Business Analysis Kickstart – A Unique eBook for Visual Learners

Are you a visual learner?
Do pages upon pages of text send you running for the hills?

Alex and Sergey Korban of Aotea Studios have come up with a solution for you.

The Business Analysis Kickstart breaks down the essential elements of business analysis and core competencies of successful business analysts in a visually rich eBook format.

This is not your typical how-to guide and it doesn’t go into the ‘nth’ level of detail. Instead, it creates a visual map of what it means to be a business analyst and the key skills that are required.

The book contains such elements as:

• A visual breakdown of the elements of listening, watching, observing, and drawing, and how we use these skills as BAs.
• A Requirements Management Framework integrating requirements planning, communication, and issue/change management together.
• Diagram of Key BA documents and how they relate.
• And much, much more.

The book goes beyond business analysis and tackles related disciplines that successful BAs navigate with ease – project management, change management, issue management, and risk management — helping you make your collaboration with the project team more effective.

Again, visuals trump text. If you are a visual learner, you’ll likely find yourself selecting key pages to hang on your office wall or keep ready-at-hand for reference.

Here’s what some of their readers have to say:

I loved Kickstart for its concise visual breakdown of the typical BA processes. I am definitely a multi-channel, visual learner and can only consume so much BABOK text before the message gets lost. Your diagrams really highlight the power of synthesizing information down into a visual model that represents multiple levels of information (system components, workflow, milestones, participants, context etc).

- Ed Garabedian, Business Analyst, Johnson & Wales University, USA

Thank you very much again for the third pillar of Aotea’s great materials. The two first, since acquired, are my very first reference which guides my journey in discovering and learning BA. Now, you’re providing me the corresponding templates just in time before I’ll make my hands dirty on two little projects.

- Jérémie Tarot, CIO, France

Here’s what’s included:

• Business Analysis Basics – Explore the key competencies required for successful business analysis, such as listen, watch, explore, write, and draw. (12 pages)
• Business Analysis Knowledge Domains – A visual overview of BABOK Knowledge Areas. (10 pages)
• Beyond Business Analysis - Dive into disciplines surrounding business analysis, learning more about common hats that BAs are asked to take on and the responsibilities of those we work most closely with. (28 pages)
• Business Analysis Critical Path – Beyond the “what” and into the “how” of business analysis, complete with a sequence of steps to follow on your project. (10 pages)
• Business Analysis Techniques – Learn the definitions of key techniques by BABOK Knowledge Area. (23 pages)

What the visual diagrams are like:

Here’s a sample straight from the eBook – the visual diagram of listening. As you can see, it breaks down something we hear all the time – “great BAs are great listeners” – into it’s smaller pieces to help you assess just how good of a listener you are, or find areas to explicitly improve your listening skills.

The run-down

If you are an senior BA with several books, this eBook is not likely to provide information you don’t already have somewhere on your shelf. But it will give you the conceptual structures from which to sort through your growing collection of information about business analysis.

If you are a visual learner, this book might just well provide the break-through you need to assimilate information about business analysis.

This is a true starting point, either for a new BA looking to learn what business analysis is all about, or a more advanced BA looking to redefine their approach to learning in a new and creative way.

The Business Analysis Kickstart is available for immediate download for $97.

P.S. Worried about annoying DRM?

Don’t be! The Business Analysis Kickstart is provided in PDF format, without annoying DRM or password protection. It is laid out in landscape orientation, making it comfortable to read either on screen or in printed form. The authors also made sure that the diagrams look good when printed on A4, letter or A3 paper.

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