BA BASICS
This practice involves defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.
What is Business Analysis?
In the SMART goal method, the R stands for this.
What is Relevant?
These fictional stakeholder profiles help BAs better understand the needs and motivations of different groups of users.
What are personas?
NOPE!
Points Not In Scope :(
What is "lose a turn"?
Rather than waiting for information to be volunteered, this BA activity focuses on drawing it out from stakeholders.
What is elicitation?
These requirements describe what needs to be in place to move from the current state to the future state, including activities like data migration, documentation updates, and preparing business units for change.
What is a transition requirement?
At The Fluff Bar, Angela considers allowing customers to check grooming status online. The BA documents this need from the customer's perspective using this type of statement.
What is a user story?
In BPMN, this diamond shaped element is used when a process must choose between different paths.
What is a gateway? (Decision point also accepted)
This role is often described as the "translator" between business stakeholders and technical teams.
Who is the Business Analyst?
This project approach completes all planning and approvals before any work begins, moving through each phase sequentially with no overlap.
What is the Waterfall approach? or (What is the Predictive approach?)
A team is arguing about who signs off on a task, who does the work, who owns the decision, who gives opinions, and who just needs updates. This tool saves the day and helps to clarify everyone's role.
What is a RACI matrix?
When a project keeps growing because people keep adding "just one more thing," a BA calls it this.
What is scope creep?
This elicitation method brings a carefully selected set of stakeholders together to dive deep on a single topic and share detailed perspectives. What is this technique called?
What is a focus group?
A requirement that describes what a user needs to do with a system belongs to this category.
What is a stakeholder requirement?
Finish the user story:
“As a music‑streaming user, I need to follow my favorite artist __ ____ I get alerts for new releases.”
(Hint: what is the missing piece of the template?)
What is “so that”?
This problem solving technique works a lot like a curious kid who keeps asking “why” again and again until the real root of the problem finally shows up.
What is the 5 Whys technique?
Founded in 2003, this nonprofit association connects Business Analysts globally and provides certifications such as ECBA, CCBA, and CBAP.
What is the IIBA?
This child helped us learn the important of "clarifying the need" when his family searched for the perfect gift.
Who is Nasir?
This BA activity is often compared to figuring out who needs a seat at the table before important decisions are made.
What is stakeholder analysis?
Before diving into detailed requirements, a BA creates this diagram to show what is inside the solution boundary and what exists outside of it.
What is a Context Diagram?
This active eliciting‑requirements technique encourages creativity and helps a group generate new ideas and possible solutions together. What technique is this?
What is brainstorming?
This type of requirement explains what a solution must do for users. Examples include letting people add information, change information, or search for information. You might remember these as the actions a system must perform, not qualities like speed or security.
What are functional requirements?
This BA term shares its name with an over the top adventure tale but in projects it simply groups a bunch of related user stories under one big feature.
What is an epic?
In Business Process Improvement, this “mystery man” is known for slipping into workflows and causing all kinds of problems from piling up inventory to extra motion, defects, overprocessing, and even wasting valuable skills.
What is (Who is) TIM WOODS?
While working at 110 State Street, some interns may have spotted carriages and period costumes filming scenes at the church across the street for this HBO series.
What is The Gilded Age?
At the start of a project, a BA uses this document to establish objectives, scope, expectations and risks.
What is an Engagement Profile?
DAILY DOUBLE!!
In a power interest matrix, the stakeholder with a lot of authority but little day to day interest falls into this quadrant.
What is high power / low interest?
Unlike product features, tasks such as scheduling training sessions, preparing user guides, and coordinating deployment activities fall into this category.
What are project scope tasks?
This meeting tool keeps discussions organized, helps prevent wasted time, sets clear expectations, and makes it easier to assign next steps.
What is an agenda?
This directive defines the constraints and decision‑making criteria an organization must follow. Unlike business requirements, which outline solution needs or capabilities, these directives establish boundaries such as limits, compliance obligations, and required conditions.
What is a business rule?
DAILY DOUBLE!!
This BA needs to document how a user and a system work together to complete a task, they create this artifact.
What is a use case?
When teams need to organize possible root causes of a problem, they often turn to this "skeletal" diagram.
What is a Fishbone Diagram?
Rather than showing roads and highways, this BA navigation tool maps the path from business need to solution requirements.
What is the Requirements Development Roadmap?
By keeping stakeholders informed and aligned, effective communication helps support this activity of reducing the likelihood or impact of potential problems.
What is Risk Mitigation?
A BA learns that one stakeholder wants speed, another wants accuracy, and another want lower cost. This activity helps document those expectations before conflicts arise.
What is capturing stakeholder expectations?
In the Elements of a Project Definition, this component outlines the core principles that guide decisions and must not be compromised.
What are values?
The floor that houses the OSC Library.
What is the 15th Floor?
This characteristic of a well‑written requirement means it can only be interpreted in one way, reducing confusion and misunderstandings.
What is unambiguous?
On the Requirements Development Roadmap, this project phase typically includes use cases, use case diagrams, context diagrams, and preliminary investigation.
What is the Analysis Phase?
This diagram shows every stage an entity moves through during its lifecycle.
What is a state diagram?