Business Use Case		 A business use case (class) defines a set of business use-case instances, where each instance is a sequence of actions a business performs that yields an observable result of value to a particular business actor.
UML representation: Use case, stereotyped as ½business use case╗. 
Worker: Business-Process Analyst
Optionality: Can be excluded.
Templates:
Sample Reports: Report: Business Use Case
More information:

Input to Activities: Output from Activities:

Purpose To top of page

The following people use the business use cases:

  • People who analyze, design, and implement the system to understand the context of the system to be built.
  • System analysts to derive requirements of the system.
  • Managers to better understand the context, purpose, and importance of the system to be built.

Properties To top of page

Property Name

Brief Description

UML Representation
Name The name of the business use case. The attribute "Name" on model element.
Brief Description A brief description of the role and purpose of the business use case. Tagged value, of type "short text".
Goals A specification of the measurable goals or objectives of the business use case. Tagged value, of type "formatted text".
Performance Goals A specification of the metrics relevant to the business use case, and a definition of the goals of using these metrics. Tagged value, of type "formatted text".
Workflow A textual description of the workflow the business use case represents. The flow should describe what the business does to deliver value to a business actor, not how the business solves its problems. The description should be understandable by anyone within the business. Tagged value, of type "formatted text".
Category Whether the business use case is of the category 'core', 'supporting', or 'management'.  Tagged value, of type "short text".

Optionally, you may choose to use stereotypes with special icons to separate categories of use cases. 
Risk A specification of the risks of executing and/or implementing the business use case.  Tagged value, of type "formatted text".
Possibilities A description of the estimated improvement potential of the business use case.  Tagged value, of type "formatted text".
Process Owner A definition of who the owner of the business process is, the person who manages the changes and plans for changes.  Tagged value, of type "formatted text".
Special Requirements The business use-case characteristics not covered by the workflow as it has been described. Tagged value, of type "short text".
Extension points A list of locations within the flow of events of the business use case at which additional behavior can be inserted using the extend-relationship. Tagged value, of type "short text".
Relationships The relationships, such as communicates-associations, include-and extend-relationships, in which the use case participates. Owned by an enclosing package, via the aggregation "owns".
Activity Diagrams These diagrams show the structure of the workflow. Participants are owned via the aggregation "types" and "relationships" on a collaboration traced to the use case.
Use-Case Diagrams These diagrams show the relationships involving the use case. Participants are owned via the aggregation "types" and "relationships" on a collaboration traced to the use case.
Illustrations of the Workflow Hand-drawn sketches or results from storyboarding sessions. Tagged value, of uninterpreted type.

Brief Outline To top of page

A template is provided for a Business Use-Case Specification, which contains the textual properties of the business use case.  This document is used with a requirements management tool, such as Rational RequisitePro, for specifying and marking the requirements within the use case properties.  

The diagrams of the business use case can be developed in a visual modeling tool, such as Rational Rose.  A use-case report (with all properties) may be generated with Rational SoDA.  

For more information, see tool mentors: Managing Use Cases with Rational Rose and Rational RequisitePro and Using SoDA to Create a Use-Case Report.  (hyperlinks into HTML template in a new window)

1.       Introduction         
    1.1     Purpose     
    1.2     Scope     
    1.3     Definitions, Acronyms and Abbreviations     
    1.4     References     
    1.5     Overview     
2.       Business Use Case Name 
    2.1     Brief Description
3.          Goals     
4.          Performance Goals
    4.1     <name of performance goal> 
5.       Workflow
    5.1     Basic Workflow     
        5.1.1         <name of workflow step>           
    5.2     Alternative Workflows     
        5.2.1         <name of workflow step>           
6.          Category 
7.          Risk       
8.          Possibilities       
9.          Process Owner
10.       Special Requirements
    10.1     <name of special requirement>     
11.       Extension Points
    11.1     <name of extension point>     

Timing To top of page

Business use cases are identified and possibly briefly outlined early in the inception phase, to help in defining the scope of the project. The business use cases that are relevant for the system to be built are then described in more detail within the elaboration phase.

Responsibility To top of page

A business-process analyst is responsible for the integrity of the use case, ensuring that:

  • The business use case correctly describes how the organization does its business.
  • The workflow description is readable and suits its purpose.
  • The include-and extend-relationships originating from the business use case are justified and kept consistent.
  • The role of the business use case where it is involved in communicates-associations is clear and intuitive.
  • The diagrams describing the business use case and its relationships are readable and suit their purpose.
  • The Special Requirements are readable and suit their purpose.
  • The pre-conditions are readable and suit their purpose.
  • The post-conditions are readable and suit their purpose.

It is recommended that the person responsible for a business use case is also responsible for its enclosing business use-case package; for more information, refer to Guidelines: Business Use-Case Model.

Tailoring To top of page

If you are performing business modeling merely to chart an existing target organization, with no intention of changing it, you could exclude the following section from the outline to the business use-case specification:

  • Goals
  • Performance Goals
  • Risks
  • Possibilities
  • Process Owner 

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