Gathering and Documenting Requirements with Use-Cases

Learn best practices for gathering and documenting user requirements based on the use-case approach. Over the course of a case-study project, trainees gain experience facilitating requirements-gathering workshops and creating textual use-case documentation with supporting diagrams. The course covers what the Business Analyst needs to know to plan and execute each requirements gathering session as the project progresses, including, for each session: meeting goals, agenda, who to invite, artifacts, etc. The course walks the trainee through the project starting from business use-case sessions that focus on the business context through to system use-cases that focus on user-IT interactions. Trainees also learn advanced techniques for structuring use-cases (extending, generalized and included use-cases) that result in requirements documentation that is easy to revise as business rules change.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO:

• Facilitate requirements-gathering sessions with Business and System Use-Cases.
• Examine the impact of the project on the enterprise through business use-case analysis.
• Create detailed textual requirements using a Use-Case Description Template.
• Decrease software bugs and omissions introduced in the analysis phase of your project – by employing advanced use-case techniques that reduce redundancies and inconsistencies in the documentation.
• Facilitate communication of user requirements between business stakeholders and the solution provider.
• Model who-does-what with use-case diagrams.
• Understand how use-cases are used in the context of iterative development.
• Link other relevant material to use-cases – such as business entities, non-functional requirements and activity diagrams.

AUDIENCE

IT Business Analysts, Project Leaders, Facilitators who will be leading requirements gathering sessions, Business Users who will be explaining business requirements to software developers, Systems Analysts expanding their role into the business realm.

• Use-cases are a widely used approach to capturing, analyzing and documenting user requirements.
• The clear style and organization of use-cases makes them well-suited for deriving test cases and for communicating with both business stakeholders and developers. In addition, use-cases are a central component of iterative development methodologies such as IBM’s RUP and Microsoft’s MSF.
• Many BAs are not sure how to write use-cases.
• This course provides explicit, detailed instruction and hands-on experience in the writing, numbering and organization of the textual requirements.
• Many BAs are unclear about the level of user requirements to capture at each phase of a project.
• This course provides clear, actionable guidance regarding how much detail to elicit from stakeholders at each point in the project.
• User requirements can become hard to organize when there is a high number of system use-cases involved.
• This course provides tips for organizing use-cases into use-case packages.
• Small changes to the business environment can lead to big changes in the documentation when the user requirements are not optimally organized.
• This course provides detailed instruction in the use of advanced documentation features (extensions, inclusions and generalizations) that help keep each fact in one place, making the documentation easier to revise when changes occur in the business.
• Many BAs lack experience in facilitating use-case requirements workshops.
• In this course, trainees gain experience acting as facilitators for their group as they progress through an integrated case study project.
• In one course you learn how to capture requirements with detailed guidance for doing it using today’s most popular approach – use-cases.
• Includes valuable take-home materials: Comprehensive printed material including valuable job aids, examples, glossaries, tips, the Noble Path, as well as agendas and lists of questions for each type of interview session.
• The course content draws from direct experience working in a variety of sectors, including banking, accounting, call centers, education and NGOs.
• Focused content: includes the practical tools and techniques most commonly used to get the job done.

Register 21 days before class start date and save 10%! Enter discount code EARLY10 during registration.

Register 21 days before class start date and save $250! Enter discount code EARLY250 during registration.

Is there a discount available for current students?

UMBC students and alumni, as well as students who have previously taken a public training course with UMBC Training Centers are eligible for a 10% discount, capped at $250. Please provide a copy of your UMBC student ID or an unofficial transcript or the name of the UMBC Training Centers course you have completed. Asynchronous courses are excluded from this offer.

What is the cancellation and refund policy?

Student will receive a refund of paid registration fees only if UMBC Training Centers receives a notice of cancellation at least 10 business days prior to the class start date for classes or the exam date for exams.