CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete) is an acronym used to refer to a set of mundane, important, and indirect (if not implicit) requirements or use cases. To create a report on orders, you have to first create the orders and retrieve them. Further, the ability to update (edit) and delete […]
Use case series: UML 2.0 use case diagrams
The UML way to organize and manage use cases. Pros Provides a high level view of the use cases in a system, solution, or application. Clearly shows which actors perform which use cases, and how use cases combine to form business processes Cons Presents an “inside-out†view of the sytem. […]
Stay away from my users!
We’ve dealt with user representatives who believed that they knew better than the users. We’ve dealt with people afraid to let consultants talk to the users, because the consultants might mis-set expectations and create bad will when the development team fails to deliver. We’ve dealt with over-protective information-hogs, who don’t want to telegraph their moves, for risk that they might lose control of the project, or lose credit for the project to someone else. How do we get past these barriers?
Use Case Series: Formal Use Case
This is the classic use case as described by someone who talks about Software Engineering. All of the training classes (other than Agile classes) that I’ve been to teach formal use case development as a component in a system of requirements management.
Use Case Series: Introduction
Use cases can be difficult to talk about, because they immediately invoke so many different preconceptions and prejudices. High school English teachers know that some words aren’t just words – they are symbolic, and represent ideas. They had us write essays like “Who do I think is a hero†and […]
Getting Past The ‘Suck Threshold’
Kathy Sierra writes a great post in her blog, Creating Passionate Users, that talks about the requirement to make things interesting. The driving objective is to accelerate the user adoption curve – which Kathy calls the Kick Ass Curve. Any user is initially forced to focus on the tool, and […]