Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #17303

Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases?

Show all headers | View raw

On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 11:26:41 AM UTC-7, David Lamb wrote:
> Does anyone have data, or at least an informed opinion, on how often 
> genuine users of a proposed piece of software get consulted on 
> developing use cases (or some close equivalent)? I ask here because of 
> the recent UML discussion and because I've seen people, especially Lew, 
> mention use cases reasonably frequently.

I mention use cases in a rather abstract sense, that is, to signify the underlying 
phenomenon of a collection of circumstances and needs. You seem to use the 
term in a more restricted sense of the documentation of such phenomena.

These are distinct things. The report is not the situation on the ground.

> In an informal discussion with a colleague I was arguing based on things 
> I'd read that "modern best practices" recommended interviewing the 
> people who will actually use a software system in their jobs, rather 
> than only upper management or professional consultants. He said the 
> industry standard was to resell an old system to new customers and 
> charge for every small attempt to get it to work the way the customers 
> wanted.
> 
> Is he being excessively cynical, or am I being excessively naive? Does 

You are not being naive, and he is being cynical. I cannot speak to whether
his cynicism is excessive.

I disagree that projects generally are designed to rip off customers as he 
describes, but in some sectors such practices are more prevalent than in 
others.

Every industry has its snakes in the grass.

> anyone know which of us is closer to right? Is the answer different for 
> the Java and object-oriented-development community than it is for other 
> developers?

Those questions require data.

If there are data, they are either secret, in which case no one here 
can tell you of them, or publicized, in which case GIYF.

Undoubtedly people here have opinions and anecdotes, but you are asking 
about reality. To answer your questions requires data.

I can tell you from experience that projects exist that might give the 
appearance of justifying your colleague's cynicism but that was not 
deliberate. Many software projects are not well managed, but I attribute 
that to incompetence rather than malice. Industry estimates of the failure 
rate for multi-million-dollar projects (up into the billions!) range from 
33% to 67%, that I've read. 

So the data indicate that many projects fail to satisfy the requirements, 
or even see deployment, with good evidence that it's the majority of projects.

The majority of *multi-hundred-million dollar* projects.

Is that on purpose? The data I've seen don't say.

-- 
Lew

Back to comp.lang.java.programmer | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? David Lamb <dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> - 2012-08-07 14:26 -0400
  Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-08-07 22:13 +0200
  Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-07 13:47 -0700
    Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-07 14:23 -0700
      Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-07 14:54 -0700
      Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? David Lamb <dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> - 2012-08-08 09:47 -0400
        Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-08 09:48 -0700
        Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 22:57 -0400
    Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? David Lamb <dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> - 2012-08-08 09:44 -0400
    Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 22:53 -0400
  Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Jukka Lahtinen <jtfjdehf@hotmail.com.invalid> - 2012-08-08 11:41 +0300
  Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-08-12 22:48 -0400
    Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Leif Roar Moldskred <leifm@dimnakorr.com> - 2012-08-13 05:32 -0500
      Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-14 12:35 -0700
      Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Leif Roar Moldskred <leifm@dimnakorr.com> - 2012-08-14 15:35 -0500
        Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-15 09:32 -0700

csiph-web