Between You and Your Business Analysis Career
From the category archives:
My recent post on user interface specifications created some interesting commentary on prototyping vs. specifying. From the perspective of publishing blog posts, writing about UI specs before prototyping put the cart before the horse. In normal project work prototyping or wire-framing activities actually come before any sort of user interface specification work. As Harris Lloyd-Levy [...]
{ 18 comments }
A few months ago I posted about how requirements walk-throughs are a necessity in any good requirements development process. I’m here today to tell you I’ve changed my opinion. It’s not that walk-throughs lack value. They definitely do. But the timing, scope, and methods of these reviews might need to be reconsidered. A structured requirements [...]
{ 28 comments }
During a documentation review, oftentimes no one wants to be the first to challenge something or point out a mistake. When reviews are passing along with a false sense of “wow, this is perfect!” I like to mix things up by pointing out an error in my own work or raising an issue with something [...]
{ 0 comments }
Once you’ve interviewed subject matter experts to understand their business processes and how they use the functionality provided by the system, you’ll most likely be sitting in a state of “information overload.” Trust that this is part of the process of gaining a comprehensive understanding of the system and start working towards creating your end [...]
{ 3 comments }
Another great video clip. Pictures are worth a thousand words!
{ 2 comments }
Often, we do not choose to involve QA professionals in the requirements process until we are on the verge of producing testable code. QA engineers help create testable, high-quality requirements specifications. Getting them engaged early creates more successful projects because they have the context to plan and prepare. In this post, I’ll lay groundwork supporting [...]
{ 0 comments }
I had a painful reminder of the “Ass-u-me” lesson earlier today. I was scheduled to meet a contact in downtown Denver. Not just any contact, but someone I was really, really looking forward to getting to know and learn more about their business. In his email, he carefully listed the cross-streets and telephone number of [...]
{ 1 comment }
I have asked this question in nearly every BA interview I’ve conducted and rarely heard the answer I was looking for. The most common (and wrong) answer is “never”. How can you hire someone who cannot establish a criteria for when they are done with the work you are considering hiring them to do? So, [...]
{ 2 comments }
All too often I’ve seen this important step in the requirements process skipped, often to the detriment of the project as a whole and especially to the detriment of aligning the business and IT. A requirements walk-through is just that, a meeting where you gather all of your stakeholders together and walk-through the requirements documentation, [...]
{ 12 comments }
382 posts
Recently posted: The Shocking Truth About Aspiring Business Analysts
3 posts
Recently posted: How to Start a Business Analyst Career eBook – now available on Kindle and Nook!
22 posts
Recently posted: How to avoid 7 common workshop pitfalls
35 posts
Recently posted: Dipping My Toes in Ice Water: a Story of Perseverance
23 posts
Recently posted: 4 Self-Confidence Secrets Every Business Analyst Should Know
13 posts
Recently posted: The Virtual BA: Video Conference Self-Awareness
9 posts
Recently posted: The Future of Business Analysis: Innovation and Creativity
6 posts
Recently posted: To technology or not to technology
8 posts
Recently posted: The Power of Index Cards
