Re: use cases - what are they good for

["Larry Kunz" <Larry -dot- Kunz -at- veritas -dot- com>]

Going beyond use cases, the practice of developing personas has gained
favor over the past few years.  Personas (fictional characters who can
be imagined to be using the product) give depth and flexibility to
traditional use cases.

A good description of personas and how to develop them, by Sarah
Leritz-Higgins in last year's STC conference proceedings:
http://www.stc.org/ConfProceed/2004/PDFs/0074.pdf

Another good resource, in presentation format, from Whitney Quesenbery,
a (deservedly) well-known usability expert :
http://www.wqusability.com/handouts/personas-overview.pdf 

I admit that so far I've only dipped my toe into this, but it's
something I really want to try some more.  One nice thing about
developing use cases, and especially about developing personas, is that
it stimulates the right (creative) side of my brain -- too often
neglected in my day-to-day work.

Larry Kunz
VERITAS Software Corp.
Durham, NC, USA
919-405-3051 | lkunz -at- veritas -dot- com



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