Terms Flashcards
Accuracy
E. Larson, A. Brockmeier & R. Larson, PMI-PBA Certification Study Guide, 2018, Page 379
Assessment of correctness.
E. Larson, A. Brockmeier & R. Larson, PMI-PBA Certification Study Guide, 2018, Page 379
Agile
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An adaptive project approach that focuses on small pieces of a solution for analysis, design, development, and testing that allows for frequent, small releases of solution functionality based on feature priority.
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Analogous Estimating
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A technique using past projects that are similar to forecast hours and/or costs. It is typically used in the early stages of a project when there may not be a great deal of information available.
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Assessment
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A generic term to describe evaluating, analyzing, or estimating the quality or ability of someone or something.
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Three-Point Estimates
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PERT or a simple average of three estimates (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) can be used to provide an estimate
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Baseline
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An established boundary of approved requirements against which requirements changes are compared. Each time requirements are approved, they are baselined.
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Benchmarking (aka Research)
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To compare organizational practices against the best-in-class practices that exist within competitor enterprises in government or industry.
To determine how companies achieve their superior performance levels and use that information to design projects to improve operations of the enterprise. Focused on strategies, operations, and processes.
E. Larson, A. Brockmeier & R. Larson, PMI-PBA Certification Study Guide, 2018, Page 379
Bottom-Up Estimating
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Method of estimating duration or cost for the lowest-level components of the WBS and then aggregating or “rolling up” the individual estimates into higher levels.
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Business Analysis
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The evaluation of an organization’s needs - followed by the identification and management of requirements - to realize a solution. In short, it is the discipline of working with stakeholders to define an organization’s requirements in order to shape the output of projects and ensure that expected business benefits are delivered. Source: PMI-PBA FAQ
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Business Analyst
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A person who conducts business analysis activities regardless of their job title or role.
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Business Case
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A document that describes the necessary information from a business standpoint to determine whether or not the project is worth the investment.
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Business Opportunity
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Describes an opportunity that will add value to the business.
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Business Problem
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Describes a situation that is hindering a business from achieving maximum value.
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Business Requirement
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Describes the higher-level needs of the organization and provides the rationale for a new project, including business:
- Goals and objectives
- Problems to be solved
- Opportunities to be exploited
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Business Rule Catalog
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A document containing a complete list of business rules and related attributes. The catalog can be used as reference for related requirements.
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Cause and Effect Diagram (aka Fishbone or Ishikawa diagram)
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A type of flowchart that helps organize thinking about a problem and diagnose cause and effect to discover root cause. Can be used in conjunction with the “Five Why’s” tool.
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Checksheet
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Used to collect sampling results information about defects which then may be further analyzed using a Pareto diagram
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Communication Plan
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A component of the project, program, or portfolio management plan. that describes how, when, and by whom information about the project will be administered and disseminated.
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Consensus Building
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A general term for getting a group to generally agree. Many specific techniques (further described in Decision Making) may help lead to group consensus.
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Context Diagram
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A diagram that allows the business analyst to clearly show the boundary of the system, the users (both human and other systems), and the high-level data provided by the system and to the system. A context diagram is only a high-level view; but when supported by detailed data definitions, it is an excellent tools for communicating part of the project scope to stakeholders.
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Contingency Planning
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The outcome of analyzing the risks to a product and the planned response if the risk becomes a reality. May also resulting schedule and budget reserves by determining the likelihood and impact of a risk occurring. The likelihood (%) is multiplied by the impact ($) to determine an appropriate reserve amount.
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Control Chart
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A chart used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance (typically) over time by measuring output variables representing repetitive activities. Control charts can be used for both project and product life cycle processes.
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Cost-Benefit Analysis
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The study of the cost versus the benefits that an organization will receive for a particular solution. This is useful in selecting projects for investment that will yield the greatest financial benefit for the organization.
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CRUD Matrix
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A matrix used to cross check the data and processes to ensure a process is in place to create, read, update, and delete every entity. The matrix helps spot gaps. Is also helpful in documenting user permissions in a system.
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Data Dictionary & Glossary
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A document containing key items that are formally recorded to identify terminology and corresponding definitions used by the organization. Also defines the data used or needed by an organization, including both high-level and more complex data definitions.
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Data Modeling
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A model representing data structures, relationships between structure, and the detailed data attributes or facts within the structures. They are used to document and communicate data requirements, typically using either an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) or Class Diagram (in UML or Unified Modeling Language).
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Day-in-the-Life (DITL) Testing
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Testing conducted by someone knowledgeable in the business that focuses on specific scenarios in order to verify that the expected results are realized.
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Decision Table
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A tool used to document business rules in a tabular format with a series of decisions and the outcomes. The table provides an easy way to document all factors that may impact the processing of a decision. For examples, age, residency, and military service all are contributing factors to determine the cost of a hunting or fishing recreational license in the state of Washington. The decision table simplifies the processing of these business rules to determine the correct license price by clearly representing the effects of each pricing factor.
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Decision Tree
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Used to document complex business rules graphically in a hierarchical structure. This may be used in conjunction with a decision table to analyze and document complex business rules. Decision trees work best when decision points have limited responses such as yes or no.
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Decomposition
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Breaking down something that is higher-level - such as functional areas, their processes, or project deliverables - into simpler subsets for the purpose of studying or analyzing it. This technique is often presented using graphical models, such as a Work Breakdown Structure diagram.
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Delphi Technique
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A way to gain consensus using expert opinion. Experts are asked to provide their opinions independently through a facilitator. The facilitator will coordinate anonymous feedback through a questionnaire for responses until agreement is achieved. This is commonly used for creating estimates or getting a recommendation on a decision to be made.
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Dependency Analysis
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A technique used to identify and clearly articulate dependencies between two or more objects (e.g., requirements).
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Dependency Graph
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A graph that visually depicts dependencies in system requirements, functions, or componentes. There is not a single method or process for developing the graph.
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Design of Experiments
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Using statistical “what-if” scenarios to determine which combination of variables produce the best or desired quality outcome. Design of experiments, unlike other quality techniques, provides a tool for modifying multiple factors at the same time rather than just one at a time. It is more typically used on the product of the project than the project itself.
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Desk Checking
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This is where the person who creates the deliverables reviews their own work prior to presenting it for formal quality control review.
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Document Analysis
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To elicit requirements by studying available documentation on existing and comparable solutions, and identifying relevant information.
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Estimation Poker (aka Planning Poker)
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A technique primarily used by agile teams to estimate the effort for each user story. User stories are estimates in relation to each other and not assigned a time estimate. T-shirt sizing (S, M, L, and XL) or Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, and 20) are typical estimation values used.
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Evaluation Criteria (aka Acceptance & Evaluation Criteria)
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Defined criteria that will be used for determining when a requirement, feature, or solution is acceptable for use.
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Events
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The process of analyzing business events in order to determine organizational responses needed to support the business. Events may be:
- External
- Internal
- Time-based
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Exploratory Testing
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Testing conducted by someone knowledgeable of the business and without a script. This provides testing of some “out of the box” scenarios for expanded test coverage. This supplements formal testing methods, but should not be done in place of them.
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Facilitated Workshops
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A structured way to capture requirements. A workshop may be used to scope, discover, defines, prioritize, and reach closure on requirements for the target system.
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Feasibility Analysis
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An initial study to develop a recommendation on if a solution is viable to accomplish a desired outcome, whether it’s to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. May be used to compare multiple options to determine the most feasible.
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Five Whys
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A technique where the analyst asks, “why is the problem occurring?” up to five times to get to the root cause.
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Flowcharts
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Graphically depict how the process flows from beginning to end to illustrate how components of the system are related. Flowcharting also helps to analyze how problems occur and highlights.
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Force Field Analysis
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Analyzes the forces for and against a change, to help form a decision and communicate the reasoning behind the decision.
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Gap Analysis
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A technique that businesses use to determine what steps need to be taken in order to move from its current state to its desired, future state. Also called needs-gap analysis, needs analysis, and needs assessment.
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Given-Then-When
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A tool used to articulate acceptance criteria. Statements are produced with:
- Given (some context)
- When (some action is carried out)
- Then (a particular set of observable consequences should obtain)
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Goal
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An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed timeframe.
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Grade
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In quality, category or rank used to distinguish items that have the same functional use but do not share the same quality requirements.
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Histograms
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Bar charts showing how often something occurs.
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Impact Analysis
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Analysis of potential requirements or requirements changes to determine impacts to other requirements, the product, or the project.
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