STC Montreal

“What can people do with your software?” you ask brightly at the first meeting with the development team.

“You can do anything with our software,” they reply. Or maybe “It depends who you are,” or “End users don’t really use our software directly,” or “It depends on your exact hardware/software configuration,” or “You know, we’ve had a lot of trouble with documentation for this product!”

Now you know that task analysis and conventional, procedure-oriented documentation just isn’t going to cut it this time. So you lean back in your swivel chair, nod gravely, and start again: “What are the use cases here? Who are the actors?”

Actors are categories of people or programs that interact with the software to achieve a desired goal. And a use case is how one or more actors interact with the system to achieve a particular goal. Business analysts write use cases to specify business requirements for information systems. The analysts don’t document every possible interaction — just the key use cases for the most important actors. You too can rely on use cases to help you research, organize, and write lightweight, useful documentation for heavyweight products.

What you will learn

• How to organize documentation around use cases
• How to identify actors and recognize their goals
• How to elicit use cases
• How to recognize the key use cases
• How to document use cases in three levels of detail

Manny explains very technical stuff as a technical writer, a business analyst, a teacher, and a trainer. He is an Associate Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication, and a partner in the Montreal consulting firm of Gordon & Gordon.

This presentation will be held in English (questions will be answered in the language they were asked, English or French)

When: Monday, September 11, 2006, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)

Where: Ruby Foo’s Hotel, 7655 Decarie, corner Paré, just north of Namur metro, free parking, Directions (www.hotelrubyfoos.com/location.htm)

Entrance Fee: Free for STC-Montréal members, $5 for STC members not belonging to the Montreal Chapter, $10 for non-STC members