Advanced Project Management Series

Use Cases

Janelle Abaoag

Project Insight

Marketing, Public Relations

Janelle.Abaoag@projectinsight.com

www.projectinsight.net

Moderator

Things to Know…

All participants will be on mute

Questions are welcome

Please use the questions box to ask

questions

The moderator will select questions

All questions will be answered today or

by email at info@projectinsight.net

Webinar recording available in the PI Community

Diane C. Altwies, MBA, PMP

CEO, Core Performance Concepts Inc.

Training in project management,

PMP® and CAPM® certification, leadership,

business analysis, agile and six sigma

daltwies@cpconcepts.net

www.coreperformanceconcepts.net

Presenter

PMP® and CAPM® are registered trademarks of the

Project Management Institute

Janice Y. Preston, MBA, CPA, PMP

COO, Core Performance Concepts Inc.

Training in project management,

PMP® and CAPM® certification, leadership,

business analysis, agile and six sigma

jypreston@cpconcepts.net

www.coreperformanceconcepts.net

Presenter

PMP® and CAPM® are registered trademarks of the

Project Management Institute

Who’s on the Call?

Are you:

� A Project Manager without your PMP certification?

� A PMP in the role of a Project Manager?

� A program manager?

� Just looking for ways to use Project Insight more

effectively?

Goals of the Advanced Series

Expand your knowledge of more complex tools and

techniques

Build leadership skills to manage people more effectively

Identify practical ways to begin using advanced

techniques

Explore other methodologies or techniques that enhance

project management competency

Objectives of the Webinar

At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

� Define a Use Case

� Identify the value of Use Cases

� Articulate the pros and cons of using Use Cases within your

organization or department

� Evaluate good and bad examples of Use Cases

� Determine when certain approaches work better than others

Types of Product Documentation

Project Charter

WBS

Business Requirements

Functional Requirements

Non-Functional Requirements

Use Case Diagrams

Use Case Descriptions

Design Documents

Technical Specifications

Test Plans

Training Documentation

Definition

Use Case. An analysis model that

describes the tasks that the system will

perform for actors and the goals that

the system achieves for those actors

along the way..

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge®

(BABOK®)

Use Case Terms

Process

Business Process

Scenario

Workflow

Process Model

4 Components of Requirements

External Agents

Processes or Use Cases

Data

Business Rules

Value of Use Cases

Transforms input (data) into outputs

Processes are more difficult to define than data

Use case diagrams are:

� Simple for stakeholders to review

� Ease the communication

� Not as important as the discussion

Use case descriptions are:

� Great for brainstorming primary and alternative

paths

Pros & Cons of Use Cases

PRO CON

Facilitate brainstormingTime consuming to document & tokeep “simple; Stakeholder time is

required

Helps stakeholders visualize the process

Can be very detailed, especially when multiple paths are defined

Allows for detailed conversations beyond the “happy path”

Does not allow for analyzing Common Elements

Focuses on a process and ALL the activity that it entails.

Combines several requirements components such as data, use case, actors & business rules rather than listing them separately for ease of

implementation, however may cause redundancy

Use Case Diagram

Example – Good Use Case Diagram

Use cases are depicted as ovals

Actors are depicted as stick people

� Actors can be people, organizations, or

systems

Can be used as a non-technical requirement

Can also be used independent of

technology as a “business use case”

Delineates the scope of the requirement

Use Case DescriptionSystem Use Case Description -- Create Membership Card

Use Case ID UC - 3

Use Case Name Create Membership Card

Created By Susan

Date Created 10/1/2010

Actor(s) Membership Card Software; Manager

Description This use case includes the steps a manager needs to perform in order to create the membership card for

the new member

Pre-conditions Member application complete; Credit check complete and approved

Post-conditions Printed membership card

Priority Medium

Frequency of Use Daily

Primary Path New member application is complete and credit check has approved new member

Actor Actions System Responses

1. Manager selects print membership cards from

main menu

1. System lists out all members that have not had

membership cards printed to date

2. Manager can select ALL new members, or a

single new member

2. System previews membership cards to print

3. Manager selects PRINT 3. System prints all membership cards to printer;

marks all new member records to "printed"

4. Manager separates membership cards and mails

to new members

4. No action

Example – Good Use Case Description

A use case description

� Is needed for each diagram

� Is a functional requirement deliverable

� Includes a sequential set of steps that

describe how the software and actors

should interact to achieve a business goal

� Defines the “happy path” and “alternative

paths”

� Defines the action the actor will take and

the way the system should respond

Alternative paths show exception

processing and error conditions

Example – Bad Use Case Execution

Too high level

Don’t involve stakeholder to

brainstorm the “alternative paths”

Mixing use cases within other types

of requirements documents

Inconsistency of development

Quote

If you don’t know where you are going, you

might end up somewhere else.

Yogi Berra

Best Practices in Use Cases Development

Develop the Use Case Diagram

Define a template for creating Use Case

Description

For teams new to Use Case development,

spend appropriate amount of time going

through first Use Case

Be consistent

Reference Requirements Documents or

Specifications when necessary

Give appropriate time for “alternative path”

discussion and decisions

Use Cases and Project Insight

Use Cases and Project Insight

Review

Define a Use Case

What is the benefit of Use Cases within your organization?

What is the disadvantage of Use Cases within your

organization?

What determines good and bad Use Cases?

Determine when a certain approaches is appropriate.

Questions & Answers???

Goals of the Advanced Series

Expand your knowledge of more complex tools and

techniques

Build leadership skills to manage people more

effectively

Identify practical ways to begin using advanced

techniques

Explore other methodologies or techniques that

enhance project management competency

Books for Credentials

� Achieve PMP® Exam Success

� Achieve CAPM® Success

� Program Management Professional (PgMP ®) Study

Guide

To order: www.jrosspub.com

Online Courses for PDUs

Effective Project Management

is now available online!

You are invited to learn and earn 24 PDUs with 8

online sessions at your own schedule and pace.

� Brush up on your knowledge of the fundamentals

� Find tips and techniques to help you gain control of

projects

� Learn about more complex topics in project

management

� Discover concepts, tools and ways to better

manage projects

http://www.coreperformanceconcepts.com/tools.html

The 4th Wednesday of Every Month - 8:00am PT

Topics

� Jan – Managing Stakeholder Expectations

� Feb – Agile Project Management : What It Is and Isn’t (NEW!)

� Mar – Creating Use Cases

� April – Validating Requirements

� May – Collaborating within the Politics (NEW!)

� June – Asking the 4 Questions Many Leaders Overlook (NEW!)

� July – Creating Test Plans

� Aug – The Art of Negotiating (NEW!)

� Sept – More Agile News (NEW!)

� Oct – Meeting Effectiveness (NEW!)

� Nov – Managing Business Networking (NEW!)

� Dec – no webinar; enjoy the holidays!

2012 Advanced Webinar Series

Register Ahead of Time

Go to www.projectinsight.net

2 ways to register:

Free Project Management Training

Training & Webinar Calendar

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For further questions: Janelle.Abaoag@projectinsight.com

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