Understanding user requirements and use cases
A user requirement describes the requirements from a user’s perspective. What does the user need in simple non-technical terms?
In the past, traditional requirements used to place emphasis on the following:
- Capabilities, such as what a system can do
- Constraints, such as what a system cannot do (limitations)
These traditional requirements have evolved, and analysts started adding the “user” element to traditional requirements. This adds clarity to requirements by describing what a specific user role can do with a software system so that they can achieve their desired goals. For example, a sales analyst shall be able to create prospects or customers from the Account Management screen.
Use cases are users interfacing with a software system. These entail sets of steps between the user and the system. In a way, use cases are user requirements but captured in a little bit more detail in the form of...
