Are use case modeling features underutilized? A lightweight survey that raises concerns

Use case modeling is a very popular technique for eliciting, specifying and validating functional requirements. Use case modeling possesses a very rich notational set that allows its users to accurately specify a large variety of aspects about the underlying system's requirements. Many authoring techniques and templates were introduced to accurately describe a system's functional requirements. Although a relatively simple modeling technique, the literature has repeatedly reported on its misuse, leading to the development of end systems that do not satisfy the intended requirements. To this end, we have conducted a survey of use case models available online to shed light on the level of utilization of the use case modeling notation and how they are described, which can be symptomatic of how well do requirements engineers utilize the use case modeling technique and its modeling capabilities. In our survey we have collected and analysed 105 use case models. The results show an underutilization of the use case modeling notation and improper authoring techniques, which raises concern over the quality of the end systems.