, testers, project managers, and business stakeholders. -

Communication: They serve as a communication tool that helps ensure everyone involved in the project has a common understanding of what is to be achieved.

Scope Management: They help in managing scope as they define the boundaries of the functionality and focus on user-driven value.

Risk Reduction: By clearly defining expectations and interactions, they reduce the risk of project overruns and scope creep.

User-Centric Design: Both encourage a user-centric approach to development, which increases the likelihood of user acceptance and satisfaction. In summary, user stories and use cases are not just

formalities; they are crucial for a BA to ensure that the development team delivers a product that meets user needs and business goals effectively. They are about telling the story of the product from conception to delivery, ensuring that the narrative is clear, the journey is well-defined, and the conclusion is successful.

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