CBAP /CCBA Certification Prep Boot Camp - ASPE · PDF fileCBAP®/CCBA™ Certification...

© 2012, ASPE

CBAP®/CCBA™ Certification Prep Boot Camp

Presented byBob Keith, CBAP

Kirkwood, MO

Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®)Certification of Competency in Business Analysis™ (CCBA™)

© 2012, ASPE

Elicitation Techniques:Advantages & Disadvantages

Purpose/Description:Activities performed to identify the source of and methods for obtaining requirements and to draw forth or bring out the requirements. It is not an isolated, compartmentalized activity. Rather, it continues through the elicitation, analysis, and review activities.

Stakeholders:Customer, Domain SME, End User, Supplier, SponsorImplementation SME, Operational Support, Project Manager, TesterRegulatorAll Stakeholders

ElicitationElicitationElicitation

Elicitation Tasks

3.1Prepare for Elicitation

3.2Conduct Elicitation Activity

3.3Document Elicitation Results

3.4Confirm Elicitation Results

Requirements Elicitation Techniques

Elicitation Technique

Synonym Conducted by

Brainstorming Event*

Document Analysis Review existing documents Performed

Focus Group Event*

Interface Analysis External Interface Analysis Performed

Interviews Event*

Observation Job Shadowing Event*

Prototyping Storyboarding, Navigational Flow, Paper Prototyping, Screen Flow

Event*

Requirements Workshops Elicitation Workshop, Facilitated Workshop

Event*

Survey/Questionnaire Distributed

* For event-based elicitation, ground rules must be established and agreed upon by all stakeholders (timing, breaks, who talks when, etc.).

53, 56

Technique 9.3: Brainstorming

• Purpose/Description– Produce new ideas through fostering creative

thinking about a problem or topic• Elements

– Preparation• Define goals• Identify facilitator and participants• Set time limits and rating criteria• Set expectations

– Session• Share without discussion• Record everything• Encourage participation

– Wrap‐up• Discuss, evaluate, condense, and rate ideas

Brainstorm: using the brain to storm a creative problem and to do so “in commando fashion, each stormer audaciously attacking the same objective.”

-- Alex Osborn, 1939

3.1, 3.2, 3.3Prepare, Conduct and Document Elicitation

Brainstorming (continued)

Brainstorming Usage Considerations

Advantages Disadvantages

Lots of ideas in a short period of time

Dependent on participants’ creativity and willingness

Encourages creative thinking by providing a non-judgmental environment

Could be (or become) political

Reduces tension between participants

Must avoid debating ideas during elicitation

Technique 9.9: Document Analysis

• Purpose/Description– Gather details of the current or “as is” environment– Identify existing business rules, entities, and attributes – May include business plans, market studies, statements of

work, memos, problem reports, customer suggestions, etc.• Elements

– Preparation• Evaluate what’s available and useful

– Document review• Model business process and generate questions for stakeholder interviews

– Wrap‐up• Review and confirm with SMEs• Obtain answers to follow‐up questions• Organize in requirements format


Document Analysis (continued)

Document Analysis Usage Considerations


Not starting with a blank page Limited to “as-is” view only

Leverage existing materials for discovery

May not be up to date or valid

Cross-checking requirements from other elicitation techniques

Can be time-consuming/tedious to locate and evaluate documentation

Technique 9.11: Focus Group

• Purpose/Description– Elicit ideas and attitudes about a product, service, or

opportunity in an interactive group setting– Participants share impressions, preferences, and needs, guided

by a moderator– Pre‐qualified individuals come together and share perspectives– Can be live or remote; can be used during any lifecycle phase,

and can serve to assess customer satisfaction• Elements

– Prepare • Recruit homogeneous or heterogeneous participants• Assign Moderator and Recorder• Create Discussion Guide• Reserve Site and Services

– Run focus group session– Produce report


Focus Group (continued)

Focus Group Usage Considerations


Saves time and costs compared with individual interviews

Lack of trust may impede disclosure

Good for learning about attitudes and experiences

Lack of consistency between what people say and their actual behavior

Provides active discussion and multiple perspectives

Homogeneous responses may not represent the complete set of requirements

Requires skilled moderator

May be difficult to schedule

Not good for evaluating usability

Technique 9.13: Interface Analysis

• Purpose/Description– Identify connections (interfaces) between solutions

and/or solution components and find their requirements

– Interface: a connection between two components and/or systems• User: between human and hardware or software• Systems: between one application and another• Hardware: to and from external hardware devices

• Elements– Prepare

• Review current documentation (e.g. Context Diagram)– Conduct interface identification

• Identify, describe, and evaluate interfaces for requirements– Define interfaces

• Inputs and outputs for each interface, with validation rules and trigger events described


Interface Analysis (continued)

Interface Analysis Usage Considerations


Provides an early, high-level view on interoperability for planning purposes

High-level view (inputs/outputs/key data) lacks detail

Helps us be more accurate with planning; can save time and cost

Encourages collaboration between other systems or projects

Prevents difficulties of integrating multiple components

Technique 9.14: Interviews

• Purpose/Description– Elicit information from an individual or group by talking to them– A systematic approach that may be formal or informal– One‐on‐one interviews most common– Two types of interviews:

• Structured: Pre‐defined questions• Unstructured: Open‐ended discussion of Stakeholder’s needs

– Success depends on BA’s level of understanding, experience, skill, and ability to build rapport and the Stakeholder’s readiness and clarity

• Elements– Prepare for interview

• Identify potential interviewees• Design the interview• Contact stakeholders

– Conduct the interview with opening, interview, and closing– Post interview follow‐up and confirmation

• Document and review the results

3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4Prepare, Conduct Document and

Confirm Elicitation

Interviews (continued)

Interviews Usage Considerations


Encourages stakeholder participation and builds rapport

Requires stakeholders’ time and commitment

Simple, direct, and widely applicable Doesn’t always promote consensus

Allows discussion and explanation of information

Effectiveness depends on BA’s skill; BA might require training

Enables observations of non-verbal behavior

Depth depends on BA’s domain knowledge

Allows follow-up/probing questions with confirmation of understanding

Transcription and analysis of interview data can be complex and expensive

Maintains focus on clear objectives Risk of leading the interviewee

Interviewees express freely in private

BA may subtly bias documentation

Technique 9.18: Observation

• Purpose/Description– Learn details about current processes– Collect requirements through an assessment

of a SME’s work environment– Sometimes called “job shadowing” or

“following people around”– Two key approaches:

• Passive/invisible: BA observes but does not interact until process is complete

• Active/visible: BA observes, takes notes, and interacts with worker• Elements

– Prepare• Determine which stakeholders and prepare questions

– Observe• Introduce yourself, reassure the stakeholder, then observe

– Post‐observation wrap‐up documentation and confirmation• Note any new questions for review/clarification• Review findings with entire group, looking for variances

3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4Prepare, Conduct Document and

Confirm Elicitation

Observation (continued)

Observation Usage Considerations


Realistic, hands-on feel of existing process

Not applicable for high degree of intellectual activity

Elicits informal information on how work is actually done

Exception processes may not occur during the observation

As-is only

Time consuming

Process disruption

Technique 9.20: Problem Tracking

• Purpose/Description– An organized approach to track, manage, and resolve defects,

issues, problems and risks during BA activities– Ensures resources are allocated to resolve issues– Enables root‐cause analysis identification

• Elements– Problem record

• Contains critical information about each problem/issue

– Problem management• A process for regularly evaluating the problem log and resolving the problems/issues it contains

– Metrics• Determine a set of metrics and key performance indicators(Technique 9.16) and report on them

3.3Document

Elicitation Results

Problem Tracking (continued)

Problem Tracking Usage Considerations


Organized method for tracking and resolving risks, issues, and defects

If regular review does not occur, the list becomes outdated and/or irrelevant

Mechanism to communicate problems

If team members are not focused, then resolution is slow to non-existent

Review of problems provides team focus leading to resolution

Strict deadlines may not place resolution as a high priority

Technique 9.22: Prototyping

• Purpose/Description– Uncover and visualize interface requirements prior to solution

development– Horizontal or vertical– Throw‐away or evolutionary/functional

• Elements– Prepare for prototype

• Determine approach• Identify the functionality to be modeled

– Build prototype• Decompose prototype from high level navigational flow and iteratively add details

– Evaluate prototype• Verify by tracing interface elements to processes, data and business rules defined

• Validate user needs are met• “Test” prototype using scenarios


Prototyping (continued)

Prototyping Usage Considerations


Good for visual thinkers Can take a lot of time focus on how instead of what

Allows for early user interaction Might require assumptions about technology

Can be inexpensive (throw-away) May lead to unrealistic user expectations

Can show technical feasibility (vertical)

May overly constrain a solution if designers are under the impression the prototype must be matched precisely

Vehicle for designers to learn about user interface needs (evolutionary)

Technique 9.23: Requirements Workshop

• Purpose/Description– Provides structured way to capture requirements– aka: JAD, Joint Application Design (or Development)– Attended by a few key stakeholders and SMEs for a few days– Needs experienced neutral facilitator and a scribe– Can generate ideas for new features, develop consensus, or review

• Elements– Prepare for the workshop

• Clarify goals, objectives, stakeholders, agenda• Arrange logistics

– Conduct the workshop• Elicit, analyze and document requirements• Resolve conflict and gain consensus

– Post‐workshop wrap‐up• Follow up with open items; complete and distribute documentation


Requirements Workshop (continued)

Requirements Workshop Usage Considerations


Can elicit lots of requirements in a short time

Can be very difficult to schedule

Promotes collaboration, decision making, and mutual understanding

Success depends on facilitator’s expertise and participants’ knowledge

Can cost less than individual interviews by eliminating need for follow up and consensus building

Too many participants can slow the process and affect the schedule, but input from too few can result in biased or missed requirements

Immediate feedback and able to validate requirements

Technique 9.31: Survey or Questionnaire

• Purpose/Description– Collect information about customers, products, work practices,

and attitudes sometimes anonymously– Uses a set of written questions to the stakeholders and/or

SMEs; responses are analyzed and results distributed as appropriate

– Closed or open questions

• Elements– Prepare

• Define purpose, choose type, select sample group, select distribution methods, write questions, test survey, etc.

– Distribute the survey– Document the survey results


Survey or Questionnaire (continued)

Survey or Questionnaire Usage Considerations


Effective in obtaining quantitative data (closed questions)

Not well suited to collect information about actual behavior

Survey results may yield insights and opinions not easily obtained using other methods (open questions)

Low response rates – mitigate with the use of incentives or enforcement

Not a lot of time for responders May need follow-up questions/visits

Effective when used for geographically dispersed stakeholders

Use of open questions requires analysis

May result in large amount of responses

Specialized skills required to achieve unbiased results

Quick and inexpensive to administer Some questions go unanswered

Concepts that Support Success

•Have senior management sponsorship•Know who all the stakeholders are •Actively engage stakeholders •Link requirements to stakeholders•Use iteration to capture requirements •Link all requirements to business goals•Know how requirements will be measured

CSF’s to Elicitation

•Be visual•Use multiple techniques and types of models •Approach stakeholders from different directions •Change the stakeholders physical environment •Hear it twice and see it•Capture requirements by type •Link requirements to each other

Elicitation Barriers

•Time•Access to stakeholders •Stakeholders don’t know or are unable to articulate what they want•The number of stakeholders•Stakeholders are focused on the solution •Stakeholder prejudice•Analyst think they understand the stakeholder problem better than the stakeholders•Everybody believes everybody else is politically motivated

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