Services & Use Cases

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Purpose of Services & Use Cases 

  • Research reveals which User Types require which Services.
    • Services are broken into distinct individual Use Cases as part of the Service ecosystem.
      • Use Cases are specific user intent, extrapolated into User Journey paths and outcomes, and into Service Design Blueprints.
        • User Journeys define the specific behaviours we use to create testable Prototypes that allow the user to experience those paths and outcomes.
        • Service Design Blueprints define the steps the process takes at a user, interface, frontstage, backstage and support levels to ensure we can deliver the Use Cases technically and organisationally.

Below is a simple example:

Mapping PS Artefacts to Agile BG Main User Type Service Use Case User Journey Prototype Usability Test AGILE Example PS Artefacts Agile EPIC Functional User Story & Acceptance Test Examples Customer Secure Access Change Password Map all steps Create testable version of all steps Give user proto to try change password function LINES RESEARCH / DISCOVERY FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE NOTES 2 Notes 1 . User Type : what kind of user does it affect? (proto-persona) 2 . Service : What is the nature or area of their need? What high level capability must we make available to the User Type? 3 . Use Case : What does the User Type need/want to be able to achieve within the Service? What’s their specific goal? 4 . User Journey : What are the individual steps that make up the complete scope of the Use Case. 5 . Prototype : Architect a functional version of the Use Case's and User Journey 6 . Usability Test : Test that the Prototype delivers an optimal, intuitive solution, Use Case and User Journey that fulfils the business and user needs. 3 4 1 6 5 As a Customer I need Secure Access So I can change my password Copyright Sean McSharry 2026

Services translate into high level capabilities (Epics if you prefer Agile) that a solution must provide to address valuable user needs. Use Cases are the commensurate tasks that make up each Service. User Journeys map all the steps that allow a Use Case to function elegantly and optimally.

  • Services define groups of related goals (Use Cases).
  • Use Cases are the actionable tasks that collectively deliver the Service.
  • User journeys then describe the happy and unhappy paths of each Use Case, shaping and optimising the user’s lived experience of each.

Value of Defining Services & Use Cases 

Cataloging these Services and defining their individual Use Cases ensures that we have discovered all of the current functionality and explored any additional valuable functionality, for all User Types, within the fullest scope of the product or service in order to deliver on the validated and valuable user and business goals. This avoids a wasted time/cost or lost opportunities later because we avoid assumptions and omissions now.

  • Project functionality: The identification of a complete set of Use Cases means we do not miss out essential functionality from the prototype and avoid delivering substandard products or services.
  • Project Scope Validation: Comprehensively defined Services and Use Cases validate (or invalidate) the assumed project scope. They allow us to communicating any delta so we can review and accommodate (or mediate) any efficacy, time or cost changes.
  • Optimal behaviour modelling: Identifying the User Type’s required Services and their Use Cases, ensures we architect and deliver optimal functionality and process, remove duplication of effort and deliver the most value from the product or service.
  • Accelerate agile and reduce developer time and cost: The identification of the Services and their commensurate Use Cases allows visibility and initiates the creation of stub Agile Epics (from Services) and stub functional User Stories (from Use Cases) even at this early stage of the project.
  • Delivery Team Empowerment: Well defined Services and Use Cases allow the delivery teams the greatest lead time, giving them the opportunity to interrogate the requirements, identify the team sizes, skills and technologies as early as possible. This reduces risk, cost and increases delivery team efficiency.
  • Expectation management: Visibility of the required functionality (often assumed by project leaders) makes managing client expectations of the scope, cost and effort involved easier and earlier. Honest conversations, based on an understanding of the functionality, allow scrutiny of the technology, security and governance limitations, leading to a better visibility of the challenges, creating a narrative of trust and partnership, and avoiding one of blame and mistrust.
  • Decision Making Empowerment: Service and Use Cases empower client, business and delivery leads to make informed decisions of which Use Cases will deliver the greatest value, based on project priorities and goals, rather than just time and costs. Once again, this also builds trust between the project team and the client.

Anatomy of a Service & Use Case Document

This is the template for how I layout Services and their component Use Cases. Deep explanation of the Use Cases is not necessary here as…

Anatomy Layer 1 ID Service & Use Cases Purpose and Value SRV-01 Service Title: Service Description: (of the Service, not the Use Cases) Any deltas, dependencies, exceptions or special notes that are relevant to one or more of these use cases. SRV_01_1 Use Case title Descriptive information on the purpose and value of this use case. Use Case title Use Case title Use Case title Descriptive information on the purpose and value of this use case. Descriptive information on the purpose and value of this use case. Descriptive information on the purpose and value of this use case. SRV_01_2 SRV_01_3 SRV_01_4

Examples

NB. For security clearance and NDA reasons, some elements of the example files may be redacted, changed or removed.

Security Accounts

Secure Access Service

Example of a Secure Access service and some of the more common Use Cases that make it up in a secure software system

View Artefact

Service & Use Case Hierarchy

An Account Maintenance example of the hierarchy that starts at a Service and ends with a Prototype that usability tests the Use Cases

View Artefact