Use Case

You might say

Write the refund request end to end: how the customer starts, how the system responds, and what failure looks like.

A description of the main interaction and important exceptions between an actor and a system while reaching a goalFor an order refund, a use case states eligibility, what the customer submits, how the system responds, and how expired or duplicate requests end. It describes observable behavior without prescribing internal code.

Know first

User Story

System Use Case

Connect customer actions and system responses in one refund request

ActorCustomer

GoalRecover an eligible order payment

TriggerSelect “Request refund”

Actor actionSystem response

1CustomerSelects an eligible order
2SystemShows amount and refund rules
3CustomerConfirms the refund reason
4SystemAccepts and shows expected arrival

How a use case describes system behavior

Center on one actor goal: Name who is trying to achieve what and what triggers the interaction.

Alternate actions and responses: State what the actor does and what the system displays or changes at every step.

Include important exceptions: Explain how expired, incomplete, or duplicate requests end or return to a recoverable state.

Quick checkChoose the best answer

Which option works best as the use case for “a customer requests a refund”?

The customer submits a reason for an eligible order; the system checks the deadline and shows the result; expired or duplicate requests explain why and what to do nextAs a customer, I want to request a refund so I can recover the cost of an unwanted itemRefundController calls PaymentService and writes the status to the refunds table

You can say this to an AI Agent

Using only the refund rules I provide, write the “customer requests a refund” use case with its actor, trigger, preconditions, customer actions, system responses, successful result, and important exceptions. List missing rules as questions instead of inventing a refund window, and do not expand into controllers, APIs, or database design. Then check that every ending is visible and understandable to the customer.

Learn next

1User Flow→2PRD→