The Art of Application Performance Testing, 2nd Edition

Appendix A. Use-Case Definition Example

This appendix contains an example use-case definition taken from a real performance testing project. Figure A-1 demonstrates the sort of detail you should provide for each use case to be included in your performance test. The example is based on a spreadsheet template that I have developed to capture use case information.

Ideally, you should create a similar template entry for each use case that will be part of your performance testing engagement.

Figure A-1. Sample use-case definition

Please see the following for an explanation of the template contents:

Use Case 1

Each use case should have a meaningful name such as “Bill Payment” in the example.

PageViews

This is a calculated value based on the number of web page view per use case step where this is relevant.

Step

The order that this step occurs in the use case.

Section

There are three options available:

Init

Whether this use case step is to occur only once at the start of a performance test.

Body

Whether this use case step is to be iterated during performance test execution.

End

Whether this use case step is to be executed only once at the end of a performance test.

Action

A description of the user action required for this use case step (e.g., step 1 requires the user to “Enter online banking number, an Internet password, and then click Continue”).

Timing name

A label ...