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Robert said "Well, a use case is sort of task-based, but it shows all the
activities that a user wants to perform as well as alternate actions and
the behavior of the software."
----
I'd say use-case based documentation would be an end-to-end for a specific
objective. Like "Sheila wants to use the Fintoozler 5000 to outsource her
wombats". This would be a sequential set of tasks to achieve that end. At
least that's what PM would mean if they asked me for that. I think the
tension here is between a minimalist approach of specific task-oriented
documentation and a more holistic "the user wants to get XXX done."
If you write in task - concept - reference, you might have the tasks
required for Sheila to outsource her wombats, preceded by a concept that
gives the overview of how these tasks work together to make that possible.
Chris
On Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 2:14 PM, Scott Turner <quills -at- airmail -dot- net> wrote:
> From the OP, it really sounds as though the products after is using buzz
> words, and that she dimly understands the meaning behind them.
>
> Scott T.
>
>
> > On Feb 3, 2015, at 15:48, Robart, Kay <Kay -dot- Robart -at- tea -dot- texas -dot- gov> wrote:
> >
> > Well, a use case is sort of task-based, but it shows all the activities
> that a user wants to perform as well as alternate actions and the behavior
> of the software. However, use cases are usually produced as part of the
> requirements process and are written by the business analyst. They aren't
> very useful to anyone except software designers. I haven't even found them
> very useful for trying to figure out new software and documented it. Is she
> asking you to do the business analyst job? Or maybe she doesn't really
> understand what she's asking?
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: techwr-l-bounces+kay -dot- robart=tea -dot- texas -dot- gov -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kay -dot- robart=tea -dot- texas -dot- gov -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Julie Stickler
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2015 11:48 AM
> > To: Technical Writing
> > Subject: "use-case based documentation"
> >
> > One of our Product Managers keeps using the phrase "use-case based
> documentation" as in, that's something she wants the doc team to provide.
> > I suspect what she means is task based documentation, but she insists
> that's not what she means.
> >
> > However, she has so far failed to provide me with an example of what she
> wants.
> >
> > Anyone out there ever provided use-case based documentation? Got any
> good blogs posts, articles, presentations, or examples so I could get a
> better idea of what exactly she's asking for?
> >
> > --
> > Julie Stickler
> > http://heratech.wordpress.com/
> > Blogging about Agile and technical writing
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