Use Case Essentials
(course code BANU1)

Overview

Use cases are a highly effective tool for gathering requirements for software development. There is confusion in the application of use cases, and their most effective usage. Our course demystifies use cases by translating their theory into practice. It helps participants learn the needed concepts in business terms and by putting those concepts into direct application. Add to your requirements-gathering repertoire and set the stage for later translation of requirements into software-friendly formats. The course covers the fundamentals and reinforces them with several in-depth workshops using a comprehensive case study. Leave class with the confidence to gather requirements using use case scenarios and activity diagrams. Participants will gain new skills and confidence that they can gather more complete and thorough requirements.

Course Objectives

By the end of this short course, participants will be able to:

• Define the major components of use case models using the Unified Modeling Language (UML):
  
  • Actors;
  • Use cases;
  • Use case diagram;
  • Use case flow of events.
• Develop a use case diagram to communicate the system scope;
• Describe use cases with a narrative flow of events;
• Develop primary path scenarios to describe the routine processing;
• Document alternate paths for exceptions;
• Learn how Activity Diagrams differ from Process Maps and the advantages of using them;
• Develop Activity Diagrams to chart the scenarios;
• Describe generalization, extend and include relationships.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for business analysis, business experts, and systems analysts.

Prerequisites

This course is intended for IT professionals, business clients and project managers who want to develop software applications quickly and with minimal change.

Course Content

This course covers:

• Use Case Overview:
  
  • Requirements;
  • How use cases fit into the process;
  • Benefits;
  • Use case basic elements;
  • How use cases aid in requirements definition;
  • Pitfalls to avoid.
• Use Case Diagrams:
  
  • Use case models;
  • Use case steps;
  • Why it is important to understand the system scope (boundary box);
  • Introduction to case study;
  • Deciding how much to include in the system scope/exercise;
  • Actors/exercise;
  • Use cases/exercise;
  • Linking actors and use cases/exercise.
• Describing use cases through a narrative flow of events:
  
  • What is a flow of events;
  • How to develop a primary path - pre- and post-conditions, main flow, alternate flows, exception flow);
  • Tips;
  • Documenting use cases.
• Activity Diagrams:
  
  • Discussion: What is an Activity Diagram?;
  • Activity Diagrams;
  • Exercise: diagramming the primary path;
  • Decision diamonds and guard conditions;
  • Looping in Use Cases;
  • Exercise: diagramming alternate paths;
  • Workshop.
• Introduction to Use Case Relationships:
  
  • Generalization relationship and example;
  • Extend relationship and example;
  • Include relationship and example;
  • Use Case Packages.
• Course Summary

Certification Exams

There are no exams with this course.

Course Fees

We offer a range of delivery styles and packages for this course. Please go to the Packages and Inclusions page to review the inclusions provided with each package.

Professional Development

Successful completion of this course may entitle you to credits in various professional development programmes:

• For AIPM CPD points, check here;
• For PMI PDUs, check here (see page 11).

Follow-on Courses

We recommend that delegates who complete this course should proceed with our Use Case Modelling course.