Step 4: Identify generalizationsĪre there any actors associated with similar use cases who trigger cases unique to them? Then you can generalize that particular actor. If two or more of your use cases share common functionality that you can reuse across the system, then you can take that functionality and add it to a separate use case. For example, at a library, actors need to pick up books, return books, get a library card, reserve rooms, and use the internet. Step 2: Identify use casesĪ good rule of thumb is to start by asking what actors need from the system. An actor can be a customer, user, person, system, or organization. Start by selecting this Use Case Diagram Template, then follow these steps: Step 1: Identify your actorsĪctors are anybody interacting with your system. Draw a use case diagram anytime you need to specify context and requirements for a system to operate, or model the flow of events in a given use case.Ĭreating and sharing your team’s own use case diagram is easy, using Miro’s simple virtual collaboration tool. They can help your team communicate and analyze the scope of your system any scenario in which your system interacts with customers, organizations, or external systems or goals or problems your applications help your customers solve.

Use case diagrams are effective and malleable tools. You can also use the diagram to represent and discuss goals that users (or “actors”) achieve with the help of your system or application. Your use case diagram can model different scenarios where your system or application interacts with people, systems, or organizations. They contain just the essential information that helps outline the following: represent the goals of system-user interactions, define and organize the functional requirements in a system, specify the context and requirements of a system, and model the basic flow of events in a use case. Generally, use case diagrams are not very detailed. It’s a powerful tool for communicating your desired system behavior in the language of the user, by specifying all externally visible system behavior. A use case diagram is helpful because it allows you to design a system from the perspective of the end user. It typically depicts the expected behavior of the system: what will happen and when. This powerful visual framework helps your team quickly illustrate system functionality. A use case diagram is a visual tool that helps you analyze the relationships between personas and use cases.

Online retail store use case diagram