Friday, April 15, 2011

Types of Use Case Actors

I have had this discussion so many times that I finally decided to put this down for once. Here are the different types of use-case actors as I see them:


The initiating actor of a use case is the one that sets the use case in action. All other actors that subsequently take part in the use case are called participating actors. To show this distinction in use-case diagrams, I draw an arrow from the initiating actor to the use case symbol. I then draw simple lines from the use case symbol to all its participating actors.


We also call the primary actor of the use case to the one to whom the use case provides sufficient value to justify its construction. Other actors that collaborate to the successful operation of the use case are called secondary actors of this use case. You could choose to show this distinction in use-case diagrams by using a note on the actor. I usually don't.

Frequently the primary actor of a use case is also its initiating actor, but that doesn't have to be so. Take for example a batch operating use case that generates a management report...

  • primary and participating actor: manager (interested in the report)
  • initiating and secondary actor: batch starter (probably a scheduled job or an operator)

Thursday, February 3, 2011

How to Make a Sketchy DataGrid in SketchFlow

I've taken SketchFlow for a ride lately, while mocking up the user interface of a small webapp. It's actually easy to work with once you get it, yet it's got great capabilities.

I was amazed though that Microsoft didn't provide a DataGrid control in sketchy style just out-of-the-box. Of course you can use the standard DataGrid control and tweak it a bit, but I couldn't get it totally sketchy.

That's when it occurred to me you could use a ListBox-Sketch control binded to multi-column data source. And this is how I did it...

First I draw the ListBox-Sketch.



Then I created the multi-column data source.



Next I binded the listbox to the data source.



That places the list items bellow each other instead of side-by-side. So we need to change the item template. First I set the template in edit mode.



Then I changed the layout of the container to a Grid.



Next I rearranged the TextBlock generated for the different columns of the datasource to get them side by side. I found this was best done by aligning them top-left and giving them left margin. You will probably also want to remove the Grids height to set it to Auto.



After that I come out of the template edit mode. The result is already looking good.



To make it even better I add a header using a Rectangle-Sketch with a grayed-out background and several TextBlock-Sketch.




That's it.

Friday, December 31, 2010

The State of Agile Development survey

The fifth annual “State of Agile Development” survey is now available here.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Personal Brand as a Corporate Employee

Here is a interesting article on personal branding for practitioners working within corporations. It touches on the challenge of balancing personal and corporate brands. Also check-out this 101 on personal branding.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Difference Between Theory and Practice

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.
(souce)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Achilles and the Tortoise Discuss Design

It's not new and there's no news in it, but I just came across this nice Discussion about Design between Achilles and the Tortoise. It explains and justifies the Agile way of doing Design.

Friday, November 12, 2010