Who is responsible for writing Use Cases?

Question

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 19 '08 at 20:06

7

Someone who

Communicates clearly.
Understands the business value. This means either business knowledge or good interviewing skills.
Can understand who the actors are, and what interactions with a system will create that business value. This means some technology vision to see how interaction can create value. Not everyone is capable of this vision. Some people repeat the way things used to be. Other people write hypothetical ("would be nice if...") statements. There's middle ground of definite and visionary.

Job title and organization don't matter. What matters is clarity, understanding and articulating a vision.

answered Dec 19 '08 at 20:06

S.Lott

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I agree totally with your bullet points. In response to your last comment though - wouldn't you expect the business analyst/project manager to meet those requirements? Or is this expectation too assumptive/skewed? – BenAlabaster Dec 19 '08 at 20:14
I'd say that the business analyst/project manager is responsible for it, but they may not actually be doing the work... – Brian Knoblauch Dec 19 '08 at 20:18
@balabaster: Project Manager meeting the criteria is coincidence. project management skills often don't involve articulating a vision very well. Product Owner -- bill-paying future user -- maybe. – S.Lott Dec 19 '08 at 20:23
Business Analyst *should* meet these criteria. Sometimes it's a cooperative effort among several people to locate a balance of skills. – S.Lott Dec 19 '08 at 20:23
I would add: - Is in contact with clients - Had the Initial meeting with client – Peter Gfader Dec 20 '08 at 04:25

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 15 '12 at 19:15

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While it is the Business Analyst who owns the use cases (as they are defining their requirements which need to be tested) should be a shared responsibility, with the business providing the inputs, and testing providing the quality review, as they would need to consume the deliverables.

edited Nov 15 '12 at 19:15

KatieK

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answered Nov 15 '12 at 18:48

Krishna

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 19 '08 at 20:05

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The person whose role it is to perform the business analysis. So the person that wears the business analysts hat at the time. That could be the project manager, a dedicated business analyst or the lead developer, it depends on the team...

answered Dec 19 '08 at 20:05

BenAlabaster

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Who is responsible for writing Use Cases?

3 Answers3