MAY 11, 2011

WRITING USE CASES IN AN AGILE WORLD

KARL O ’BRIENS E N I O R S O L U T I O N S E N G I N E E R

B L U E P R I N T S Y S T E M S

BVUGBlueprint Virtual Users Group

Introduction

Karl O’Brien Senior Solutions Engineer with Blueprint

working with the North East team 30+ Years Industry experience Certified SCRUM Master Experiences from being a Coder to

Development Manager Last 10 years focused on Requirements

Agenda

Use Cases ARE Agile…..No, really !!

Agile Use Cases in Four Steps

Step 1: Start with Actors, Goals and Descriptions Step 2: Write On DemandStep 3: Write Effective StepsStep 4: Adapt the Level of Precision

Use Cases ARE Agile…..No, really !!

Are Use Cases Agile – The Ugly Cousin?Agile is an Attitude and an Approach

Are Use Cases Agile? – Wrong Question

Use Cases ARE Agile…..No, really !!

Actors, Goals and Descriptions

Who needs to use the thing we are about to build?Why do they need to use it?

Actors, Goals and Descriptions

Create your first set of Use Cases

Write a short description for each – Story Format The [actor name] wants to [goal of use case] so that [reason for wanting to

achieve that goal] The guest user wants to create an account so that they can access the

features available to registered users.Review Descriptions with Stakeholders

Write On Demand

Less is More – Don’t do everything up frontPrioritize Use Cases – Next SprintReview with DevelopersKnow when you have enough detail

Write Effective Steps

Main Success Scenario – Be concise

Write Effective Steps

Types of Steps

Keep the writing lively

Kind of Step ExampleSystem provides information to the actor

System displays the search results

System prompts the actor System asks member to accept invitation

System does work on the actors behalf

System sends request to payment processor

Actor makes a choice Member accepts invitationActor provides information to the system

Customer enters payment information

Write Effective Steps

Omit details like:

The User Interface The format of the data being passed Business rules and formulas Performance (and other non-functional) requirements

If you do need to document such details, use the Use Case as a hub and hang the details off the use case, don’t imbed it into the steps (Traceability).

Adapt the Level of Precision

Refrain from using Use Case TemplatesBe flexible about precision

Summary

Use Cases CAN be AgileDon’t just write detail for the sake of writing itReview, review, review

Beauty of not using Agile, is the surprise of finding out the project is failing after spending 80% of the budget.

Q&A

Thank you for your attention.

I’d be happy to take questions at this time.