I always assumed this was some old crusty project
management term that predated modern technology but the Wikipedia sphere says it was
coined in the late 80s by Ivar Jacobson of Ericsson in the context of requirements
analysis. Apparently the original Swedish term is "användningsfall". I've
got a coworker that likes to share "fun facts" every Friday...I might have to
supplement that bit of our call tomorrow :)
- Matt G.
For reference, here's the relevant (and lengthy) Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_case
--eric