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I thought I'd better expand on this Use Case thread. As Kathleen Padova
said, "Use Case Scenarios" is a new buzzword (phrase). (Thank heavens it's
not yet a TLA - [three letter acronym] ! ) Anyone using UML or the new
iterative development process for Object Oriented design will have run
across use cases.
Why they're important to technical writers is that they are _extremely_
useful in capturing program functions which the user will act upon. (In UML
jargon, an "actor" is often a user.) Use cases are also the first real
external representation of the product design, particularly if the
developers are using a Objectory Modeling tool such as Rational Rose, which
holds the design internally much longer than we're used to.
Use cases begin to show us in concrete terms what the user interface
requirements will be. From use cases we can start to develop user
documentation and help files.
The trick, of course, is to capture the use cases effectively. Who should
write them? When the developers get to the use case diagramming phase of
development they model the use cases with their handy little OMT tool. BUT,
they aren't so good at putting words with the pictures. Use case
descriptions aren't literature, they sound more like a 10-year-old's essay,
but they have to be complete. Holes in use cases can end up as holes in the
interface or the product. (That's a VBT = very bad thing.)
Right now, I'm catching up on the weaknesses in our use case capturing by
writing them myself. (This is not a particularly effective use of my time,
but I justify it by thinking that good use cases will make documentation
easier for me later.) I have to care about the use cases because we've
committed to iterative manuals and help files that keep pace with the
product development. (It's fun, really.)
I did attend a great presentation at the STC Conference on use cases given
by Mary Nurminen and Leena Rasinaho from Nokia in Finland. I've got a
wonderful template and there are some very helpful websites that deal with
use cases. It would be nice to share stories/techniques with anyone else
who is using them.
Drop me a line if you're interested.
--Beth
Beth Agnew
Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
65 Allstate Parkway, Suite 100 Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9X1 Fax: (905) 513-1419 mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com
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