Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!news.glorb.com!news-out.readnews.com!transit3.readnews.com!news-out.news.tds.net!newsreading01.news.tds.net!53ab2750!not-for-mail From: "David Lamb" Subject: Re: Who gets interviewed to produce use cases? Message-ID: <5022AB84.56370.calajapr@time.synchro.net> X-Comment-To: Lew Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer In-Reply-To: <5022AB7C.56323.calajapr@time.synchro.net> References: <5022AB7C.56323.calajapr@time.synchro.net> X-FTN-AREA: COMP.LANG.JAVA.PROGRAMMER X-FTN-MSGID: 1:261/38 24f6da25 X-FTN-REPLY: 1:261/38 5ac92a2b Content-Type: text/plain; charset=IBM437 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Gateway: time.synchro.net [Synchronet 3.16a-Win32 NewsLink 1.98] Lines: 41 Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:04:26 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 69.21.70.65 X-Complaints-To: news@tds.net X-Trace: newsreading01.news.tds.net 1344452666 69.21.70.65 (Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:04:26 CDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:04:26 CDT Organization: tds.net Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.java.programmer:17420 To: Lew From: David Lamb On 07/08/2012 4:47 PM, Lew wrote: > 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. Not really, which is why I said "or close equivalent." I should probably have expanded a bit to say some reasonably precise description of user requirements in a reasonably user-comprehensible form. >> 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. I know, which is why in the opening paragraph I asked if anyone had data and, if not, falling back on informed opinons -- which you gave me later in your response. Thanks! and thanks to everyone else who is responding -- I'm waiting to see how the conversation plays out before saying much more than I have already (except I plan to clarify what I meant whenever it becomes apparent I left out important details). In any case the data I was hoping for was on practices, not motivations -- my colleague's expression was to me a hyperbolic version of "they don't ask the actual users." --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-1 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38) --- Synchronet 3.16a-Win32 NewsLink 1.98 Time Warp of the Future BBS - telnet://time.synchro.net:24