Saturday, May 30, 2009

Significance of Use Case Modeling

Gatherspace has recently provided new functionality that allows customers to turn their use cases into a use case model. Since the release, while many customers have enjoyed this functonality, we have also had many people asknig us what the benefits are?



First off, if you haven't seen the example, you can click the link below to see what it looks like.



Here is a brief summary of why having a use case is so helpful.

1) The use case model puts into perspective the relationship between the actors and the use cases. Often times the use cases by themselves can confuse people as to what the context is until you group all of the use cases together.



2) Having a contextual view of the system at the highest level is necessary before you can drill down into specific use cases. Many systems have so many actors so understanding the context of all actors together is helpful.



3) Once the context is understood, you can then view the use cases in a visual metaphor which is good before discussing each use case. Many people will get their "a-ha" moment when looking at the use case model, rather than at the specific use cases alone.



For some people, the use case model may not be as beneficial. But, it's there for you if you want to try and explore.