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Practical Introduction to Use Cases

Training: Image of a delegate writing on paper

Attendees of this course will gain a hands-on introduction to System Use Cases, including Use Case diagrams and scenarios.   They will get a chance to practise the theory during the course, and will be provided with a practical, succinct and useful course manual which they can refer to after the course.

Learning Objectives

After successfully attending and completing the course, delegates will:

  • Know what a Use Case is, and when the technique could be used and applied
  • Identify the likely Use Cases for a systems development project
  • Draw a Use Case diagram
  • Document a Use Case (including a scenario)
  • Understand the differing levels of Use Case scenario that might be used throughout the project lifecycle, differentiating between ‘discovered’, ‘bulleted outline’ and ‘fully described’ use cases
  • Prioritise Use Cases
  • Understand how Use Cases relate to other requirements

Each attendee of the course will receive a copy of the course manual.   The course manual is designed to be a practical and useful ‘aide memoir’ which can be referred to once delegates return to their desks.

Course Duration: 2 days

Course Contents

1. Introduction: What are Use Cases?
Introduction & History: What is a use case and what is a scenario?
Types of Use Case: Business use cases vs system use cases (this course focuses on system use cases)
Requirement Types: How use cases relate to other requirement types (stakeholder, solution & transition requirements)
Use Cases in the Project Lifecycle: Highlighting where use cases are particularly useful
2. Identifying Use Cases
Where to find use cases: Including an overview of the ‘roles and goals’ approach and brainstorming
Naming actors and use cases: Guidance for naming actors and use cases
3. Prioritisation
Prioritising Use Cases: Using the MoSCoW framework
4. Use Case Diagram: Key Concepts
Overview of key concepts: Overview of the key concepts of a use case diagram:
– System Boundary
– Actor
– Use Case
– Association
5. Use Case Description & Scenarios
Introduction to scenarios: Overview of what a scenario is and the difference between a success and failure scenario
Scenarios throughout the lifecycle: Overview of different levels of precision
– Discovered Use Case
– Bulleted Outline
– Fully Described
Writing scenarios: Tips for writing a good use case scenario
Elicitation techniques: Brief overview of relevant elicitation techniques
6. Additional Concepts
Includes: What are includes, and when might they be used?
Extends: What are extends, and when might they be used?
7. Use Cases & Other Requirements
How use cases relate to other requirements: Including the link to business rules, data models, non-functional requirements, corporate standards, user interface requirements etc.
Use case traceability: Types of traceability, how and where to trace.
8. Verification and Validation
Verification: Quality checking
Validation: Gaining approval/sign-off

Who Should Attend

This is an introductory course, and as such no prior knowledge of Use Case theory is required.  It is, however, anticipated that delegates will be practicing BAs with knowledge of general requirements techniques.

Course Endorsement

This course is endorsed by IIBA®.

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Next Steps

Want to run the course for your team?

For more information and to book this course for your organisation please contact us: