Artifact: Business Use Case |
A sequence of actions that a business performs that yields an observable result of value to a particular business actor, or that shows how the business responds to a business event, to yield a business benefit.
Domains: Business Modeling
Purpose
To reach a common understanding of the business behavior To design elements that support the required behavior To plan and assess work To provide input to building systems
Relationships
Fulfilled Slots | [Business Requirements]
Roles | Responsible: Business Analyst | Modified By: Business Analyst
Tasks | Input To: Describe the Business Model a Scenario Model the Business Define the Business | Output From: Define the Business Describe the Business
Description
Main Description | A Business Use Case is an account of a pattern of use in a business, and the effect that use has on the environment (represented by business actors) and on the business itself. The pattern of use can change the way the business responds to future events or interactions. Business Use Cases are useful for any organization that wants to know what value the business provides and how it interacts with its environment. Stakeholders and business analysts use Business Use Cases to describe business processes and to understand the effect of any proposed changes (for example, a merger or a first CRM implementation) on the way the business works. Business Use Cases are also used by system analysts and software architects to understand the way a software system fits into the organization. Test managers use Business Use Cases to provide context for developing test scenarios for software systems. Project managers use Business Use Cases for planning the content of business-modeling iterations and tracking progress. A Business Use Case describes a business process from an external, value-added point of view. Business Use Cases are business processes that cut across organization boundaries, possibly including partners and suppliers, in order to provide value to a stakeholder of the business. A Business Use Case is a process-oriented specification of business behavior in response to the following: interaction between business and business actors significant business events
Brief Outline | A business use case typically includes the following information: Name: The name of the use case Brief Description: A brief description of the role and purpose of the use case Flow of Events: A textual description of what the system does in regard to a use case scenario (not how specific problems are solved by the system). Write the description so that the customer can understand it. The flows can include a basic flow, alternative flows, and subflows. Key scenarios: A textual description of the most important or frequently discussed scenarios Special Requirements: A textual description that collects all of the requirements of the use case that are not considered in the use-case model, but that must be taken care of during design or implementation (for example, non-functional requirements) Preconditions: A textual description that defines a constraint on the system when the use case starts Post-conditions: A textual description that defines a constraint on the system when the use case ends Extension points: A list of locations within the flow of events of the use case at which additional behavior can be inserted by using the extend-relationship From the Eclipse Process Framework 1.5, made available under the Eclipse Public License V1.0.
Tailoring
Impact of not having | Business use cases provide the anchor to making sure any development is in support of some defined value. Not having the business use case increases the risk of failing to tie business improvements to to the desired results.
Representation Options | UML Representation: Use case, stereotyped as <<business use case>>
More Information
Checklists | Use Case
Concepts | Business Use Case
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