BA420: Requirements Analysis Using Use Cases and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for BAs

Use Cases are an industry best practice for defining, documenting, and analyzing functional requirements. A use case approach is a user-centered approach for developing a solution to your business needs. Unfortunately, methods for developing use cases vary substantially across the industry. What information belongs in a use case? How can a use case be utilized to capture all the desired functionality? Are use cases applicable to all projects? Is there a template for writing use cases that is considered best practice? If you’ve ever been involved in a project involving use cases, you’ve probably encountered some confusing answers to these questions. Learn practical answers to these questions from one of the pioneers in Object Oriented Analysis. We have been developing and sharing best practices in use cases since the early 1990s. This course provides a strong foundation in the mechanics of use case diagramming and writing textual descriptions of use cases. In this highly interactive workshop, you will learn how to enhance and refine your use case skills, how to involve your stakeholders in the use case process, and how to develop use cases that provide valuable information to the designers and testers. Use cases that meet the needs of designers can be too technical and too detailed for other stakeholders. Use cases that satisfy business users are usually not very helpful to designers and testers. How do you satisfy these two disparate interests? And how do you handle the details like business rules, data validations and user interface specifications? All too often the software products delivered to the business do not meet their expectations, especially with regard to the quality of the product. An effective User Acceptance Testing (UAT) process addresses this issue by confirming the functionality and performance of the product prior to its release. This workshop also looks at the business issues which drive the need for a fully functional UAT process and describes the components of such a process.  It is designed to help the Business Analyst (BA) to develop an understanding of their role, the process, and the deliverables associated with UAT.