Use Case Insights Series 3: From Chaos to Clarity: How Great Use Cases Build Success
By: Simone Bernardi, Celeris AB
We’ve covered the biggest pitfalls—data-centric use cases, the obsession with post-conditions, and the dreaded fragmented storylines. If any of these sounded familiar, don’t worry—you’re not alone. But now, let’s talk about how to fix them.
The Power of Well-Crafted Use Cases
It’s not all doom and gloom. Use cases, done right, are the unsung heroes of successful projects. They’re the connective tissue between your grand business vision and the nitty-gritty tech execution – the architect’s vision meets the engineer’s calculations. Think of a well-crafted use case like a building blueprint: it captures the dream (what the users need to achieve) and the specifications (what the system must do) in one clear picture. The architect might imagine an elegant open-concept living room (the user’s goal), while the engineer calculates the beams to hold up the roof (the technical requirements). If either one works in isolation, you get a disaster – a house that’s beautiful but collapses, or one that’s solid but unlivable. But when vision and detail come together, you get a structure that stands and suits its purpose.
The Key to Great Use Cases: Focus on the User’s Journey
In practical terms, moving from chaos to clarity means avoiding those pitfalls above. Step back and see the forest for the trees. Ask the fundamental question “Why?” at each step of your requirements. Why does the user need to do this? Keep pulling that thread. You’ll start connecting those separate “create/update/delete” bits into a meaningful user workflow. Often, you’ll realize that three CRUD use cases were actually one real user task all along – and you can join those fragments into one flow. It’s better to write a “long but thin” use case – a single narrative from start to finish – rather than many short, fat ones loaded with every rule. Yes, it might span multiple departments or actors, and that’s okay! Real business processes do. By describing the whole sequence (for example, from a customer request all the way to fulfillment), you ensure the system supports the entire journey. These end-to-end use cases become your integration test cases – if you can describe it, you can test it, and you can make sure your system doesn’t drop the baton at the handoff.
Smarter Use of Post-Conditions
Also, be smart about those post-conditions. Instead of writing a mini-novel of every possible outcome, focus on clear success criteria and failure conditions within the flow. Keep the use case text crisp about what the user accomplishes, and if your template insists on a post-condition field, make it simple (or consider if it’s adding any value at all). The goal is to communicate, not to create extra paperwork. Remember, the use case is for humans first – your team, your stakeholders, you. If it’s not readable or doesn’t map to how people think about the business, it’s time to revise.
Achieving Alignment Through Effective Use Cases
When you manage use cases properly, you prevent the dreaded scenario of a system that “technically works” but nobody actually likes or understands. Instead of chaos and misunderstanding, you get alignment. Your development team knows what to build and why. Your business stakeholders see how requirements tie to user outcomes. Your testers have real-world scenarios to validate. In short, you go from a clunky, fragmented project to a smooth operation where everyone is literally on the same page (of the use case document!).
Ready to Fix Your Use Cases? Let’s Connect.
The frustrations are real – I’ve been joking about them, but only because I’ve lived them. The good news: you can turn things around.
Start treating use cases not as a formality, but as a powerful tool to map out why and how each piece of your business fits together. Next time you see a use case that looks like a tangled mess, speak up! Ask “what’s the user’s goal here?” or “why are we even capturing this condition?” Refocus the conversation on the story, and watch the fog lift.
