Business analysis glossary
Use Case
What it is
A use case describes how a user, called an actor, interacts with a system to achieve a goal. It includes a main path, alternative paths and failure paths, plus preconditions and outcomes. Typical sections are the actor, goal, preconditions, main flow, alternative flows, exceptions and the result when everything succeeds.
Why it matters
Use cases make people think about the whole interaction, including what happens when things go wrong, which simple lists of features often miss. They are especially helpful for complex interactions with several steps, and they translate easily into test scenarios because each path becomes a test.
Example
Use case "Book appointment" at Orchard Health Clinics: the patient chooses a clinic and time, the system confirms availability, the patient confirms details and receives a confirmation. Alternative: the chosen slot is taken, so the system offers the next three. Each of those paths later becomes a screen, a rule and a test, so none of them is discovered for the first time during testing.