Business Analyst Vocabulary

Question 1

User stories

Answer 1

A user story describes the functionality that a business system should provide so that it can be developed. It is often called a ticket or work item. The format is “As a…. I want to… So that I can…”

Question 2

Functional requirements specification (FRS)

Answer 2

This is the business requirements that are defined from an end user or business perspective. It will specify the expected outcomes. These are hard requirements that illustrate how the feature should work as opposed to nonfunctional requirements which cover things such as how the feature should look

Question 3

Nonfunctional requirements

Answer 3

Nonfunctional Requirements (NFRs) are intended to specify ‘system qualities,’ various systems attributes that are not directly related to their functionality. This covers attributes of a function such as the look and feel. A functional requirement would be a ‘Submit’ button while a nonfunctional requirement would be the color of the submit button

Question 4

Gap analysis document

Answer 4

This document describes the gaps between the current processes and the intended processes.

Question 5

Change request logs

Answer 5

This document is a log of all the change requests in the project including date of request, requester, and any other key information.

Question 6

Jira

Answer 6

Jira is a software application that allows teams to track issues, manage projects, and automate workflows. Jira holds the project backlog (aka the team to do list), user stories, acceptance criteria, and more

Question 7

Stakeholder

Answer 7

A stakeholder is a person, group or organization with a vested interest, or stake, in the decision-making and activities of a business, organization or project. Stakeholders can be members of the organization they have a stake in, or they can have no official affiliation. Can be anyone. A user, an executive, anyone who is interested in or will feel the affects of the project.

Question 8

Sprint Backlog

Answer 8

A subset of product backlog to-do items, which is to be taken up for development in a particular sprint. These are fully detailed out. A sprint backlog may contain:

Requirements
Defects
Changes etc.

Question 9

Product Backlog

Answer 9

A listing of to-be-done requirements (captured as user stories or any other format) with priority and estimation. It is maintained on the product level and not all requirements are detailed out in the phase.

Question 10

Business Case

Answer 10

A document describing solution options, their comparisons and recommended solution based on parameters relevant to the organization.

Question 11

Wireframes and other visual documentation

Answer 11

This document contains renderings of the user interface, often in the form of low-fidelity wireframes.

Question 12

Use cases

Answer 12

A use case identifies, defines, and organizes the system requirements from the perspective of a user.

Question 13

Current state analysis

Answer 13

If the current business process or domain is not well understood, the BA analyzes and documents the current state before scoping a project to improve upon it. (ex. as-is diagram)

Question 14

Agile

Answer 14

The division of work into small iterative tasks with the ability to rapidly adapt to changing circumstances.

Question 15

Business Requirements Document

Answer 15

A Business Requirements Document is a requirements package that describes business requirements and stakeholder requirements (it documents requirements of interest to the business, rather than documenting business requirements).

Question 16

Competitive Analysis

Answer 16

A structured process which captures the key characteristics of an industry to predict the long-term profitability prospects and to determine the practices of the most significant competitors.

Question 17

Cost Benefit Analysis

Answer 17

Analysis done to compare and quantify the financial and non-financial costs of making a change or implementing a solution compared to the benefits gained.

Question 18

Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

Answer 18

An analysis model that illustrates processes that occur, along with the flows of data to and from those processes.

Question 19

Deliverable

Answer 19

Any unique and verifiable work product or service that a party has agreed to deliver.

Question 20

Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Answer 20

A person with specific expertise in an area or domain under investigation.

Question 21

End User

Answer 21

A person or system that directly interacts with the solution. End users can be humans who interface with the system, or systems that send or receive data files to or from the system.

Question 22

Elicitation

Answer 22

An activity within requirements development that identifies sources for requirements and then uses elicitation techniques (e.g., interviews, prototypes, facilitated workshops, documentation studies) to gather requirements from those sources.

Question 23

Prioritization

Answer 23

The process of determining the relative importance of a set of items in order to determine the order in which they will be addressed.

Question 24

Process Map

Answer 24

A business model that shows a business process in terms of the steps and input and output flows across multiple functions, organizations, or job roles.

Question 25

Project Manager

Answer 25

The stakeholder assigned by the performing organization to manage the work required to achieve the project objectives.

Question 26

Prototype

Answer 26

A partial or preliminary version of the system.

Question 27

Quality Assurance

Answer 27

Activities performed to ensure that a process will deliver products that meet an appropriate level of quality.

Question 28

Requirements Trace Matrix

Answer 28

A matrix used to track requirements’ relationships. Each column in the matrix provides requirements information and associated project or software development components.

Question 29

Requirements Workshop

Answer 29

A requirements workshop is a structured meeting in which a carefully selected group of stakeholders collaborate to define and or refine requirements under the guidance of a skilled neutral facilitator.

Question 30

SWOT Analysis

Answer 30

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is a model used to understand influencing factors and how they may affect an initiative

Question 31

Use Case Diagram

Answer 31

A type of diagram defined by UML that captures all actors and use cases involved with a system or product.

Question 32

Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Answer 32

A non-proprietary modeling and specification language used to specify, visualize, and document deliverables for object-oriented software-intensive systems

Question 33

Use Case

Answer 33

An analysis model that describes the tasks that the system will perform for actors and the goals that the system achieves for those actors along the way.

Question 34

User Acceptance Test

Answer 34

Test cases that users employ to judge whether the delivered system is acceptable. Each acceptance test describes a set of system inputs and expected results.

Question 35

Test Case

Answer 35

A test case is a set of actions executed to verify a particular feature or functionality of your software application. Contains test steps, test data, precondition, post-condition developed for specific test scenario to verify any requirement. Can compare expected and actual results

Question 36

Flow Diagram

Answer 36

A flow diagram or flowchart is a specific type of activity diagram that communicates a sequence of actions or movements within a complex system

Question 37

Scrum

Answer 37

Scrum is a management framework that teams use to self-organize and work towards a common goal. It describes a set of meetings, tools, and roles for efficient project delivery. Much like a sports team practicing for a big match, Scrum practices allow teams to self-manage, learn from experience, and adapt to change.

Question 38

Cross functional teams

Answer 38

Cross functional teams are groups of people from various departments in an organization—such as marketing, product development, quality assurance, sales and finance—who work together to achieve a common goal.