Hi John,

Use cases are solution independent. So you are wrong to use them to specify a screen. That is solution. There is a many to many relationship between use cases and screens. A use case defines a function. That function may be realised by a manual process or a screen or many screens. Similarly, a screen may realise more than one use case. They are not design tools.

If you want to define a screen, do something like a prototype and define all the possible actions that can be taken on the screen and what all the controls on the screen are. A use case is not the way to describe that.

Kimbo

 Hi John,

There are lots of different ways to do it including:

1. Paper - do a simple sketch. Good for a broad brush start but if you want to show detail, it is more time consuming and much harder to change

2. HTML - get a hold of dreamweaver or MS Page and build it that way

3. Use a drawing tool. MS Visio will do it or better still something like Balsamiq which has predefined controls (http://balsamiq.com/). Not sure but I think balsamiq generates HTML when you're finished. Visio is just a small step above paper.

4. Work with a developer to build a quick and "dirty-ish" version of your screen. If you have the time, this is best cause you have a working screen at the end that just needs to be fixed up to a production level.

Suggest you also create a site map showing actions taken and transitions between screens. I use a UML state diagram to do that.

Kimbo