Requirements Discovery and Modeling(or How To Facilitate Business Analysis and Discovery Meetings)

Chuck BoudreauEnterprise Business ArchitectIIBA Colorado Springs May 20, 2009

About Compassion International

• compassion.com• blog.compassion.com

Where Compassion Works

Compassion’s Global Partners

How Compassion Works

Today is Special Day

• May 20, 2009• 1,000,000th sponsored child (concurrently)

About Compassion IT

• 155 IT staff (not including contractors)• Sybase legacy technology• Microsoft strategic technology• Serves internal customers

o Sales/marketingo Sponsor/donor serviceso Beneficiary program services

Assumptions About You

• Involved in IT software projects• Interested in seeing how others approach

business analysis and discovery• Want to learn some techniques that work

in order to apply in your context• Busy...need to keep it practical

Topics of Discussion

• Motivation for various IT business analysis deliverables

• Techniques and mindset for leading requirements discovery activities

• Other training and learning resources• Q&A throughout

Question: How’s It Working for You?

• Requirements discovery• Clarity of business goals• Testable requirements• Access to SMEs

Stake in the Ground

• Biggest risks in project are not technical• Lack of clarity is the biggest risk • Reduce risk by eliminating uncertainty

(increasing clarity)

Stake in the Ground

• Content in the deliverables you produce is wrongo It is less wrong as you engage more people in the

process of reviewing• People stink at process conformity, but they are

good at pointing out what’s out of alignment

Reminder: IT Enables Business

• Initial deliverables should represent business context

• Focus on “what” first• Focus on “how” later

Business Analysis Deliverables

• Business glossary• BPMN diagrams• Use cases• Features matrix• State charts

Business Glossary

• Terms used in the business context• Cultivated real-time in discovery

meetings• Living document

Business Process Model Notation (BPMN) Diagrams• Describe the business context for the

system under discussion• Cultivated real-time in discovery

meetings

Use Cases

• Essentialo Business language: the “what”o Reviewed by the business

• Detailedo Derived from the essential use caseso Implementation/technical language: the “how”o Reviewed by the technology implementers

Tips on Use Cases

• Avoid the “tyranny of the template”• Cultivate real-time in discovery

meetings• Know when it starts

o TUCBW• Know when it ends

o TUCEW• Capture issues in the work-in-progress

Features matrix

• “The ability to…”

State Charts (Sometimes)

• Managing and tracking key entities through their lifecycle

• Sometimes makes a good organizing metaphor

Preparing for Discovery

• Meet participants ahead of time• Arrange to have two business analysts

in meetings• Get meeting rooms with big walls or

whiteboards• Camera (preferably wireless)• Markers, stickies, candies, toys

Great Opening Lines

• What are yours?• How do you open the dialog

Try These on for Size

• What does your system manage and track?

• Describe the business events that cause you or your staff (or system) to take action?

Unfolding the Details

• “What happens next?”• “What data to you need?”• Avoid technical details• Work the documents

o Business glossaryo BPMN diagramso Use cases

Dealing With Problems

• Setting goals and planning on how to measure meeting progress

• Getting to the whiteboard right away• Shifting into the “as is” when discussing “to be”• Lack of velocity/ low energy• Three-minute rule• Overbearing people

Remember

• The focus is on describing software behavior in a business setting

Other Resources

• Read the Agile Manifesto http://agilemanifesto.org/ • Visit Gary Evans’ website http://www.evanetics.com • Read “What is an Agile Culture?” at

http://www.evanetics.com/Articles/ar_essays/AgileCulture.htm • Bookmark and review the content of your choosing at Gary Evans’ site at

http://www.evanetics.com/ (my personal favorites below)• Tales of Fragility http://www.evanetics.com/Articles/ar_essays/fragility.htm • Honeybees and Spiders http://www.evanetics.com/Articles/ar_essays/bees&spiders.htm • Articles on Use Cases http://www.evanetics.com/Articles/ar_usecases/ar_usecases.htm