Now that you have a complete and comprehensive Event List, you can now use this to create your Use Cases. Before I show you how, let’s first define “Use Case”:

• A Use Case is simply a list of steps to achieve a goal
• It may have multiple paths (for example, the Use Case for getting cash from an ATM has the normal path, plus an alternate path for the case where a user asks for more money than in their account)
• A Use Case Scenario is a specific path thru the Use Case

Column 4 of the Event List (“…Then We Do This”) contains the names of all of the business processes within the scope of your project. Take each of these process names and create the corresponding Use Cases. Here is a collection of data elements which you can include in the Use Cases:

• Use Case Name and ID (you can use a scheme such as capital U + the Event Process ID + decimal point + the Use Case sequential number. For example, U2.1.1)
• Use Case brief description (The process name and perhaps an additional clarifying sentence or two)
• Sub-System Name (e.g. “Accounts Payable”)
• Triggering Event (from the Event List)
• “Actors” (Stakeholders that interact with or are affected by the Use Case; Your Event List is a great starting point for identifying your Stakeholders)
• Pre-conditions: What needs to be true before the execution of this Use Case (for example, “Customer ID has been established”)
• Post-conditions: The state of the system after execution of the Use Case (for example, “Employee has possession of a company credit card”)
• Process Flow. Include a column for the Actors and a column for the steps executed by the Actors and the System. Do this until the process is complete and accomplishes the Post-conditions.

In the next post I will discuss deriving Functional Requirements from the Use Cases.