In our agile programming case study, we have two corporate goals, but one of them (learn Ruby on Rails) only drives constraints, not requirements. The other goal is to make it easier for people to find and read great content in our niche. This makes the documentation of goal-driven use […]
APR: Corporate Goals
Corporate Goals for the Product We have two corporate goals for our agile project. One of them directly drives the features and functionality, and the other one is a driver of a constraint on the implementation approach. Both types of goal are relevant. A process that relies on structured requirements […]
The Difference Between Use Cases and Test Cases
People who are new to software, requirements, or testing often ask “What’s the difference between a use case and a test case?” This article answers that question, by building on earlier articles about use cases and use case scenarios. At the soundbite level, each use case has one or more scenarios, and each use case scenario would lead to the creation of one or more test cases.
Free BPMN Stencils for Visio 2002
We created a series of Visio 2003 stencils last September to support our series of articles on BPMN. Anthony Britton has created a Visio 2002 version of the stencils for people who do not have Visio 2003 (or Visio 2007).
Business Analyst Profit Center
Kevin Brennan recently posted his presentation from BA World Toronto (hat tip to Ryan). It’s a great presentation, with compelling imagery. Kevin raises an interesting point – are BA’s doomed to obsolescence? Kevin cites outsourcing and agile as two developments that might make BA’s irrelevant. With outsourcing, your company risks […]
How To Start The Use Case Process For Agile Software Development
One of the goals of agile software development is to deliver value quickly and iteratively. One of the most effective ways to begin the software development process is with use cases. To deliver with agility, you start with the most valuable use case, bang it out, and then move on to the next most valuable use case. How do you know which use case is the most valuable if you haven’t defined all the use cases first?
Three Types of Requirements Gathering
There are many different activities that are a form of requirements gathering. So many that it can be difficult to determine which approach to use in what circumstance. By classifying requirements gathering into three different types of activities we can simplify the choices.
UML Statecharts and Documenting Business Rules
In yesterday’s article we compared use cases and UML statecharts as tools for discovering business rules. James Taylor asked a question about how we would document those rules, and then followed up my comment response with an article about business rules and RUP. In this article we move the conversation slightly forward – recognizing that we’re slowly entering the ocean of business process management.
Use Case vs. UML Statechart – Business Rules
What is the better requirements management model for capturing business rules? The use case, or the UML statechart? In this article, we explore how customer orders are submitted and processed, and contrast how use cases and statecharts expose and document business requirements and business rules.