Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios THIS PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK Module 1: Course Overview Module 7: Presenting Information Module 2: Identifying Business Processes, Challenges, and Vision Module 6: Analyzing Information: Rationalizing Information Gathering and Analyzing Business Requirements Module 3: Characteristics of Information Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Transitioning to Analysis Module 4: Gathering Information Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Review Use Cases Usage Scenarios Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 103 ! Overview Slide Objective To provide an overview of the module topics and objectives " Transitioning to Analysis " Use Cases " Usage Scenarios " Review In In this this module module In this module, you transition from the process of gathering information to the process of analyzing information When you gather and analyze business and user requirements at work, the process is iterative As you analyze information, you will most likely find that you need to gather additional information The number of iterations that you conduct depends on the business challenge and other factors, such as time limits imposed by stakeholders First, you will look at the relationship between gathering and analyzing business and user requirements Then you will learn how to develop use cases and usage scenarios After completing this module, you will be able to: " Describe a process for synthesizing information " Explain the concepts of use cases and usage scenarios " Create use cases " Create usage scenarios 104 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios ! Transitioning to Analysis Slide Objective To provide an overview of the topics and activity in this section " Requirements and Wants " Synthesizing Gathered Information " Activity 5.1: Transitioning from Gathering to Analyzing Information In this section, you will look at the transition from gathering information about the business challenge to analyzing the information so that you can determine business and user requirements and wants Then you will learn about a general process for synthesizing information In Activity 5.1, you will participate in a class discussion relating your own experiences to the process of gathering and analyzing requirements and wants in the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc case study Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 105 Requirements and Wants Slide Objective To summarize the previous course material and transition to the next phase of the course by focusing on analyzing information for requirements " Synthesize the gathered information " Determine requirements $ Lead-in As you synthesize information, you should use the business and user perspectives to determine the requirements and wants, as well as identify constraints in the business environment Delivery Tip Reinforce to students that requirements and wants are not necessarily at odds with each other Users and stakeholders have a core understanding of what is required to improve the business They also have desires for features or capabilities that they know might not make it into a first or second release of a product " Constraints $ " What parameters the product must work within Determine wants $ " What the product must What would be nice for the product to Organize and prioritize requirements and wants When you have finished gathering information, you will have a large amount of information that you need to sift through to determine what information is most relevant to the business challenge You need to synthesize the information to create a detailed description of the current state The information that you gather from different sources will include requirements and wants from the business and user perspectives The requirements indicate what the product or solution needs to to solve the business challenge as derived from the business and user perspectives The wants indicate what stakeholders and users would like to see in the final product or solution You need to distinguish between requirements and wants when you synthesize the information from both the business and user perspectives The requirements and wants will eventually define the features of the final solution At this stage, you will only describe, organize, and prioritize the requirements and wants Later, in the process of developing the product, the development team will determine the features of the product Some requirements indicate aspects of the business, applications, information, or technologies that may constrain the final business solution The final business solution must conform to these factors because they are deemed unchangeable For example, a business may have a particular network configuration that cannot be changed in the near future The network may have certain bandwidth limitations that affect how the development team will need to design the final solution As you synthesize the information, you need to document these constraints clearly so that the development team will design a product that conforms to the enterprise architecture of the business 106 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios As you analyze the information that you have gathered, verify that you have enough information to indicate the current state of the business and product requirements, including: " The security needs " The support structures for the solution and their characteristics " Planned changes in the business that could affect the product design " The performance that the users expect or that the business needs to remain competitive " The existing applications, such as legacy systems, that will need to interact with the new product " How the existing business processes affect the solution As you synthesize and analyze the information, you can determine any gaps that exist in the information that you collected, and if necessary, gather additional information When the development team actually develops the final product, it will need to take the product requirements into account The team will also need to document the effects that the new product may have on the existing environment in terms of new requirements for the business, such as support, maintenance, and extensibility issues The new requirements must also adhere to the constraints that you documented during analysis Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 107 Synthesizing Gathered Information Slide Objective To explain a general process for synthesizing information " Validate all information from observations and interviews " Create information models to capture Lead-in When you synthesize information, you break it down into models that indicate what the final product must " $ Context $ Workflow process $ Task sequence $ Physical environment Share information with all team members You should discuss your findings at a debriefing session with other team members At the debriefing session, you will present your findings, diagrams, and notes to each other Comments from members of the project team help to interpret the results, and the session helps the team to better understand the users Involve as many team members as possible in the debriefing session, especially those from development, testing, user education, and logistics management Team members will contribute different perspectives to the session and walk away from these debriefings with information that is important to them During this session, the different team members should suggest any information that is missing that you need to research As you analyze the information, you develop information models that describe the current state and provide the following information Item Description Context Cultural norms, policies, procedures, rules, regulations, and standards that constrain and support the business and user Workflow process Communication and coordination of many work processes and activities Process Collection of activities that yield a result, product, or service, usually a continuous operation Activity Collection of tasks within a particular process Task sequence Detailed steps for discrete activities Task Series of steps associated with a particular role and activity Step Smallest level of action that cannot be decomposed any further Physical environment Geographic and workspace layout, tangibles, and information artifacts that affect and support work 108 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Activity 5.1: Transitioning from Gathering to Analyzing Information Slide Objective To explain the activity In this activity, you will compare your experience in a development project with the process described in this section You will also review the results of your work from the activities in Module in relation to business and user requirements and wants After completing this activity, you will be able to: " Describe a process for synthesizing information " Evaluate the information collected in the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc case study in terms of requirements and wants Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 109 ! Use Cases Slide Objective To introduce the section and activity " Use Cases Defined " Creating Use Cases " Activity 5.2: Creating Use Cases In In this this section section After you have synthesized the information, you can develop use cases and usage scenarios to document the business processes and business and user requirements in more detail The use cases and usage scenarios that you develop will provide structure for the development team when they design the solution In this section, you will focus on use cases You will learn what use cases are and how to create them In Activity 5.2, you will develop use cases for the Ferguson and Bardell, Inc case study 110 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Use Cases Defined Slide Objective To define use cases and provide examples Lead-in Use cases describe the interaction between an actor and a system " A behaviorally related sequence of interactions that an actor performs in a dialogue with a system to provide measurable value to the actor " Map to workflow processes " Illustrate: " $ Business context $ Users and their activities $ Physical environment Can show current state and future state of the work Use cases show the functionality of a system and how an actor interacts with the system to obtain value The purposes of use cases are to: " Identify the business process and all activities from start to finish " Document the context and environmental issues " Trace a path between business needs and user requirements " Describe needs and requirements in the context of use " Focus users and the development team Use cases provide the following benefits: " Provide context for requirements " Facilitate common understanding " Provide the basis for usage scenarios " Facilitate objectivity and consistency in evaluating user suggestions The following list provides examples of use cases for a customer contact database in a training center In the examples, the actor is a sales consultant and the system is contact management software " Enter customer information " Print customer mailing label " Sort customers by courses taken " Delete inactive customer Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 111 The examples use prose to describe the use cases You can also use diagrams to describe use cases Typically, an actor is shown as a stick figure, the use case is shown as an ellipse, and a set of cases can be enclosed in a box representing a system The following diagram shows a simple use case diagram for the training center Contact management system Enter customer name Sales Representative Print customer mailing label Sort customers by classes taken Delete inactive customer In this course, you will use prose descriptions when developing use cases The use cases that you develop will describe a workflow process in more detail A workflow process depicts the flow of products and information within a highlevel business process The workflow process indicates the interaction of different systems and actors For example, a workflow process for the training center would depict the interaction between marketing, course registration, and final course delivery to a customer Similar to use cases, you can describe workflow processes by using prose or diagrams Your focus in this course is on developing current state use cases During the planning process, the development team will create future state use cases that show how the requirements are incorporated into the new system to improve existing processes or create new processes The current state use cases are essential for the development team to develop a product that addresses the business and user requirements 112 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Creating Use Cases Slide Objective To explain how to create a use case " Identify a system $ " Identify an actor $ " Elements organized to accomplish a specific purpose A person, group of persons, or another system with specific responsibilities List the high-level interactions $ $ Describe a single behavior that is important in the process Describe each behavior clearly A system is a collection of subsystems that have a real-world purpose For example, in the training center example, a billing system might have a subsystem that determines applicable discounts for a customer invoice Another subsystem might calculate the appropriate tax for an invoice When you develop use cases, identify a single system or subsystem A collection of use cases will indicate the relationships among the subsystems that make up a system, as well as the relationships between systems that interact with each other The actor is an integral part of the use case The use case is all about interactions between an actor and the system An actor can be a real person or another system For example, in the training center, customers might be given a discount after taking 10 courses A billing system could query the customer management system to determine the number of courses taken by a customer In this example, the billing system is an actor that interacts with the customer management system to determine whether to provide a discount to a customer After you have identified the system and the actor, describe the interaction between them Describe only a single interaction Create one use case for each interaction Describe only those interactions that are important to the business challenge and the vision statement Verify that the use cases capture an entire process in detail In the set of use cases, document the process in such a way that anyone can view the use cases and understand the activities within the process When describing systems as they function in the current state, be sure to capture information about how the system is currently working, and not just focus on the users’ feedback regarding how they want the new system to function Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 113 Activity 5.2: Creating Use Cases Slide Objective To introduce the activity To completely describe and understand a process, you can create use cases that describe all of the interactions between the actors and a system In this activity, you will create use cases for the timesheet process used by the administrative assistants and the consultants You will use the results of this activity in Activity 5.3 After completing this activity, you will be able to: " Create use cases 114 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios ! Usage Scenarios Slide Objective To introduce the section and activity " Usage Scenarios Defined " Creating Usage Scenarios " Activity 5.3: Creating Usage Scenarios In In this this section section Use cases describe the high-level interactions between an actor and a system Together, the use cases provide a description of a workflow process You develop usage scenarios to provide even greater detail about the process Usage scenarios provide additional information about the activities and task sequences that constitute a process In this section, you will learn what usage scenarios are and how to create them In Activity 5.3, you will create usage scenarios for the use cases you developed in Activity 5.2 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 115 Usage Scenarios Defined Slide Objective To explain what usage scenarios are and provide examples " Illustrate a particular instance of a use case $ Single sequence of object interactions and interactions between objects and actors " Map to task sequence " Document exceptions " Can show $ Current state of the work $ Future state of the work Usage scenarios describe in detail a particular instance of a use case Usage scenarios document the sequence of tasks It will take many usage scenarios to document a use case completely Usage scenarios reveal objects in a workflow process Objects are something that a system affects, something that affects the system, or something that a system needs to know about to function properly In the training center example, objects include a customer, a training course, or a sales representative Objects provide a view of the characteristics and behavior of elements in the problem domain addressed by the business challenge The usage scenarios that you create during the conceptual design reveal the objects in the problem domain During the logical design, the development team will identify the objects in the usage scenarios when determining the capabilities and functionality of the solution You can document usage scenarios in narratives, pseudocode, and task sequence diagrams Usage scenarios can also be prototyped for verification with users The following table shows one way to document a usage scenario 116 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios System: Contact management Actor: Sales representative Use case: Register customer for course Scenario: Register new customer for course Precondition: Course topic listing, course price list Task sequence Exceptions Enter name Enter address Enter topic interests Customer wants to see descriptions of the topics Customer wants to learn about an unavailable topic Enter course number Process customer payment Print invoice Send invoice to customer Post condition: Customer is registered in system and billed for appropriate course Exceptions are any atypical event An example of an exception condition for entering a new customer into the training center contact system is when the system is down and the sales representative must use other means to take customer information Tips for handling exceptions to usage scenarios include: " Ask “what if” to capture exceptions to the work task or step " Generate a list of exceptions for specific decision points on index cards, self-stick notes, or flip charts " Determine the relative probability of each exception " Discuss how the exception is currently handled and any alternative methods " Build handling of high-probability exceptions into the design of the solution As you develop usage scenarios, you may identify a particular task that should be treated as a use case For example, in the “Register customer for course” use case, you may determine that the task sequence “Process customer payment” is a high-level use case that is part of the workflow process and has several usage scenarios As a result, each usage scenario for “Register customer for class” would end with “Entering course number.” Then you would create all relevant usage scenarios for the new “Process customer payment” use case The end result is to identify the use cases that map to the workflow process and then develop usage scenarios that describe the task sequences for each use case From the usage scenarios, you can determine the current state requirements In this course, you focus on developing current state usage scenarios During the planning process, the development team will create future state usage scenarios that illustrate how the requirements are incorporated into the new system to improve existing processes or create new processes Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 117 Creating Usage Scenarios Slide Objective To explain a process for creating usage scenarios " To create a usage scenario: $ Identify a use case $ List all the instances that can happen in the use case $ $ " Describe each instance in detail by listing task sequence, preconditions, and postconditions Identify potential exceptions for a task Use the results of the different information collection techniques After you identify a use case, determine the different usage scenarios that can occur for the use case The information that you gathered from users will describe the different usage scenarios possible for a use case Begin by determining the preconditions for the usage scenario, which list information that must exist before a scenario can be executed Follow-up with the post conditions for the usage scenario, which describe what was accomplished upon completion of the usage scenario Next, describe the task sequence for one usage scenario Capture the entire activity in the task sequence Decompose the activity into discrete steps List exceptions that occur for any step You may need to develop a usage scenario for any exception The task sequence should be clear enough to explain the activity to another person As you develop a usage scenario, you will be able to determine if you gathered the appropriate level of information Gathering the amount of detailed information sufficient for describing the current state is part of the iterative aspect of gathering and analyzing information 118 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Activity 5.3: Creating Usage Scenarios Slide Objective To explain the activity Usage scenarios help you to determine the tasks that make up a use case You can use them to determine your understanding of processes within the business Gaps in a usage scenario indicate information that you will need to collect to document the current state In this activity, you will develop usage scenarios for six of the use cases that you identified in Activity 5.2 After completing this activity, you will be able to: " Create usage scenarios Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 119 ! Review Slide Objective To introduce the section " Guidelines " Review Questions " Looking Forward In In this this section section This section presents an opportunity to review the material in this module First, you will look at guidelines that you can use to adapt the information and skills in this module for use in the workplace Next, you will answer questions about the material in this section As you answer the questions, note which topics you may need to review Finally, you will learn how this module relates to the next module and other information and skills that you encounter in this course 120 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Guidelines Slide Objective To present general guidelines related to the information in this module " Use a debriefing session to validate the success of information gathering " Verify the accuracy of use cases and usage scenarios with users " Ensure that you have sufficiently described the workflow processes with use cases and usage scenarios The debriefing session is your first indicator that you have gathered information relevant to the business challenge and vision statement Use the session to determine if you have the proper information to begin analysis You may still need to collect additional information later As you develop use cases and usage scenarios, verify with users and stakeholders that you have interpreted the information correctly It may be the first time that users and stakeholders see the current state described in that manner They will be able to verify whether you have described it accurately The use cases and usage scenarios describe the workflow processes and task sequences, respectively The development team will use the results of your work during the logical design of the product  ... Gathering Information Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios Review Use Cases Usage Scenarios Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios 103 ! Overview... cases 114 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage Scenarios ! Usage Scenarios Slide Objective To introduce the section and activity " Usage Scenarios Defined " Creating Usage Scenarios. .. what usage scenarios are and how to create them In Activity 5.3, you will create usage scenarios for the use cases you developed in Activity 5.2 Module 5: Analyzing Information: Use Cases and Usage