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The Mini-Book on Use Cases: All You Need, but Short!
Alistair Cockburn’s The Mini-Book on Use Cases is a fast, focused guide to one of the most valuable topics in software Describing what you're building clearly and succinctly.
Use cases tell structured stories about how “actors” will interact with your system. Well-written, they are precise, yet easy to read. They clarify expectations, align teams, and serve provide testable specifications.
This mini-book on the subject, part of the author's Simplifying Series, is ideal for product managers, business analysts, team leads, anyone working on software definition. It offers a clear, practical alternative to the long-winded, theory-heavy books on the subject.
The book is divided into four parts.
Starts immediately with a dozen real use cases—short to long, simple to complex,Defines all the terms and structures in just 12 pages,Shows exactly how to slice use cases for agile, incremental development,Ends with 8 key writing principles to deliver clarity and flowIn less than 80 pages, you'll be done, ready to write better, more readable, more effective use cases. Part of Cockburn’s Simplifying Series, it fulfills the "All you need, but short!"
Use cases tell structured stories about how “actors” will interact with your system. Well-written, they are precise, yet easy to read. They clarify expectations, align teams, and serve provide testable specifications.
This mini-book on the subject, part of the author's Simplifying Series, is ideal for product managers, business analysts, team leads, anyone working on software definition. It offers a clear, practical alternative to the long-winded, theory-heavy books on the subject.
The book is divided into four parts.
Starts immediately with a dozen real use cases—short to long, simple to complex,Defines all the terms and structures in just 12 pages,Shows exactly how to slice use cases for agile, incremental development,Ends with 8 key writing principles to deliver clarity and flowIn less than 80 pages, you'll be done, ready to write better, more readable, more effective use cases. Part of Cockburn’s Simplifying Series, it fulfills the "All you need, but short!"
80 pages, Paperback
Published June 23, 2025
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About the author
Alistair Cockburn
26 books48 followersAlistair Cockburn is an American computer scientist, known as one of the initiators of the agile movement in software development. He cosigned (with 16 others) the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.
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