User Stories and Use Cases Analysis
written by gunther gerlach-2009
Use Cases: are in fact such a clear description of a feature, and the fact that each Use Cases could stand alone. They made it really easy to move cards representing the Use Cases around the whiteboard, as a way of managing progress. The downside of the Use Cases is that they are a little complicated. When you look closely, they’re not that complicated really. But they tend to need a Business Analyst to write them. And they tend to be a bit off-putting for end users or business people.
User Stories seemed to offer all the things I loved about Use Cases, but in a simpler, lighter and easier-to-use format. They’re easier to write. And they’re much easier for end users or business people to work with. User Stories leave out a lot of important details. They leave these details out deliberately, relying on a conversation with the product owner to clarify the details at the time of development. They rely on this collaboration.
Developing small increments, getting feedback and iterating, rather than having more detailed documentation up-front. Without this collaboration, I agree, User Stories could be problematic.
Having said that, if the product owner won’t collaborate on User Stories throughout development, why would they collaborate on Use Cases during the analysis? In the end, whichever approach you prefer, active user involvement is imperative!
