What is a use case in system analysis?

• A. A diagram of system architecture
• B. A narrative of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a goal
• C. A code snippet for a function
• D. A testing plan

Answer: (B)

A use case is a narrative of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a goal. It centers on the user’s perspective, outlining the sequence of steps the user and the system take to complete a task, often including the main path and any alternative or exception paths. This helps analysts capture functional requirements by describing what the user needs the system to do, without getting into how it will be built.

That makes it the best choice because it focuses on user goals and real interactions, not on system structure or implementation details. A diagram of system architecture, for example, shows components and how they fit together, not the step-by-step user interactions. A code snippet would be an implementation detail, and a testing plan is about validating requirements, not describing user tasks.