David:

Discovery (of functions/processes, and their inputs and outputs) and proper partitioning is the major work in requirements analysis - especially on larger scale efforts.  So it is important that the Business Analyst use a technique strong in such.  And you agree with me that Use Cases are not such a technique.

Are Use Cases appropriate for some of the remaining work in analysis?   I will agree with you that, used in proper context, they are.  

FYI:  I have switched to larger size text to make my points seem stonger :-)

Tony

So back to the original question (and font size) - Can anyone provide evidence that use cases are a substantially positive tool?

It appears that the answer is no, but in somce cases they work and in otehr cass other tools work.

Are we saying that there is no one best tool?  (Apart from DFDs.)

Craig Brown asks:  "Are we saying that there is no one best tool? (Apart from DFDs)"

Tony Markos responds: 

Great question!   I myself in the past have done a significant amount of research to try to find what others (than myself) say is the answer to that question.  The only thing that I found was statements like "Use Cases (or Business Process Maps or Activity Diagrams) are kind of like Data Flow Diagrams" -  and that is far as the discussion ever goes.  

The key to being able to say which tool is right for a given situation is to do what nobody wants to do: position each tool relative to each other.    In the "real world", positioning a product next to the competitor's is Marketing 101 - real basic stuff.   However, in "Business Analysis World", positioning the various functional analysis techniques relative to each other seems to be a taboo subject that only the Gods (i.e., IBM) dare ponder.  

Tony