Use cases versus task descriptions

Søren Lauesen, Mohammad Amin Kuhail

    Research output: Journal Article or Conference Article in JournalConference articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    Abstract. [Context and motivation] Use cases are widely used as a substantial part of requirements, also when little programming is expected (COTS-based systems). [Question/problem] Are use cases effective as requirements? To an-swer this question, we invited professionals and researchers to specify require-ments for the same project: Acquire a new system to support a hotline. [Princi-pal ideas/results] Among the 15 replies, eight used traditional use cases that specified a dialog between users and system. Seven used a related technique, task description, which specified the customer's needs without specifying a dialog. [Contribution] It turned out that the traditional use cases covered the customer's needs poorly in areas where improvement was important but diffi-cult. Use cases also restricted the solution space severely. Tasks didn't have these problems and allowed an easy comparison of solutions.
    Original languageEnglish
    Book seriesLecture Notes in Computer Science
    Volume D. Berry and X. Franch (Eds.): REFSQ 2011
    Pages (from-to)106
    Number of pages120
    ISSN0302-9743
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Keywords

    • Use Cases
    • Requirements Specification
    • COTS-Based Systems
    • Task Descriptions
    • Solution Space Restriction

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