chapter 6 Flashcards
what is the PGBA? what does it do? what topics does it cover?
PGBA (PMI Guide to Business Analysis)
- provides framework for business analysts
-BA process (defines process as series of steps to gather, analyze, document business requirements)
-BA skills and knowledge
-BA tools and techniques
-BA ethics and professionalism
primary responsibilities of business analysts (BA)?
-requirements elicitation and analysis (work with stakeholders to id these, ensure they align with bus. obj.)
-process improvement
-stakeholder mgmt
-change mgmt
documentation
what are core da tasks?
-ID problems and opportunities
-clarify/prioritize business needs
-recommend potential solutions
-elicit, analyze, document requirements
what is the process owner?
-responsible for specific process, including continual improvements
-align with overall business objectives
-set/monitor performance targets
what is a process manager?
-reviews/reports on end-to-end process activities
-maintains process map
-responsible for ongoing process operations and optimization
-train and manage resources assigned to the process
-smaller organizations, may also serve as process owner
what is a product manager?
-determines overall direction and functionality delivered to end user through multiple releases
-seeks better customer understanding
what is the product owner?
-in adaptive role, plays substantial role determining and prioritizing product backlog
-ultimately responsible for the product
what are some positive outcomes from effective stakeholder identification?
-ensuring project success
-managing expectations
-managing risks
-building support
-enhancing communications
what are some reasons it is necessary to id stakeholders and clarify their roles and responsibilities?
-align expectations and objectives
-effective communication
-facilitate communication
-resource allocation
-decision making
-conflict resolution
-project buy in and support
what are the steps to conduct effective stakeholder communication?
-identify stakeholders
-determine communication needs
-develop communication plan
-use multiple communication channels
-be clear and concise
-listen and respond
-monitor and evaluate
what are some considerations for choosing the communication channel?
-ID the audience
-consider the content
-time constraints
-communication frequency
-communication culture (mode)
why is a shared understanding of project goals and objectives across teams important?
-understanding requirements
-collaborating with cross-functional team
-resolving issues
-ensuring quality
-managing expectations
what elements may be included in business requirements?
-business rules and constraints
-performance metrics and KPI’s
-compliance requirements
-stakeholder needs and expectations
-budget and resource constraints
what do stakeholder requirements define?
-needs and expectations of stakeholders
what are solution/user requirements?
-what needs to be done to solve problem/meet needs
-decompose into functional and nonfunctional requirements
what are functional requirements?
-describe what system or product is expected to do (features and functions)
-typically described as inputs, processes, and outputs
examples of functional requirements?
-ability to add items to shopping cart
-ability to search for products by name
-ability to process payment transactions
what are nonfunctional requirements?
-describe how system or product is expected to operate
-not related to functions or features
-specific to system performance, usability, reliability
what are examples of nonfunctional requirements?
-response time requirements
-security requirements
-usability requirements
-reliability requirements
what do transition requirements specify? what do they do?
-what should happen when transitioning from current state to desired future state
-outline actions made during transition of project or process
-ie: software company moves from old to new software. transition requirement details how you migrate data to new one without loss
what is requirements gathering?
-collecting and documenting info from stakeholders about desires for product/service
what is requirements elicitation?
-drawing out info from stakeholders about product or service needs and desires
-more interactive than gathering, involves questions, active listening
what does the business analysis for practitioners: a practice guide include?
-processes for identifying stakeholders
-preparing for elicitation
-conducting elicitation to obtain info from sources
further elaborating on effectively eliciting requirements involves what steps
-determine participants
-prepare for elicitation
-conduct elicitation
what are the steps for “determining the participants”? (eliciting requirements)
-ID stakeholders
-categorize group/class
-order elicitation activities
what are the steps for “prepare for elicitation”? (eliciting requirements)
-determine objectives (set objectives for each session)
-determine questions
-choose elicitation techniques (interviews, focus groups, brain storming, etc.)
what are the steps for “conduct elicitation”? (eliciting requirements)
-complete elicitation
-document outputs
-follow up
how are requirements gathered when using a predictive approach?
-previous work that has been done on similar projects
what are “use cases”?
-describe interactions between actors (users, systems, external entities) and system or application
-capture complex requirements and illustrate how system will work from users perspective
how are requirements gathered using an adaptive approach?
-group sessions, document them as either epics or user stories
-as a ____, I would like the (capability) so that I can (result)
what are the “3 C’s”?
-card (user story raw form on single card)
-conversation (eliciting details about card. builds shared understanding)
-confirmation (customer confirms user story meets acceptance criteria)
acronym DoD? what is it?
-Definition of done
-refers to agreement of user acceptance being met, decided jointly ny team and stakeholder/PO
what is a story map?
-groups user stories for individual release
-sequences key functionality you will deliver during release
-group all appropriate user stories into release backlog, prioritize them beneath sequenced functionality
what is the release backlog?
-product owner prioritizes
-uses team estimates to determine work they will complete during iteration
name the different requirement gathering techniques?
-Interview
-observation
-prototyping
-questionnaire/survey
-group facilitated workshops
what is involved in “observation”
-views people in their work environment to understand actual work within context
what is passive observation? active observation? participatory observation? simulation?
-passively observing without interruption
-allows observer to increase info gathered through questioning
-observer participating in activities being observed, including getting answers to additional questions based on work performed
-different method of observation
-activities simulated by tool that performs work, often in training facility
what is prototyping?
-creating preliminary version tot est functionality and usability
-gather feedback through review and experimentation of working model before finalizing product
what is low-fidelity? High fidelity?
-prototyping created with pen and paper, whiteboards, or modeling tool
-wireframes that create skeleton of product (static drawings of user interface to help specify steps, simplified version of product, showing look/feel of functionality)
-creates final product over several iterations (throwaways after confirming functionality, evolutionary with each session, adding functionality)
-in agile, often used to create MVP
what does requirements traceability do?
-track requirements throughout software development process
-how each requirement was implemented and tested
2 types of requirements traceability martrices?
-BTM and RTM
acronym BTM? what does it do?
-bidirectional traceability matrix
-implement forward and backward traceability through project life cycle
-help ensure requirements are tested and all test cases are relevant to requirements
what is traceable forward/backward
-in BTM
-in forward, each requirement has unique identifier that assists in id/maintaining change history and tracing requirement through system components
-in backward, each requirement should be traced back to specific customer, user, or stakeholder input, such as use case, business rule, etc.
what is a product backlog?
-list of all features, bug fixes, and work done to complete product.
-living document, continuously updated as new requirements id, old are changed or removed
-key tool for managing requirements
-key part of agile, especially scrum
-in scrum, owned by product owner
-PO handles gathering/prioritizing requirements from stakeholders
-team works from backlog
key benefits to using product backlog
-increased visibility
-improved communication
-increased efficiency
-reduced risk
-key elements of product backlog?
-requirement
-priority
-estimated effort
-status
what is a product roadmap?
-high level strategic plan
-outlines vision, goals, priorities for product over set period
-living document, constantly updated as new features are added, old removed
key components of product roadmap?
-product vision (brief description of long-term goals)
-goals and objectives (clearly defines goals of product development, like sales targets user engagement, etc.)
-timeline
-features
-prioritization
-risks and assumptions
-feedback and iteration
benefits of using product roadmap?
-increased visibility
-improved communication
-increased efficiency
-reduced risk
what is “rolling wave planning”?
-delay the detail (or progressive elaboration of specifics) closer to time frame
-allows you to re-sequence/adapt product capabilities of individual release to meet changing priorities and market conditions
in business analysis, product roadmaps have several applications, including what?
-communicate the product vision
-prioritize features and initiatives
-facilitate collaboration
-manage stakeholder expectations
-track progress and monitor changes
-identify dependencies and risks
-support marketing and sales effort
what are some steps to determine which components should be included in a release?
-ID/prioritize components (list all components, prioritize with stakeholders)
-evaluate dependencies/constraints
-define release goals/objectives
-allocate components to release
-balance scope, timeline, and resources
-review and adjust as needed
-communicate release plan
how can project methodologies have a significant impact on business analysis process?
-help define scope/ID stakeholders
-structure business analysis process
-track progress of business analysis process
-communicate results of business analysis to stakeholders
compare predictive/plan based and adaptive approaches
-predictive/plan based more structured approach
-detailed requirements gathering phase at beginning of project
-may rely on formal documentation and progress reports
-may have seperate testing phase at end of project
-may have formal review process
-adaptive focus on continuous feedback/collaboration with stakeholders
-emphasize face to face
-emphasize iterative testing/prototyping
-encourages frequent feedback
how does the choice of pm methodology influence the BA process?
-level of formality/structure that is used in BA process (more formal requires more documentation and planning)
-how requirements are gathered and documented (predictive gathers up front, adaptive refined through project)
-how risks are managed (predictive ID up front, adaptive throughout)
-how communication is managed (predictive more formal, like status reports/meetings. adaptive informal, ad hoc conversations/daily meetings
what is the role of the BA in a predictive/plan based approach?
-more often used here bc it involves heavy analysis/determination of results of project as part of initial planning
-often develops business case
-may do feasibility review (operational, tech/system, cost-effective, time)
-as scope defined, helps elicit, analyze, document requirements that will become product scope
what are the 4 feasibility areas?
-operational (review of options based on how solution meets need)
-tech/system (tech and compatibility with existing infrastructure
-cost-effective (understanding initial estimate and high level estimate of costs and value of benefits
-time (whether solution can be delivered within time constraints)
what is the role of the BA in adaptive approaches?
-more focused on facilitating collaboration between stakeholders and development team
-may serve as product owner/work closely with him
-knows “as-is” current way things are done
-knows “to-be” future outcome
what is the role of the BA in hybrid approaches?
-provide competencies and techniques to make sure everyone understands what is required
-also work with development team to ensure project meets needs of business
what are key steps that BA can take to ensure that requirements are validated throughout product delivery process?
-testing and acceptance (work with dev. team to define test cases. reviews results to ensure requirements met)
-user acceptance testing (works with end user to define UAT scenarios)
-change control
-post-implementation review (conducts review to evaluate success/id any room for improvement)
-continuous improvement (promotes culture of continuous improvement)
what are some additional methods and tools to validate requirements throughout the product delivery process?
-conduct user research
-create user stories and acceptance criteria
-create scope management traceability matrix (RTM for scope mgmt maps each requirement to corresponding design, development, testing, deployment activity)
-conduct usability testing
-conduct user acceptance testing (UAT)
-perform quality assurance testing
-collect feedback
-define metrics and KPIs
examples of acceptance criteria?
-system should allow users to enter up to 50 characters in each input field
-system can handle 10,000 concurrent users without crashing
acronym INVEST? what is it?
-Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable
-usually applied to user stories to help understand and meet expectations
difference between verification and validation?
-verification is confirming that product produced complies with agreed requirements
-validation also checks product meets stakeholder requirement
-validations is performed AFTER verification
what is the product backlog in adaptive approaches?
-prioritized list of all features, enhancements, and bug fixes
-translate business requirements to expected delivery of solution requirements
initial refinement of the backlog items need to support the DEEP acronym. what is this?
-Detailed appropriately
-Estimated
-Emergent (able to adapt to changes)
-Prioritized
what happens if backlog item does not meet all of the INVEST criteria?
-may be necessary to decompose into smaller backlog items that dont meet the criteria
