Resources

Use Cases - The Ultimate Guide …this guide describes how to apply use cases in an agile and scalable fashion. It builds on the current state of the art to present an evolution of the use-case technique that we call Use-Case 2.0. The goal is to provide you with a foundation to help you get the most out of your use cases; one that is not only applicable for small co-located agile teams but also large distributed teams, outsourcing, and complex multi-system developments.

Key Takeaways Use Case 2.0 expand on the ideas embodied in user stories Some up-front design is needed in all software development projects For any product you need the skeleton system that has the key requirements embodied in it early on Any system should be able to be represented by between 10 and 20 key use cases

In this first of a new series of blog articles, author Roly Stimson discusses how Use-Case slices are a simple but powerful technique to identify and prioritize small increments of releasable value and how these can be split (if and when needed) into smaller items that you can independently prioritize, schedule, build, test and demonstrate.

Use-Case 2.0 brings together the lightness of user stories with the power of modeling, into a single agile requirements management framework. Learn how to quickly and simply build a use-case model, and prepare use cases in an agile fashion. This online eLearning course will equip learners with the skills and techniques necessary to effectively elicit, communicate, and manage their requirements using use cases.

In the second of this Use Cases in Practice series of blog articles, author Roly Stimson discusses how a use case model provides a simple, big, visible picture that provides critical value context, which represents a powerful tool that can be used as part of Scrum sprint reviews to ensure that the team and the stakeholders reflect meaningfully on what has been achieved in the context of the overall solution goals and value, and adjust future work objectives, priorities and plans accordingly.

In this first of a new series of blog articles, author Roly Stimson discusses how Use-Case slices are a simple but powerful technique to identify and prioritize small increments of releasable value and how these can be split (if and when needed) into smaller items that you can independently prioritize, schedule, build, test and demonstrate.

Use-Case adoption is growing again: In this interview 'Use Cases and its role in Agile Software Development' by Blueprint Systems, Dr. Ivar Jacobson explains how Use-Case 2.0 includes everything important about user stories, but offer significantly more for larger systems, larger teams, and more complex and demanding development projects than user stories alone. They are as lightweight as user stories but can also scale in a smooth and structured way to incorporate as much detail as needed. Most importantly, they drive and connect many other aspects of software development.

Adam Lacombe from BluePrint sat down with Ivar Jacobson, the father of component architecture, aspect-oriented software development, UML, RUP, and a multitude of other principles that have shaped the current software development landscape, to discuss his book Use-Case 2.0 and the role of use cases in Agile development practices. Use cases, as argued by Jacobson, “include the techniques that are provided by user stories, but offer significantly more for larger systems, larger teams, and more complex and demanding development projects than user stories alone. They are as lightweight as user stories but can also scale in a smooth and structured way to incorporate as much detail as needed. Most importantly, they drive and connect many other aspects of software development.”

Use cases have been around for almost 30 years as a requirements approach and have been part of the inspiration for more-recent techniques such as user stories. Now the inspiration has flown in the other direction. Use-Case 2.0 is the new generation of use-case-driven development—light, agile, and lean—inspired by user stories and the agile methodologies Scrum and Kanban. Use-Case 2.0 has all the popular values from the past—not just supporting requirements, but also architecture, design, test, and user experience—and it is instrumental in business modeling and software reuse.